"I want you to meet Oda-sama." I said. She was busy with her phone again, but stopped what she was doing to look at me. She slowly put her phone down on the table, and wrapped both her hands around her coffee cup to show that I had her attention. "But it might not be for a while yet. It's going to be important that you meet him."

"Why? Does he know about me?"

"Of course he does. Akari, everyone knows about you." She looked at me hard, and I could only guess she was trying to figure out if I had been the one to break the news, or if I was regretful that the entire underworld had been tipped off. "I hope you're serious about me. I'm not taking you to meet him until you're sure you are. Until you're sure this life with me is what you want."

"Do I have to decide if I'm going to marry you, is that what you're asking?"

Her questions were so straightforward, and it was such a refreshing point of view in contrast to the cryptic way I spoke with no clear intention. I had to laugh at her sentiment, though if I was honest with myself...

I was rarely honest with myself.

"I'm not asking you to marry me." I said. "Although, being a Yakuza's woman is a big deal. Being my woman is an even bigger deal. I was a huge player, and I was known for it. People have caught on to the fact that you're not simply my next fling."

She folded her arms over her chest as if she was irritated, and I couldn't tell if it was just a gesture, or if she was being sarcastic as well. "I love that you're still just going through the motions and thinking that you're waiting for me to make some kind of decision about how I want this to go." I swore at myself in my mind. "I hate to break it to you, Kazu, but we said the word 'love' to each other."

I smiled and breathed a laugh, realizing how dramatic I had been making the situation. "So we did."

"So why are you acting like I'm so inconvenient to your lifestyle?"

I had thought that the things I said to her were preparing her for the gravity of who I was, but she somehow didn't care about that at all. She saw me as she would see any other person. I was just someone she was a stranger to before, and then got to know. I remembered how I had defined her to myself.

"You are inconvenient." I said. "You satisfy every quality I have. The violence in me, the protector, even the weakest side of me. All of that is very inconvenient. Do you know how much power you have over me?"

It looked like she wanted to say something in retaliation to being insulted, but I smiled as I watched her expression change as she realized she was being complimented. I waited while I watched her think about what I said, and what she had to say in return. "I'm sorry." It seemed to be all she could come up with.

"I tried to keep you and I out of the spotlight, but Genji didn't want that. You're always going to be talked about in relation to me, no matter what happens between us." It felt like a heavy conversation to be having across a table at a cafe, sipping coffee together. But she had an idea in her head, and I felt the need to make sure I molded it into a realistic one. "Why do you think I haven't been to work? Why do you think I turned my phone off and got us a hotel in Shibuya? I have to act faster than I had planned to, just to keep you safe."

She put a hand over her mouth. "Did Genji do that on purpose? Did he out me just to get you in trouble?"

"He did." I wasn't about to start telling her half-truths. "He knows some things about what's going on in my syndicate, and he wants me out of the way." I felt my cheeks turning hot with embarrassment, and tried to think of something other than how angry I was at the situation. The only other thing I could think of was the way Ito looked in my bed, and that thought didn't exactly help how quickly my skin was flushing. "He knows more than I do about what's going on."

"Why don't we go to your house in Setagaya?" She was only trying to help. "We'd be out of the way, but you wouldn't have to be on the run."

I leaned forward, putting my forearms on the table and lacing my fingers together. "Akari, that was a perfect example of that power over me I was talking about." I said. She leaned forward to meet me, a little expectantly, like it was just something she did out of habit. "Forget about it for now. We're in Shibuya for the day, so let's take advantage of it."

I stood from the table and made a half-circle around it with the intention of taking her coffee cup back into the cafe for her as she gathered her things. She remained in her chair, but grabbed my jacket when I was close enough. "I didn't mean to force you to take care of me. That's why I wanted to make sure I never took advantage of your kindness. I know you wouldn't say no to me."

I breathed a laugh and shook my head as I leaned down to kiss her. "That's not what I meant. You're right, I wouldn't say no to you. But it's not because I'm just being kind to you."

I could tell she went back and forth between believing that I loved her, that she meant something to me, and believing that I was only showing her the best of me, that I was just showing her kindness because I felt bad for her. I would let her, because I was tired of trying to convince her with words and explanations.

