Koutetsu finished making a chiffon cake for himself and Tsurara once he got back to the house. He figured he'd at least have a birthday cake for themselves in case Natsume brought an exaggerated one as she did for the girls at school.
Tsurara was enjoying the piece she was eating, Koutetsu was happy to see she liked orange flavored cake since it was the only one he practiced at the cafe during his free time.
"Not so fast little one I can cut another piece for you." He said to her with a smile on his face.
'God I really hope she doesn't have an appetite like me. It already costs me a fortune to feed myself as is. Bet Mana will be surprised to see how much I can eat now after all the jokes she used to make about it.'
The two were enjoying their little cake in peace, then Koutetsu heard a knock on the door on the door, he figured it was Natsume finally coming to pick him up for the party as she promised.
Koutetsu opened the door, and a small girl jumped up and hugged him with sudden excitement.
"Kou Nii-Chan!!" The young girl said.
"Uh, oh Kaede, what are you doing here?" He was confused by the situation. Koutetsu turned his attention forward as he looked up to see Itsuki before him.
"Itsuki, you're back?"
"Surprised. I pulled some favors to come home early to see." She said with a faint smile and joy to see him again.
Kaede let go of Koutetsu to let herself in and drop her bags. Itsuki was making her way inside too, before Koutetsu stopped her by giving her a surprise embrace. Itsuki was flustered by what he did, she was caught off by the hug from Koutetsu. It was the first he had given her an embrace in that manner since they had known each other. He held it together when he saw Natsume because he focused on helping Tsurara, but seeing Itsuki again made him feel like he could be vulnerable for the moment.
"Huh, what what what, what's this for." She said stuttering with her face blushing.
"Nothing, It's just, that so much has happened recently that I'm really glad you're here is all." Itsuki could hear it in his voice, the trembling in it. She wasn't sure what he went through in the short time they were apart, but she could feel something affected him. She hugged him back warmly going with the flow of the moment, trying to help him feel safe from what was hurting his mind.
"It's ok, I'm here, I'm here, it's ok." Koutetsu heard those words and Rina flashed in his head again. The words she told him the night he was freaking out when Byakurai attacked him in his dreams. Koutetsu broke the embrace for a bit to look Itsuki in the face. He didn't see Itsuki, he saw Rina instead. He started to remember the kiss she gave him the last time he saw her, he didn't think, instead his body leaned forward to kiss Itsuki like he was in a trance.
Itsuki's face turned completely red, she never thought he made the first move like this, she almost started to panic because of the action he was doing to her.
"Wait? Are you? No wait." She was stuttering again unable to say a complete sentence.
Ituski closed her eyes and readied her lips, waiting for it to happen, she actually wanted it to happen. For a first kiss, it didn't matter what the reason for it was, she just wanted him to connect to her.
Tsukikage jumped up to bite Koutetsu on the ankle before he touched Itsuki's lips. Koutetsu snapped out of his trance. He had no idea what he was thinking, he was trying to kiss Itsuki while imagining her as Rina.
'What the hell is wrong with me? This was dishonest on many levels. I can't believe I tried to steal a kiss from Itsuki while imagining her as someone else. This would be the one time she could freeze me and I let her do it.'
Koutetsu looked at Tsukikage, he didn't say it, but it was the first he thanked him for biting him to set him straight he nodded his head in a thank you to the little wolf, with Tsukikage doing the same acknowledging he was accepting that he stopped him from doing something that could have ended bad.
"Wow! So cute!" Kaede cried out inside the house.
Itsuki and Koutetsu heard Kaede, they went inside to see what she was doing. Kaede was playing with Tsurara, she was giggling and having fun with the little leopard licking her face.
"When did you get a cat?" Itsuki asked.
"Uh, hehe it's not a cat. It's technically a snow leopard." A nervous Koutetsu responded back.
Itsuki and Kaede looked at him confused at that comment. It sounded ridiculous.
