A celebratory mood hung heavily in the air, however, as the news of Dylan and Kenshi's engagement reached the rest of the Black Foxes. The group had gathered downstairs in the main part of LRN, drinking and laughing together. Dylan, despite Kenshi's protests, had come downstairs with them, wanting to join in on the fun without everyone crowding around in one small bedroom. Hiro had even come over to join them in the celebrations. Dylan had protested at first, but everyone wanted to give toasts and speeches and such, that she finally gave in. Sitting at one of the booths, the group had their glasses raised for another toast.
Riki stood at the head of the table, his usual confident demeanor on full display. "As the Black Fox leader, I just wanted to have us raise our glasses to celebrate our good friends on their engagement. I know you two will be very happy together, and so we wish you the best of luck!"
"Cheers!" Hiro declared bubbly, clinking his glass against everyone's. The group took a sip from their champagne, except for Dylan who sipped politely at her sparkling apple cider since she wasn't supposed to have alcohol while on her medication. She smiled contently at Kenshi, who had his arm wrapped delicately around her shoulders, holding her against him. He caught her gaze and returned her smile, giving her a sweet little peck on the lips. Someone else clanked politely against their champagne fluke, and the two looked up at Atsumu, who apparently wanted to give another toast.
"My friends! Congratulations! We all know that you two were made for each other the moment you met, or at least by how much Kenshi wouldn't stop talking about you after meeting you," Dylan giggled as she saw Kenshi's face redden at Atsumu's statement, "But we all know that you will take care of one another and we just wish you a lifetime of happiness!" The group cheered again and went to take another sip.
"Oh! And to the children to come of course!" Atsumu added as everyone was drinking, and Kenshi coughed in surprise, causing everyone to laugh. His face an even brighter shade of red than before, Kenshi cleared his throat and laughed too, giving Dylan a bashful smile.
Dylan giggled at his innocent reaction, and snuggled more closely to him. She hadn't really even thought about that before, the thought of having children with Kenshi. She had never really felt the desire to have children before, but being with Kenshi, she was beginning to change her mind. She suddenly began to imagine having a house full of little rough-housing boys. Running a muck with an energy they only could have gotten from their father. Or maybe a daughter of her own. One she could spoil and dress up in pretty little dresses she herself wouldn't be caught dead in. A little girl that Kenshi would call his little princess, and dote on her with constant love and affection. Yeah, she could see it. Kenshi was really good with kids after all, it would only come natural for him.
Kenshi seemed to notice the rather dreamy like look on her face and leaned in close, whispering in her ear. "We can get in a lot of practice at least until we are ready to have children." Flames licked at her cheeks at Kenshi's oddly bold statement, and she giggled quietly.
Takuto gave an annoyed groan across from them. "Could you two please keep it in your pants?" Kenshi blushed and cleared his throat, causing the group to break out into laughter once again.
Dylan giggled, her face lit up with joy. She was so happy to have met and to have been a part of these boys lives. Despite how hard of a time they gave each other sometimes, they were all there for each other. Dylan had never known friends like that, or even family for that matter. Dylan hadn't exactly grown up in the most conducive family environment, having been raised by not one, but two alcoholic parents. Parents who were more interested in getting more booze for themselves than paying her any attention. She'd raised herself essentially, and she was not ashamed of that. But meeting this group of men, interacting with them and becoming friends with all of them, even falling in love with one of them, she didn't know how she'd gotten so lucky. She had never known such friendship and love could ever exist. But now that she did, she was grateful each and every day for it. Thankful to have such wonderful and loving friends.
Hiro picked up the now empty bottle of champagne and held it up. "Hey Atsumu, we got any more?"
"Yeah, I think I have a couple more cases of it out back."
"A couple cases? Jeez Atsumu, I know we enjoy drinking, but isn't that a bit excessive?" Takuto chimed in.
Atsumu laughed. "Oh no! I had ordered a couple of cases for the restaurant and this was just a bonus from that!"
"Need a hand bringing them in?" Kenshi asked as Atsumu stood up and headed towards the back.
"That'd be great yeah! Might as well bring in the whole thing if we can, don't want them getting bad just sitting out back."
Riki stood up. "I'll help too." Kenshi kissed Dylan's forehead and followed after Riki and Atsumu towards the back. They disappeared into the back, and Dylan sighed, finishing off the last little bit of her sparkling cider. She looked over at Takuto and giggled, seeing as he propped his feet up on the table and leaned back into his chair. Making himself quite comfortable.
"You don't want to help out there Mr. Pork Noodles?" Dylan teased.
"Not particularly." He grunted and took another swig of his champagne, and light smile touching his lips.
Laughing, Dylan turned and looked at Hiro. "So, did you and Tatsuro find anything out?"
"Tatsuro managed to clear the image up enough to get a plate number off the van that hit you."
"Who'd it belong to?"