As we walked through the main streets of Shibuya, she held my hand like something she did without thought, naturally, and it was easy for her. She pointed to a shop, quite embarrassed about what she wanted to say. I looked in the general direction she was pointing to see a cluster of small boutiques, and I couldn't tell exactly which one she had meant to identify. "I need to go in there." She said. "I don't have enough underwear at your place, and I can't go back to mine to get more."

I nodded to her, not letting go of her hand, waiting for her to lead the way. "Okay."

"Wait out here." She said., once she had pulled me to the entrance of the shop.

I retrieved my wallet and handed it to her. "Fine."

She pressed the wallet into my chest, but I didn't take it back from her. "I don't want this."

"Then I'm coming in with you." I stepped in closer to her, using my free hand to sweep a loose strand of hair back at the side of her face. I let the back of my fingers gently graze her skin.

"I'm not going to get out of this, am I?"

"I'd come in with you if you took my wallet or not." I laughed, and she smiled with an expression like she knew she had been defeated. "I don't see why it matters, I'm going to see them anyway."

"What if there are other ladies in there? You'll make them uncomfortable."

I began backing her toward the door of the shop, and reached around her to open the door. "Can you check? I'll talk to the staff." She nodded hesitantly and looked inside the door. "Don't forget who I am, Akari."

I lead her with the hold I still had on her hand to the counter of the shop where two ladies were chatting quietly. The shop was empty of any other shopper. "Good afternoon." I said to the ladies, and reached for my inner jacket pocket to slide one of my business cards across the counter to them. "I'm Obata Kazuhide. I wonder if you would be so kind to allow my girlfriend to shop uninterrupted. She knows what she likes, she won't take long."

Ito gripped my arm, lingering behind me. "Kazu, there's no need to ask them that!" She spoke quietly but firmly.

"We would be happy to lock the door for the duration of your shopping, not to worry, young lady." One of the shop ladies said, nodding bows to us as she made her way to the door. "Please let us know if we can help you with anything."

"Thank you very much for accommodating us." Ito bowed to her. "I have to apologize for the forwardness of my boyfriend."

To my surprise, the shop lady laughed, and leaned in close to Ito. She sent her eyes wandering up and down me. "It's a common request. A lot of young ladies are too shy to shop with others around. Your boyfriend didn't have to flex his status at all." They laughed together at my expense, and I let it happen, just to appease Ito further. I wanted her to be comfortable, even if it was in spite of me.

Being in cahoots with the shop ladies had the desired effect on her. She relaxed, and she walked up and down the little shop taking a look at nearly everything they had to offer. I leaned against the counter with my arms crossed watching her, until she beckoned me with a call of my name a wave to follow her to the back of the shop. There, a small table displayed a few modest sets in smooth cotton, just like the basics I was used to seeing her in.

"I just want these." She told me, keeping her voice low as if she was worried the shop ladies would hear her. "This is what I usually wear."

I nodded obediently to her. "Get as many as you need."

"Do you...think I should get something else?"

I wondered if we had been talking about what I wore under my clothes would have the same effect. She was so embarrassed about something that was so essential to her comfort, but I thought about every time I touched her body, every time I had run my hands over her under things, whether I had been undressing her or just taking an opportunity to touch her skin under her shirt.

"I don't think you should get something else." I said. I realized that I had been staring at her while I let my mind run. "Not unless you want to."

"I don't think I want to." She was barely containing her laughter. "Not after the way you looked at me when I asked."

When we left the shop, Ito had an elegantly wrapped bag in hand. It was discreet, just a plain white gift bag with pink tissue paper, no logo or name of the shop I supposed to protect the shopper left carrying it around. "Are we staying here again tonight?" She asked me.

I took the bag from her. "No, we'll go back to Kabuki-cho. I'm going to train again tonight, so I'll set us up somewhere safe." I draped my arm around her back, letting my hand rest on the curve of her hip as we walked. She leaned a little closer to me, and I knew even if it was subconscious, she drank up every touch I gave her. "Everyone here knows who I am, and we've been seen by a lot of people today. Oda-kai owns Shibuya, so we're safe, but that doesn't stop people from crawling around under my nose."

"How long are you going to do this?"

"Until tomorrow." I said. "Tomorrow, we're going to get dressed, and I'm taking you to the Oda-kai house."