"You know Tsukikage. Well, I learned recently he's actually a Divine Animal, a higher form of a familiar that we read about. That little one there is too, her name is Tsurara. Named her after your power and your ribbon was the key to giving her birth."
"My ribbon?" Itsuki asked in curiosity.
Koutetsu showed her the necklace. He explained to her how Rina gave it to him for Christmas and how her ribbon gave Tsurara life. He left out the part about Tsurara being Byakurai's last child. He didn't need her to try and save him from a vengeful Monarch.
"Oh, so little Tsu-Chan is Nee-San and Kou Nii-Chan's child then." Kaede joked trying to get a rise out of both of them.
Itsuki and Koutetsu both turned red at that notion. Koutetsu punished Kaede by tickling her like crazy for the comment she made.
"Hahaha stop, you're so evil." Kaede tried to say well struggling to breathe from the laughing.
"Here's you're punishment for that one, tickle tickle." Kaede couldn't stop laughing from the tickling. Itsuki calmed down and smiled at the sight, she loved moments like this. Seeing Koutetsu happy and laughing, was a small gift she felt he deserved. Itsuki looked at Tsurara, feeling warm about the moment she started letting her enjoy the little one's company.
The doorbell rang again. Itsuki went to answer it so Kaede could enjoy her time with Koutetsu, Itsuki saw that it was Natsume who was on the other end dressed up nicely. The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, they had no idea they would be there at the same time.
"What are you doing here?" Itsuki asked with a bit of irritation in her tone.
"I'm here to take Koutetsu to his birthday party. And you're here why?" A confused Natsume asked in return.
Itsuki gritted her teeth, Natsume just knew how to push her buttons badly, although this time it was unintentional.
Koutetsu stopped tickling Kaede to greet Natsume. He could feel Itsuki's temperamental magic chilling his toes next to him.
"Koutetsu care to explain?" Her eyes closed with the fake smile and darkening aura around her.
'Jado, I feel I'm going to die probably soon before I can fight Byakurai again.'
"Natsume decided to help throw me a late party for my birthday. It's kinda of a last-minute thing she did." He tried to explain in a nervous response with sweat coming down his face.
Itsuki still had her fake calm look with her anger aura behind it growing.
Koutetsu wanted to try to talk his way out of it. At least something to make Itsuki see he didn't decide it on his own behind her back.
"She did it on her own I had nothing to do with this I swear."
Natsume could read the emotions, so she decided to approach Itsuki and speak calmly, wanting to change how they acted toward each other for Koutetsu's sake.
"I'm Sorry, I didn't know you'd be here. I just wanted to do something nice for him so he wouldn't feel alone during this time of the month. You should honestly come, you can bring your sister too. There's plenty of room at the venue and I know he would love to have you with us. What do you say, please come Shirayuki."
Itsuki stopped being scary and calmed down. She could see Natsume wasn't messing with her this time, she was being honest and wanting to do something nice for Koutetsu without an ulterior motive. Itsuki took a breath and nodded yes to coming to the party. Kaede ran outside holding Tsukikage and Tsurara in her arms excited to come along.
Natsume lead her to the chauffeur to take a seat in the rental car. Koutetsu ran back inside to change into decent clothes so he wouldn't look like a slob to his own party.
Itsuki got inside the car after he left, she then saw Koutetsu come out in a linen martial arts outfit. Itsuki frowned in confusion while the others were laughing hard at him thinking he was cosplaying for his party.
"Uh, Koutetsu, why did you come out looking like Bruce Lee? Don't you have nicer clothes than that? What about the ones we bought at Rina's store?" Itsuki's face was an embarrassed frown while the others we trying to hide their snickering in the background.
"Considering I'm being jacked for a last-minute party and had no time at all to do laundry I just grabbed what was available in my closet."
'That and I have no idea if I'm getting surprised again by another supernatural being so I rather be prepared. This outfit was perfect during the training days with Megumi. Even have my gloves just in case.'
