After sitting out by the fire last night, he still wanted her next to him.  By the time they had gone inside, everyone had called it a night. When Ishmael got to her room it was empty. Min was sharing Dae's room so Seo decided to have her join him in his room for the night.

Seo woke to a soft bundle curled up in his arms.  Ishmael had felt him move and was slowly waking up herself.  After a heavy sigh, she opened her eyes. Looking off to the side she saw a picture of Seo and Dae.  Loving brother and sister.

"Morning."

"...morning Joonie."

He chuckled at hearing the name only his mom and sister had called him up until now.

"Hey hon?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we stay a little longer after the others leave?"

"You really like it out here don't you?"

"Mmhmm. There's so much outside space."

"Yeah we can stay for a bit. I need to close up things and get stuff ready for the caretakers."

"Caretakers? You parents won't be back?"

"Not for about 6 months."   Seo gave her a kiss to the forehead and sat up to stretch his arms over his head.   "That's why there's hardly any food in the house. The caretakers will harvest what's left in the garden then till the rest under. My Parents have a smaller home out in the country that they stay at during the winter."

"Oh. Okay, I'll help you get things ready."

"You sure, it may take a couple of hours. I was going to ride the metro back to Tokyo."

"I don't mind. Plus I'll get to see more of the area!"

"I'm sorry babe. You didn't really get to do much other than cook."

"It's okay. I didn't mind."

"I'll make it up to you soon."

"Mn."

For now the two of them got up and got dressed separately to start their day. Even though they were together, they were both a teeny bit old fashioned. Seo told her that they needed to strip all the sleeping areas down and set the futons out to be stored away. He also had to make sure his parents quarters were secured and the caretaker's quarters opened to air out before they arrived. They would do that after the other's left.

Ishmael would have Sean and Haru take what dishes she brought back to the house. She headed downstairs to put on a pot of coffee for the guys. She sat the rest of the cookies and cake out for them to eat. Seo asked her to set aside a piece of cake for him and to leave what little bbq was left so they could eat it after they had finished with things. As soon as the coffee started, men started making their way to the kitchen. Ishmael had also sat her and Seo aside some extra cookies as well to enjoy with their lunch.

First ones down were Sean and Haru. They were used to getting up so early from just being around Ishmael.

"Morning sis."

"Morning little sis."

"Morning guys. Coffee is ready."

"Thanks. Morning Seo."

"Morning Sean. Hey Ishmael is going to stay with me for a bit. I need to take care of some things here before I can leave. We'll take the metro back to the office and I'll bring her home from there."

Haru and Ishmael were too busy sharing a piece of cheesecake to pay them any attention.

"Sis you got all your stuff together to take back."

"Mmhmm! It's by the door."

"All right, you keep your go bag with you."

"Okay ge. You to!"

"What's a go bag?" Seo had no idea what they were talking about.

"It's a bag that the three of us carry around wherever we go. It's for emergencies or if we have to walk home for some reason. Our Pops taught us about stuff like that."

"I see. My dad is kinda like that."

By now the other's were coming down stairs and Ishmael sat coffee mugs out for them.

"Yay! Coffee! Thank you MelMel!"

"You're welcome Josh. There's the rest of the cookies. You guys need to eat them."

"Oh don't worry my cute little sis!" Seong came downstairs and kissed Ishmael on the head. She scrunched her face at him as Seo and Haru gave him a dirty look. "Hey I told you guys the other day I've adopted her as my little sis too, so you'll just have to get used to it." Seong didn't care what the other's thought as he poured himself a cup of coffee and grabbed two chocolate chip cookies, dunking one in the hot brew.

"Hey Seong will you drive the van back? You can leave the keys on my desk. I'll have Hideki take it back Friday."

"Yeah? Aren't you coming with us?"

"No, I need to close things up here for the caretakers."

"Sure, no problem."

Min and Dae finally made it down stairs.

"Hey losers don't eat all the cookies!" Min stormed over and got some for her and Dae. "Stupid boys!"

"Hungry Min?" Josh was frowning at her.

"Yes, and I want cookies!" After eating her second one, she returned to normal. "You know MelMel, you can never leave now that we've all had your wonderful cooking. Even if you and Seo break up, you can't leave!"

"Okay MinMin." Ishmael just laughed as Seo didn't seem the type to casually date women. Once he was serious about you, he meant it.

After coffee, cookies and the last of the cheesecake, Kim and Seong washed the dishes as the others packed up to head back to the city. Sean and Haru asked Ishmael to leave her garmin on and Haru showed them how they could track each other. Ishmael told them she would turn her tracker on after she texted them that she was leaving Chiba so her brothers knew when she was getting close to home. She reassured them that she would be fine and Seo would look after her. Plus she had her phone fully charged. Yesterday as she helped him return his mother's guqin to the room, she saw some black bags in a box by the door. After asking what they were, Seo told her they were some extra electronic bags he had been given at a convention. They were supposed to help protect electronic devices from static shock. He told her she could have as many as she wanted.

"Oh here! Seo gave me these. I'm keeping my electronics in mine." Ishmael handed Sean and Haru one.

"What is it?"

"They're like static charge protector bags. Some guy from a convention gave them to me to try out. I forgot all about them. Hell, I don't even know if they work or not."

"Cool, I'll put my garmin and phone in it for safe keeping. Thanks." Sean took two and put his devices in one and would put his garmin in the other. Sean had both of the devices off as he had forgotten to plug them in last night and the batteries were getting low. Haru just took one as he didn't want to be without his phone. Ishmael talked the others into using them also, whether or not they did was unknown to her.

The guys got everything loaded into the back of the van. Seo told Dae know that they would drop her off at the train station and that mom and dad would pick her up once she got to the station near their cabin. Before leaving, Sean let Ishmael know that they would be getting pizza tonight as she wasn't cooking for the rest of the day. She put in her order for pineapple pizza and the guys headed back to the office. Seo wanted them to all check their emails before heading home to make sure none of the new contracts had any issues. They would take care of things and not to worry.

With the house to themselves again. Seo gave her a long and much needed hug.

"Hey can we walk around before heading to the station? I want to see the town."

"Of course. This won't take long. I'll set the futons mattresses by the patio door, if you strip the sheets off of them. You can leave them right outside the bedroom door."

The two got busy on the bedrooms and had everything done in less than an hour. They straightened up the living room and disposed of the balloons and streamers from yesterday and sat all trash in the dumpsters. Perfect timing as the trash collectors were pulling up. Before heading out, they had an early lunch from the left overs and shared the last piece of cheesecake. While Ishmael heated up the food, Seo opened up the caretakers cabin.

Ishmael was glad she dressed comfortable today as they would be doing a lot of walking.

With everything done in the house. They closed up and headed out to walk around the town for a bit. Walking, the day was beautiful and the temperature mild. They passed a small market as they made it into the main area of town. Seo's phone went off with a notification from Kim that Dae had been dropped off at the station and was on her way to their parents. Seo knew she would be there shortly. As they continued to walk, they got more looks than usual as it was rare for African Americans to visit their city. Seo kept her close to him, just in case.

They reached the small cafe that the others had visited for ice cream the other day. They agreed on two flavors and shared the small bowl even though they were still full from the early lunch they had. Ishmael heard others whispering about them but didn't pay it much attention. Finished, Seo wanted to show her a park then they would head to the station. The park was a twenty-minute walk from where they were.

Walking to the park, Seo took her hand. He wasn't ashamed to be seen with her and wanted others to know it. Ishmael tightened the grip just a little and smiled at him.