"A shipping company that just happens to be owned by our dear mobster clan. Tatsuro got a hold of his boss and they've officially opened an investigation into them. He was trying to get the location of their local warehouse when I left." Hiro replied, downing the last of his champagne. The front door to the restaurant dinged as someone walked inside, a peculiar sound to Dylan so late in the afternoon. But it wasn't unusual for customers to barge into LRN after hours, as the food there was so good that Atsumu had people lined up out the door most days. The three were faced away from the door, but Takuto waved his hand exaggeratedly over his head at whoever it was.
"Restaurant's closed, come back tomorrow." He called out.
"We're not here for dinner mate." A rough sounding voice replied. Hiro and Takuto exchanged glances and sat forward in their seats. Dylan turned her head, a sudden knot appearing at the pit of her stomach. Three rather hulky looking men walked inside, coming towards them. Two of the men were about the same height as Takuto, possibly a little taller. One had sandy blonde hair like him, and the other with chocolatey-looking hair. The other man was extensively larger than the other two, beating even Kenshi in height, probably the muscles of the group. The brown-haired man held a shotgun in his hands, and Dylan gulped.
"We're here for you." The bigger one said with a grin on his face. Takuto sat forward and held out his arm in front of Dylan, shielding her. Hiro came over quickly and stood next to him, also trying to shield her. She looked warily from the two men in front of her, to the men standing across from them. In any normal circumstance, she knew they would've had no problem handling these three, even with their shotgun. But with her injured the way she was, she knew that they wouldn't stand a chance against them. She just hoped that Kenshi and them wouldn't come back soon, it'd be bad if they were able to catch all of the Black Foxes in one foul swoop, and she knew that.
"Don't you think your lady friend there can take care of herself?" The brown-headed one said.
"Oh no, I think that's the one that pushed the other car out of the way when we were trying to ram them." The larger one answered, chuckling.
Dylan could see Hiro's fists clenching into fists. "So that was you?"
"Yep. Thought it'd be an easy kill since all of you seemed to be in the car at once. Take you all out easily. But she got in the way." The brown-headed one shrugged nonchalantly, as if they were simply talking about the whether.
The blonde looking one smiled. "Where are the rest of you?" Silence from the three of them reverberated throughout the room.
Dylan shook her head finally. "We don't know who you're talking about."
The blonde smiled and nodded his head at the larger one. "Jog her memory."
The larger man came forward to grab her, but Takuto lashed out, shoving him away from her. The brown haired man stepped forward and hit Takuto in the side of his head with the butt of the shot-gun, grabbing Dylan and yanking her forward and into the larger man's grasp. She squeaked in pain as the jolt caused her side to throb painfully.
"Takuto!" Dylan said worriedly, seeing him waver on his feet from the force of the blow. Hiro leapt towards him, catching him before he fell to the ground.
The larger one peered down at Dylan. "We'll ask again. Where are the rest of the Black Foxes?"
"T-They're not here." She answered simply. Out of the corner of her eye, however, she could see the other three boys, standing just out of eye-shot in the corner. Riki was holding Kenshi back, whispering something in his ear, and Dylan directed her attention back to the men in front of her.
"Well then, we'll just have to settle for you three for now. We'll come back for the others later. Our boss would like to have a chat with you."
Hiro shook his head. "There's only two Black Foxes here, what do you need her for?"
The larger one's grin grew larger. "Nice try, but you really think we wouldn't find out who the only lady Black Fox is? An honor really. I'll admit, we didn't know it was her initially that we'd hit until later."
"It was you who broke into Kenshi's apartment too, wasn't it?" Hiro said, steadying Takuto on his feet.
The blonde one raised his hand. "That'd have been me. The girl surprised me at first. I'd snuck in the window to take care of your little fireman friend, but she came out of no where. After I'd left I looked more into her profile and saw her work history at the museum. And I knew then that she had to have been the female Fox. Too coincidental."
"And you also went to Hiro's class to get him too, didn't you?" Dylan asked, giving the three behind her a venomous look.
The brown-haired one chuckled. "Guilty. He wasn't there though so I'd planned on coming back later. Also went over to your hacker's apartment a couple of times, but he was hardly ever there." Takuto's face seemed to pale a little at the thought of one of the mobster's having staked out his house, but scoffed instead.
"So if it's our heads you're after, why haven't you just killed us already?" Hiro asked.
"Our boss put a slight bounty on your heads, but he'd like to have a little chat with you first."
"And if we don't go quietly?" Takuto growled, blood trickling down the side of his face from where the butt of the gun had hit him.
The brown-haired one pumped the shotgun, loading it and pointing it at Dylan. "Then it's going to get really sticky in here."
"Fine! We'll go with you." Hiro said quickly, holding Takuto up. The three of them exchanged knowing glances as they were led outside towards a van. They were in trouble this time.