Chapter 33
As Shou returns from the nearest convenience store with the beverages, he sat down which was sitting in the shade on the beach.
"Oi, what are you doing here in the shade? Don't you wanna go into the sea to cool off instead of the shade?"
"..."
"Oi What's wrong?"
"Ah, No, it's nothing I was just spacing out and I don't want to get sunburned."
"I see..."
'Even though she said that she looked troubled to me. Well even if she didn't tell me, I already knew what was the problem anyway, since this island is her hometown and her parents didn't exactly treated her very well. At first, she was your usual pure little girl when she was younger but one night her parents had an argument and overheard her father that she was being a nuisance to the house as he doesn't like the fact that his wife focused more on her than doing household chores and preparing his dinner when he comes back home from work and slowly, argument, after argument, after argument, night after night her mother slowly started to blame Hotaru as well for making her miserable instead of blaming her own husband she instead blamed Hotaru blindly in fear of getting hit by her husband. Hotaru ran away in middle school when she was fed up with her parent's argument and snuck into a boat sailing to the mainland, Japan. And there she wandered around the streets, stealing and causing trouble, and slowly started to learn how to fight for her own. Again she told me this the day before the sixth division died because of a commission gone wrong. Despite her coming back here, stronger than her younger self she's still unable to completely move on from her past.'
Dusk has fallen and the whole team went into the lodging their boss reserved for them. They were all surprised by how luxurious the lodging was.
"Do you think Mishiki-oyabun will force us to pay this after we come back?" Ryota questioned.
"If that was the case then you're paying," Raiden replied.
"Hah!? What do you mean by that?! Why me?! Is it because I asked?!"
"Yeah pretty much."
"Captain is right," Eiko responded.
"I Can't really deny it either since I don't want to pay," Yuichi exclaimed.
"You...You traitors! Shou, which side do you think is right!?."
"..." Shou looked away from Ryota.
"Don't look away from me, you bastard!"
"You guys, stop arguing and help me set up the table for dinner already, I'm not giving you guys any meat if you're not helping." Said Hotaru.
After everyone had finished eating dinner, everyone agreed to have rooms separated by gender. But after everyone has gone to sleep, Shou couldn't sleep and noticed Hotaru going out in the night. Shou decided to follow her silently for her safety, he thought to himself. But as he followed her, he noticed that Hotaru stared at a window of a house. before leaving and going back into their lodge.
'There's no doubt, that must be her old house.' Shou thought to himself. 'But why?'
Dawn arrived and everyone was still asleep except for Shou who woke up early and was preparing breakfast after watching Hotaru get home safely that night. Hotaru was the next person to wake up.
"Huh? You're up early Older brother."
"Of course, I always wake up early, although sometimes I just spend all-nighters playing games and still be awake in the morning."
"Pfft, You shouldn't be staying up too late playing games all night you know?"
"I refuse."
"Sigh, You're really stubborn, Though I can't say I'm not stubborn either hehe."
"... Say, Hotaru You looked troubled the other day is something bothering you?"
"What are you talking about? I was literally just spacing out."
"You sure?"
"..."
"You can trust us you know?"
"What makes you say that something is bothering me?"
"Because You're too easy to read."
"...Bruh."
"Pfft, HAHAHAHA!"
"It's not funny!"
"I'm serious, You're just easy to read and everyone has at least something bothering them you know?"
"...That's true."
"I'm not forcing you to tell me this instant, Just take your time to tell me."
"...I- To sum it up this was my hometown and my parents didn't treat me well and I ran away and now I-"
"...I see, I think I get the gist of it," Shou said as he caressed her head to calm her down. "Do you need any help on overcoming it?"
"...Yes, please, I really don't like them and I can't even enjoy myself here with you guys without stressing how they will react when they discovered I've returned even though I've gotten stronger and part of a Yakuza gang, I-"
"Don't worry, we've got your back, remember? You can always count on us when you need to."
Hotaru started to tear up as she tried to reply. "Th-thank you, Older brother."
As Hotaru cried out her pent-up stress, they got caught by Eiko who misunderstood and thought Shou made Hotaru cry.
"You bastard made a child cry! Unforgivable!"
"W-wait it's a misunderstanding- gah!!!" Eiko threw a flying kick, throwing Shou to the ground. Shou coughed as he tried to explain.
"I-it's a misunderstanding."
"Eiko! Older brother is telling the truth, You're really misunderstanding it, he didn't make me cry!" Said Hotaru.
"...You sure?"
"Yes! Now get off of him, he's suffocating!"
"Ah... My bad."
"... My bad my ass, You were enjoying it," Shou replied.
"..."
"See! I'm not going make you breakfast today!"
"As if I wanted to eat your cooking anyway!"
As Eiko said that, The toaster finished toasting the bread and prepared a mouth-watering omelet and sweet french bread with sliced cherry tomatoes with soft omurice.
"Oh well, suit yourself then, I guess you're the only one who's not going to eat my cooking. I even made an extra for you, what a shame I guess I have to put this to the trash."
"Wha- You're literally wasting go- I mean food!"
"And? You're not going to eat it anyway so what's the issue?"
"...F-Fine I'll eat it!"
"Fucking tsundere."
"I'm not a tsundere!"
"What's all the ruckus about." Said Raiden. "Oh, Shou the breakfast you made looks good."
"How did you know it was my cooking?"
"Eiko is hopeless at cooking, Hotaru can cook but only to some extent."
Eiko was flushed with embarrassment as she couldn't cook and Shou's cooking was good than she had expected.