Sure enough, within a few days Katakuri and Peros had managed to find a job for you in the family's main building. Katakuri took you to work with him and led you to the older brother's office, coffee in hand.

"You'll be working under Peros, he'll get you started." He said grumpily, still not fully awake.

He opened the door to the office, letting you walk in. "Thank-" the door clicked as it shut behind you, Katakuri already gone. "Nevermind then." You said snarkily.

"Don't be too harsh with him (Y/n). He's always been difficult to talk to, even with us." Peros sat behind his desk, eyes wandering over some papers in his hand.

"I've lived with him for a a few weeks now and I've almost heard more from you than him at this point." You crossed your arms and frowned. He didn't have to love you, you rather he didn't actually. You would like it if he tried to get along at least. It's not like either of you had other options.

"Please, sit." Peros motioned to the chair in front of his desk. He waited for you to get comfortable before continuing. "He's just as unhappy as you are with the marriage. I think he was hoping to avoid marrying at all but Mama plays by her own rules and what she says goes."

"So I've seen." You crossed your legs and purses your lips. Linlin was not one of your favorite people right now, your parents weren't either for that matter.

"All I ask is you give Katakuri a chance." He gave you a closed liped smile. "I promise he'll warm up to you before you know it. He's actually great company."

"I can try but it's not like I haven't been. He's avoided all my attempts at conversation and he's gone all the time. It's not easy." You felt more frustrated the more you talked about it. You'd never met someone more difficult than him.

"If you'd like, I can help you out a little." His smile turned into a grin as he finally put the papers down and gave you his full attention. "There are two things in the world he loves more than anything; his family and his sweets, especially doughnuts. I'm sure it won't be hard to strike up a conversation over his favorite topics."

"Yeah, alright." You let yourself smile slightly. "I think I can work with that."

"Great!" Peros clapped his hands together. "Now how about we go over what you'll be doing here?"

----

After a quick description of your job and getting you set up, you found yourself working with another one of the Charlotte boys. Peros had found you a spot working with a man named Cracker. You'd forgotten the actual job title but you were going to help him maximize productivity at the different factory locations.

According to Peros, Cracker wasn't always the best at his job so you were going to help 'keep him on track' as he said. You understood what he meant when the two of you started going over the different locations. Cracker wasn't lazy by any means, he was really trying to figure things out. But he struggles with understanding the information in front of him.

After a couple hours of sitting down with the man and explaining some things, he was able to get a better idea of what he was doing. Right now, both of you were taking a short break, computers and papers pushed to the side as Cracker layed his upper half on the desk in front of you.

"So how's life with my brother?" He squished a cheek onto the hard surface and peeked up at you.

You leaned back in your chair, spinning it side to side. "Do you want an honest answer or.....?"

"Oh honest please. I'm curious how someone outside the family handles him."

You pursed your lips and stared at him, trying to figure out if he was serious or not before caving. "It's not easy. I don't see him much. He doesn't talk much. That's about all there is to it."

"Sounds boring."

"That it is."

That earned a chuckle from him. "So is that why you're here today? Nothing better to do?"

"I'm not sure yet. I don't know what I want right now and this was my only other option besides staying home all day I guess." You shrugged.

"So you don't know what to do with yourself." It wasn't a question. Cracker studied your face, waiting for you to object.

"I guess so."

He was quiet for a moment before starting on a different topic. "How old are you?"

"25, old enough to be married if that's what you're wondering."

Cracker laughed. You watched as his body shook against the desk. "Did you know that Katakuri is 48?"

"Wait what?" Did you're parents really marry you off to a guy twice your age? "You're kidding, right?"

"No." He laughed harder, now pushing away from the table to straighten out. "He really is. I can't believe no one told you. He's the second oldest out of all of us."

"There's no way! He doesn't look that old." You hissed, trying not to be too loud and bother Peros in his office.

"I swear he is. I thought you looked a little young for him." His laughter finally started to die down as he caught his breath.

"Does he like his women a little older?" You don't know why you asked.

