Another sip.

"Dear, where have you brought me?" Bella asked, looking around curiously.

We were walking through the familiar alleyway.

"The open secret of the illustrious Long clan—Kouzuki Miya's bar," I replied matter-of-factly.

The familiar, unlit signboard could already be seen.

"Huh?" My special woman stopped scanning the vicinity and looked at me with a healthy dose of disbelief in her gaze. "I've heard the stories about people stumbling across the black door and either disappearing or getting a life-changing opportunity afterward. I was certain it was just an urban legend."

"Well, I can assure you that this one has a lot more truth behind it than many others," I informed her, feeling how her hand squeezed my elbow a bit harder.

I took another step closer to the aforementioned black door. Bella chose to follow, even though her expression showed that she had more things to say.

"Hey, Michael, wait. Give me a few moments to get ready." I chose to ignore those words and open the door instead.

The familiar interior of my grandmother's bar, together with the perpetually bored bartender polishing his favorite glass, met me with dim lights and blues melody.

The only real difference was that this time the Lady in Black wasn't sitting at her usual place. Instead, she was standing by the bar counter, either too worried to hide her anxiety or showing it on purpose.

I shook my head, choosing not to overanalyze the unimportant things.

"Tian…" A barely held-back tremble in her voice spoke for itself. Unless it was part of the play, of course.

I stopped her with a gesture. And she chose to do so. 

With a light push, I let myself slip into the Professional mask.

"Grandmother. I trust you enough to believe it was an honest mistake. A miscalculation made with the best intention behind." I had a message to convey, and it was the best bet. "I am not angry. Much less betrayed or some other silly stuff. But I am disappointed."

My words made Kouzuki Miya pale.

"Let me repeat myself. I trust you; I really do," I continued my speech. "I also believe that it was a good plan."

I made another pause. 

"But I am not a chess piece." I locked my eyes with the Lady in Black. "I don't mind playing along, but I won't stand being played around behind my back."

In reality, this whole situation didn't bother me all that much, but this was an important enough issue to put my foot down. The earlier, the better. I had a solid hunch this was, at least in part, yet another test.

"I am sorry, Tian," the Lady in Black apologized.

Well, this looked good enough in my books, and I was about to accept it when Kouzuki Miya decided to throw in a haymaker and add the bow to her words.

For fuck's sake. Of course, I wasn't about to let her do so.

The footwork I copied from shadows came in handy as I caught my grandmother in an embrace.

"That's overkill," I chided her. "How can I accept something like that?"

The Lady in Black responded with a weak smile and nod.

I ignored the suspicion that this result was what she was aiming for from the beginning. Even if she did, I could only bow down to the perfect execution.

The gaze of Kouzuki Miya departed from my face as she shifted her focus towards something situated behind my back.

Oh, right. It was about time.

"How about you introduce the two of us, Tian?" The last traces of vulnerability left the outer shell of the Long clan matriarch.

I smiled at such an abrupt change. Not unlike my own.

"Sure." I kept my smile on. "This is Isabella Alvarez, the most important woman in my life, and simply someone incredibly special to me."

Bella, who so far had been watching the show with a puzzled look on her face, followed my words with a ceremonial bow.

"And this is Kouzuki Miya, my grandmother and one of the most powerful people in this city." I finished the introduction.

The Lady in Black accompanied my words with a graceful nod.

For a long moment, the two sides of my family quietly studied each other.

"The men of the Long clan are prideful and stubborn. The men of my Kouzuki clan are cold and fickle. Since someone with the blood of both families in his veins called you special and is ready to die for you, then it must be the truth." Kouzuki Miya was the first to break the silence. "As such, as Kouzuki Miya, the wife of the current head of the Long clan, I welcome you to the family."

***

I looked into the cup in front of me. It was the fifth one. Or was it seventh? I gave up on this line of thinking and took a sip instead, enjoying the familiar taste.

The introductions were followed by a retelling of the story of how we met. With plenty of my commentaries as well.

The follow-up story gave birth to a wave of complaints about the men of the Long clan, with me and Long Hao being used as examples.

I'm sorry, old geezer. You caught some flak because of me.

If I were honest, I had been enjoying the way Kouzuki Miya masterfully used this conversation to establish rapport with Bella, bringing them ever-so-slightly closer by the minute.

If I were to make an educated guess, Bella was aware of all of that and still enjoyed this conversation just as much.

And if all it took was me getting some well-deserved dressing, so be it.

I took another sip of my tea, trying to focus on the current topic.

"If you need advice on how to play the lead, my sister is someone much better suited to do so," the Lady in Black was in the middle of saying. "My expertise lies more in playing a supporting role, guiding everything from behind the curtains."

"Please enlighten me!" Bella responded to her words.

"Instead of being in the spotlight and making myself exhausted by fighting against the world AND him, I just let Hao take the lead. He trusts and respects my opinion enough to come and ask for my advice whenever it's something he deems important. Otherwise, he is perfectly happy to stand in front of me, ready to act as my shield against anything and everything. Mmm, that wide back to hide behind…"

I took another sip, cutting off my focus on the conversation. Yeah, the preferences and kinks of my grandmother weren't the knowledge I had any wish to hear.

A scene from my first life—my attempt to hit on the Lady in Black in our first meeting—surfaced in my mind's eye. Ugh.

Good thing no one will ever know this piece of dark history.

I took another sip.