Kaede and Natsume couldn't hold in the laughter, Itsuki felt embarrassed more, all that shopping she had done with him felt like it had gone down the drain. Koutetsu ignored the laughs and got inside the car sitting next to Itsuki, the car was cramped as was, and sitting next to her very up close and personal was challenging for both of them.
Itsuki gulped, Kaede could see the happiness on her big sister's face. She always knew how close they were, she was just waiting for one of them to finally say something, it felt exhausting watching them tiptoe around the idea of being an actual couple.
The chauffeur drove them all to a small venue at a hotel, Natsume pulled a lot of strings to get it booked last minute, her family thought she was crazy using her tuition money for the party, but Natsume didn't mind she was driven when it came to throwing parties for her friends and making them smile.
"We're here everyone." The chauffeur announced.
Natsume was filled with glee as she led everyone inside. The venue was filled with most of the students at their school. Koutetsu even saw Ryuji among the crowd along with a few students from his club there.
The cake was presented with Natsume lighting the candles, she led the room in singing the birthday song to Koutetsu.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday happy birthday, happy birthday to you!" The entire room echoed, and the guests all pulled out confetti poppers with a banner being unfolded over the table. Koutetsu couldn't believe what was happening, he felt so hall he couldn't hold it anymore, wiping his eyes off then thanking everyone for coming. Everyone celebrated, they respected him greatly, and he could feel it in the honest looks they had on their face. Koutetsu blew the candles out, he grabbed the glass of cider raising a toast, everyone did the same as they shouted out their cheers.
"KANBAI!!!!" The room shouted in joy.
The Party games were being conducted soon after, with dancing, music, karaoke, and everything to make it a great party. Ryuji challenged Koutetsu to an arm wrestling match with everyone wanting to see it happen. Koutetsu wasn't going to do it at first, till Kaede cheered him on wanting to see him win. He sighed not wanting to disappoint her, upon which he took off his jacket to wrestle Ryuji. The female guests saw the muscles bulging from both of their arms and ogled them with thirsty eyes.
"You ready for this, not gonna go easy on ya."
"Bring it, kinniku-baka!."
The two began their game. Everyone watched them try to outmuscle each other with their biceps screaming. Ryuji and Koutetsu looked each other dead in the eye not breaking their concentration.
"You give up yet!" A cocky Ryuji taunted.
"In your dreams. I'm just getting warmed up." A defiant Koutetsu responded back.
Both grunted as they continued their battle of muscles. Natsume wanted to stop this before they destroyed the table. She walked over slowly to Ryuji's side, she gave a mischievous smile before she grabbed her bust bouncing it as a distraction to Ryuji. He looked at her for a second drooling at the sight, giving the opportunity for Koutetsu to win.
Half the room cheered for Koutetsu to win, with the others laughing at Ryuji for his loss. Even his club members were embarrassed that he met what happened.
"You cheated!" Ryuji shouted ticked off.
"Yeah, that's what you get for falling for her tricks kinniku-baka." Koutetsu fired back with an evil smile of his own at the sore loser side of Ryuji.
Ryuji growled and left the table to have a smoke. Natsume was jumping for joy that Koutetsu won, Kaede was covering the eyes of the little ones so they wouldn't witness the weapons of mass distraction on display.
Koutetsu who was feeling overwhelmed a bit by the crowd, decided to go outside to get some air to clear his head. On his way out he caught a girl flirting with Ryuji outside. She looked into him, Ryuji not so much. The girl left after failing to get his attention, Koutetsu made his way to where Ryuji was, he stood next to him drinking his cup while Ryuji lit up another cigarette.
"She looked nice. Not your type?"
"No not really. No challenge. I like a girl that won't put up with me easily. Like yours in there."
Ryuji looked at Itsuki, Koutetsu spat a bit of his drink out hearing that. Ryuji chuckled a bit at the display of embarrassment Koutetsu did.