"I don't think he cares, as long as she know what to do in bed, why does it matter?" He teased.

It was enough to get you to blush. "Forget I even said anything. Break's over, we have work to finish."

He ignored you and pushed away your laptop as you tried to grab it. "My my (Y/n), have you two not slept together yet? It's been, what, almost a month since you married?" His eyes sparkled as a mischievous look overcame him.

"That's none of your business!" You snatched up the laptop and jerked it open. "Co-workers shouldn't be asking about that kind of stuff anyway!"

"I'm your brother before I'm your coworker missy." He waggled a finger at you. "I feel that justifies the question."

"Really? Because I don't think it does. Stop being weird and help me with this."

He chuckled but pulled up his own computer to get to work. "I bet he'd be too big for you to handle anyway."

"Oh my God Cracker don't talk about your brother like that!"

He cackled as you went to smack him and missed. It was going to be a long day.

----

Katakuri came by the office to pick you up after he finished his own work.

"How'd it go?" He asked as you entered the car.

"It went." You felt the second blush of the day creep up your face at the thought of what Cracker had said.

"That's it?" He didn't notice.

"We got a lot done if that's what you're asking."

"Who's we?"

"Cracker and I. I'm supposed to be helping him from now on."

"I see."

"He told me some stuff I didn't know, ah, about you."

Katakuri grunted but didn't say anything.

"You aren't really 48, are you?"

He raised an eyebrow at you. "I am. Is that a problem?"

"Well no," You waved your hands around, unsure of what to say. "It's just- it's just an unexpected age gap is all."

"Mama doesn't care about age, only about what benefits the family business. I don't care much about it either." He made it sound like it was no big deal.

"Even if I'm practically half your age?"

"Are you?"

"Yes"

He paused. "I thought you were younger."

"No, I'm not." Somehow, his comment sounded almost degrading, like he thought you were more like a child than anything else. "I'm 25." You muttered.

"At least you aren't as young as I thought you were."

"How old did you think I was?"

He shrugged. "19, 20 maybe."

"As flattering as that is, that'd make things too weird."

"Weirder than me being old enough to be your dad?"

Sounds like Katakuri may have a sense of humor. "Yeah that's already a little difficult to get past."

"Don't think about it too much. It is what it is and we're stuck together whether we like it or not."

"Why have you been so chatty lately?" You asked the question before you could think about it.

"I can stop talking to you if you want." He said casually.

"No, it's fine." You blurted out. "You never seemed to have wanted to talk before is all."
If he stopped talking now you'd never get the chance to get to know him.

"I don't care for strangers and that's all we were."

"Were?" You felt a twinge of annoyance. "We still are. I tried to change that but you ignored me. I gave up because you weren't putting any effort in. So what changed?"

You couldn't tell if he was angry at your outburst or just thinking as he pulled out the car keys and finally started the vehicle up. He spoke when he'd gotten into the main road. "I think I'm used to seeing you around now. Maybe it's sunk in that you're a permanent part of my life."

"Huh," you looked away from him and watched the scenery pass by. "That's a shitty reason."

"You know, for someone who never got the chance to make her own life choices, you sure say whatever is on your mind a lot more than you probably should."

"Too blunt?" As big and intimidating as Katakuri was, you weren't scared of him or what he'd do. You couldn't bring yourself to care.

"No." You looked back at him, surprised. "I appreciate the honesty, but what makes my reason shitty?"

"You make it sound like you were afraid to get to know me. Or maybe you were hopeful that it was all a joke or something. Either way, it's stupid."

"It is stupid. That's why I've been trying now." He growled, frustrated with himself.

"So which is it? Were you scared or hopeful?"

"Maybe it's neither, maybe it's both. Either way, I think I'll keep that to myself."

Katakuri was becoming a mystery that you had the urge to solve. You felt you were finally getting to know something about him only for him to turn around and refuse to give you any other information. Maybe you'd take on the job of figuring this man out. It would be entertaining at the very least.

(A/n)
I don't know why but I have a soft spot for Cracker. I love his character so expect to see him throughout the story~