"Ne...Mukkun..." I put down the shonen manga I was reading and placed my head in my hands.

"Wha...what is it, N/n-chan?" He asked, not looking up from the shojo in his hands.

"Is it alright if I go with you to Mankai later...?" I tugged at my hair and closed my eyes.

"Well...of course...but why so suddenly?" he asked, finally closing the manga he was holding to stare at me.

"We've been dating for nearly a year now...I wanna see where my Muku lives! And besides, I'm curious about the script of the next play... I'll finally be able to put my sleuthing skills to good use!" I chuckle, thinking of all the detective manga I've ever read.

"E-Eh?!" his eyes widened and he nearly dropped his manga.

I could tell he was about to go into a flurry of questions, self-deprecating statements, and incomprehensible speech, so I was glad that the bell rang then.

"Hahah...the first bell rang already Mukkun! I have to sneak back to my school!" I jumped up from my seat and gave him my trademark mischievous smile.

"I keep telling you to just eat lunch in your own school if you have to run back in a hurry each time... I don't want to be the reason you're late..." the boy murmured as I disappeared down the stairs.

"My school's just across the street, stop worrying so much! Bye!" I called out as the door to the rooftop slammed shut from a gust of wind.

"Oh...she left her manga here too...scary..." after packing his own things, he picked up the manga his girlfriend was reading only to be greeted with a murder scene on the front cover, something rarely, if ever, seen on his shojo mangas.

"At least I have an excuse to pick her up from school like a gentleman..." he whispered happily as he opened the door and went down the stairs as well.

He found Yuki sitting on one of the steps, sketching a flower-themed costume whilst drinking some milk, and greeted him.

"Was that Y/n-san who just blew by here?" Yuki looked up as he crumpled his newly empty milk box.

"Unfortunately..." Muku rubbed the back of his neck as Yuki got up and tucked his notebook into his sling bag.

They walked down to the second floor together as Yuki commented, "Tch. That Speed Demon never gets tired of this, huh?"

The two boys made eye contact before laughing lightly.

"I really hope I can go to the same University as N/n... I still don't understand why my parents wanted me to stay in this school so badly...I mean, St. Flora's security is obviously lax if N/n can just come and go as she pleases..." he rambled as Yuki raised an eyebrow.

"Well, good luck with that, Wonder Boy..." Yuki shrugged as they parted ways, each heading to their respective classrooms.

...

"Mukkun! Yukki!" I waved at the two familiar figures as I spotted them waiting for me at the school gate.

"Hey, isn't that the St. Flora High School uniform? The loner must think she's all that for being friends with the snobby elite nerds there..." a condescending voice whispered, loud enough for me to know she had no intention of hiding her words.

"No...I heard one of them's her boyfriend!" a known gossip interjected.

"Pfft...which one? Aren't they both gay? I mean they look girlier than h--"

I silenced the normal whispers I heard around me with a glare.

Thankfully, I soon reached the two and smiled brightly at them as we started walking to Velludo Way.

"Oi...Speed Demon..." Yuki started hesitantly as soon as we rounded the corner.

"Is that...the real reason why you run over to our school for lunch?" Muku continued worriedly as he took my hand.

I laughed lightly and gripped his hand tighter before swinging our arms back and forth, causing Muku to blush and Yuki to shake his head amusedly.

"Don't worry! I'm used to those things...! More importantly..." I smiled up at them innocently.

"I can tell you two don't want me to go to Mankai with you..." I narrowed my eyes as I could feel them tense up in surprise.

"Wha--what are you talking about!" Muku let go of my hand, nervously waving his own around.

"Pfft. Don't think I can't read you two. Did you forget I've known you since middle school?" I huffed as we crossed a street.

"It's just..." Muku averted his eyes.

"Muku's worried the guys'll give you a hard time. While I just don't want to get disturbed while working...and your arrival is definitely gonna make noise," Yuki answered bluntly.

"Huh...so no one else knows Mukkun has a girlfriend?" I turned to look at Yuki as he nodded.

"Hm...so that's how it is...I have to do my best then! To impress my future-in-laws!" I raised my fist overdramatically as Yuki sighed and Muku sputtered.

The three of us chatted on our way, occasionally bickering, and time passed quickly. As we walked into the dorms and I removed my shoes, I commented, "You know, it's unsafe to just leave the door unlocked like that."

Yuki and Muku removed their shoes after me as I looked around, noting five guys sprawled on the couches.

"You forget we have a troupe composed entirely of yakuza and delinquents," Yuki replied as one of the guys gaming on a couch paused to flip him off.

"Tch, back at you, Neo Gangster... What are you even doing here, don't you have practice today?" he placed a hand on his hip and quirked an eyebrow.

"I finished early, duh."

"Ah, he must be Banri-san then!" I asked Muku who nodded.

"Oya oya...our baby members brought back a girl?" the man sitting beside Banri asked without even looking up from the game as Yuki went up the stairs to his room.