"Man, you are nothing but predictable when comes to you two." Koutetsu looked at him annoyed for a bit before looking at Itsuki dancing with her sister smiling.
"You really shouldn't keep her waiting. Heard you guys are long-time friends. Why don't you man up and just ask her out already."
"Not your business. Besides, I can't yet. I think maybe there's someone else. I don't know, my head is a mess. I don't want to hurt her if I can't figure my own feelings things out." It wasn't like Koutetsu was lying, he really wasn't sure what he was feeling at the moment. He was confused, he didn't want to be in a dishonest relationship and hurt Itsuki with it.
Ryuji took a drag from his cig, he offered a hit to Koutetsu but he turned it down he wasn't a smoker. Ryuji threw the butt out and went to light another, Koutetsu lit it up for him with his flames using his thumb like a lighter. Ryuji took a drag before saying his peace.
"Look man, I know me and you ain't that close of friends yet but I do have a lot of respect for you. The way you handle yourself at school and try to be fair to everyone on the committee, personally, I wouldn't be as tolerant as you with the idiots always picking fights or trying to peep at the girls. That and I really don't want to admit it but you're kind of badass at fighting." Koutetsu looked at Ryuji saying that. He didn't expect that from him.
"Trying to flatter me is not going to help your case. It looks bad on you."
"Just shut up and listen. The point I'm making is that if you're not sure tell her that. If you like someone else tell her that too. If you really want her stop being a coward and say something. Either way, you better man up before you hurt her. The worst thing a man can do is hurt a girl who's been giving her all to him and not do the same back."
Koutetsu was silent, he was taking Ryuji's words to heart. Ryuji put the cigarette out before finishing it as he started to head back in. He gave Koutetsu a pat on the back, with a few more words of wisdom.
"I'll hold off Natsume for ya. At that time just talk to Itsuki. Tell her what's on your mind, if not then you'll always make her feel like she'll never be enough."
Ryuji didn't need to repeat those words. It already made Koutetsu feel as if it hit him in the soul.
'Is that why it's been bothering me lately? Itsuki's been there for me most of my life, she's not shy about how she feels towards me. Is that why Rina hasn't been talking to me either recently, did I hurt her cause I let her go before saying anything back after the kiss? I feel like I'm hurting them both 'cause I'm such a head case. I need to do something to see if I actually want to take it to the next level or not. Damn, that idiot really had some good advice, who knew.'
Koutetsu slapped himself on the forehead in admitting his defeat to Ryuji's advice. He had to do something now or keep making his head hurt more from indecisiveness.
He went back inside after chugging the rest of the drink to psyche himself up, he made his way to the dance floor where he asked Itsuki to come with him to one of the private rooms to talk. Natsume saw them leave the floor, she was about to say something when Ryuji shoved a piece of birthday cake in her mouth.
"What was that for?" She tried to say with her mouth stuffed with the cake.
"Leave them alone. It's between them. If anything you'll see if you have a chance later on." Natsume pouted, but she got the idea. She wanted to respect Koutetsu's decision, If he chose Itsuki she would stay friends with him still, if he chose her she would be happy if he gave her a thought.
Koutetsu and Itsuki were in the room and once again they were awkward next to each other like they were at the park bench.
Koutetsu was thinking about what to say to her, he didn't want to screw this up or have another comedy intervention mess it up again.
"So hey Koutetsu, what did you want to talk about?" Itsuki asked.
Koutetsu didn't respond he was still overthinking the words he wanted to say in his head.
"If you have nothing to say I can go…."
"Let me say something."
Itsuki went silent. Koutetsu was nervous but he wanted to get it off his chest.
"Itsuki, I'm sorry if you ever felt like I led you on or ignored how you feel. It's just, that I've never had a girlfriend really. I don't know what to say sometimes unless it's through fighting. I suck at seeing signs, or being considerate."
Itsuki wasn't liking this direction, it felt like to her he was saying he didn't want anything to do with her.
"But, I do like you Itsuki."
Itsuki's eyes widened, never in her dreams did she imagine him saying it first.
"What did you say?"
"I said, I do like you. I don't want a relationship right now, not till I sort some things out in my head first. But, I mean when I say that I do care about you, and if someday I fix my broken head and sort out how I feel around others maybe we can…"
Koutetsu didn't finish his talk, Itsuki did what Rina did, she snuck a kiss on Koutetsu when he was talking. Itsuki stopped to lean her head on his chest and her hands as well.
"Don't say anymore. I'm just happy you said something finally. You have no idea how happy that made me."
Koutetsu didn't say a word, he was grumbling in his head about how he sucked at doing this stuff and letting the girls be better at showing their feelings than him.
'Oh for God's sake! Can I just have a moment where I can be the one who makes the first move or get my thoughts out?'
He breathed heavily in defeat, but smiled for Itsuki, even rubbing her head.
The party was finally over, everyone went home after the long night saying their goodbyes. Koutetsu, Itsuki, and Kaede got a ride to his house, Natsume arranged for one, and she gave a hug before taking off, while Ryuji gave a thumbs up to signal if Koutetsu did what he needed. Koutetsu nodded he did with Ryuji acknowledging back.
During the ride, the driver said she couldn't pull up to Koutetsu's house due to traffic backing up the street, so Itsuki paid her a big tip anyway for the ride saying they'll walk the rest of the way. They had to walk for the next fifteen minutes to reach the house, Kaede was fast asleep so Koutetsu carried her on his back, with Itsuki carrying Tsukikage and Tsurara in her arms. She was still happy red from earlier after the talk they had.
"I hope they're not too heavy for you," Koutetsu asked.
"No, it's fine the little ones don't bother me at all. I hope Kaede is good to carry. She's not heavy for you is she?"
'Not even close. Megumi made wear a weighted vest during her ten-mile run sessions this is nothing.'
"Hey Koutetsu, you said you wanted to sort your feelings out. Is there someone else you like by chance?" He gulped hearing that. He knew it was coming, Itsuki wasn't the type to not ask what he was thinking.
"There may be someone. I'm just not sure. It's not Natsume if that's what you're thinking we're just good friends. But I want to try and sort my feelings out like I said earlier so I don't hurt you on accident. I meant what I said though about you, I really meant it."
Itsuki wasn't disappointed, being honest about his feelings was all she wanted since they reunited.
The two finally made it to Koutetsu's house, Koutetsu was confused though when they got there. There was a little girl knocking on his door. She looked about five to six years old, with short magenta passed her ears and shark hairpins on both sides of her hair.
"Who's that?" Itsuki said with confusion.
"Don't know I wasn't expecting anyone but Mana, maybe she's lost."
The two made their way to the girl knocking at Koutetsu's door. The little girl heard them coming, she looked at them with her innocent eyes.
"Hello sweetie are you lost? Do you need help?" Itsuki questioned trying to help figure the little girl out.
The little girl looked nervous to talk but she answered Itsuki's question.
"Umm, is this the right address by chance?"
She handed a paper with Koutetsu's address and information on it. Both of them looked it over. It was correct down to the printed instructions to get to his house from the train station nearby.
"It is, but sweetie how did you get this address?"
"Momma asked for it from the school. She said she wrote a letter to the address beforehand. Umm pretty lady, do you know if Hayashi Koutetsu leaves here actually?"
Itsuki now taken aback by the question, she pointed to Koutetsu next to her. Koutetsu examined the kid. She was adorable looking and her eyes didn't have evil in them.
"That's me but do I know you?" He asked.
The little girl bowed her head and then looked up back at Koutetsu.
"Hello, my name is Rumi, Hayashi Rumi. It's nice to finally meet you, Onii-Chan."
Koutetsu and Itsuki's eyes bulged, they looked hard at the little kid. Both them examined her carefully in disbelief until they couldn't hold it in anymore.
"WHAT???"