"Hm...he's gaming so he's Chigasaki Itaru-san?" I muttered as one of the guys on the other couch bounded up to us.

"Uwah~ I could cry! Mukkun and Yukki brought a girl home! They grow up so fast!" the guy started snapping photos of us excitedly.

I shielded my face from the flashes and shrunk behind Muku as Yuki exclaimed, "Woah! You're amazing, McExtrovert! You scared the Speed Demon herself!"

"Tch. I'm not scared of Miyoshi-san! I just don't like pictures..." I hissed at Yuki as I clung to a blushing Muku.

"N/n-chan...I'll protect you..." he whispered shyly.

"Pffft...Kazunari..." A familiar orange-haired guy walked over to drag the still-squealing man back to the couch.

"Woah! It's the hack!" I exclaimed before clamping a hand on my mouth, realizing what I had said.

Tenma whirled around with an annoyed look on his face and glared at Yuki. "The hell you've been telling the girl?"

"Ahaha...I'm sorry! I didn't mean any offense. It's just amazing how I'm in the same room as someone I keep seeing in movies and commercials! It's actually kinda weird..." I rambled.

He shook his head in amusement and replied, "I'll go tell the director to prepare enough food so you can eat dinner with us. You're Muku's girlfriend, right? There's no way you're Yuki's."

"Go jump off a roof, hack!" Yuki yelled from upstairs as Tenma dragged Kazunari with him in the direction of the kitchen.

"Hm~ Good job, Mukkun! She's very triangular~!" Another guy backflipped down the stairs and started examining me.

"I'll show you my triangle collection after dinner!" he exclaimed before running off.

"I...didn't even get to say anything. He must be Ikaruga Misumi," I thought as I finally let go of Muku.

"This is Kyu-chan..." Muku introduced me to the last guy on the couch.

"Oh! You're Mukkun's cousin! Nice to meet you, I'm L/n Y/n!" I cheerfully greeted.

"I'm Hyodo Kumon, and you're Muku's future wife!" he joked as he shook my hand.

"Kyu...kyu-chan!" Muku sputtered as we laughed.

"He only teases you like that because you get flustered so easily, you know!" I ruffled his soft pink hair as Kumon laughed.

"Let's just go read some manga upstairs please..." Muku took my hand and started walking.

"Eh? Shouldn't she meet nii-chan first?" Kumon asked as he leaned back in his seat.

"That's right! Can I meet Juza-san on our way there? Room 104 right?" I smiled brightly as we walked up the stairs.

"Sure. Ju-chan is probably practicing his lines, though..."

"Scary...why does she know our room assignments?" Kumon muttered to himself once the two couldn't hear him anymore.

...

"So...Yuki..." I fidgeted in my spot as I looked up at the clock.

So far, I'd spent most of my time here pleasantly chatting with Muku, reading some of his manga, and doing homework while Yuki worked on some costumes.

"What?" he asked, clearly annoyed at me for disrupting his work.

"I didn't have a chance to ask earlier because Muku was here...is it true? When you call the director a...Currian..." I looked nervously at the door, afraid that Muku would come back from the bathroom sooner than I expected.

"Pffthahaha! That's right...you hate curry, don't you?" he turned his sewing machine off while laughing and turned to me.

"...don't tell Mukkun. Or Izumi-san. Or anyone!" I grumbled.

"Sure. But there's never been a day where dinner here isn't curry..." he smirked as I groaned.

"...I suddenly have a stomachache and have to go home..."

"Oh? But if you do that you won't be able to meet the director and the Money-grubbing yakuza..." he said as he tied his hair back.

"Mmph...that won't do...I need to meet my Mother-in-law and Father-in-law today!" I overdramatically sprawled out onto the floor.

"...it's useless to tell you they're not really our parents, right?"

"Yup."

"Rest in peace then, Speed Demon," he said before resuming his work.

"You're a horrible person, Yukki," I sighed as I sat back up.

"Thanks."

...

"It's nice to finally meet you, Y/n-chan! I'm Tachibana Izumi, the director of this company. Muku's told me a lot about you!"

"Eh? How come he's never told us anything about the cute girl?" a boy with dyed red hair pouted as he received his serving of curry.

...curry.

"Heh...nice to meet you too, Izumi-san! Is it alright if I call you that?" I asked.

"Aw, it's so refreshing to have someone speak politely! Everyone here but Sakuya-kun and Muku-kun are hooligans..." she smiled warmly at me as she ladled some curry into my plate.

"Please. She's only being polite because she's got it into her thick-brain that she needs to put on a good impression for her future-in-laws..." Yuki muttered as I elbowed him, hard.

"I hope you're not calling me a hooligan as well, Izumi," a blonde man came in the dining room and took the seat beside her.

"Held up at work, Sakyo?" she smirked as she gave him a kiss on the cheek and a boy to her left growled.

"Yo. Is it ok for her to do that in front of Psycho-stalker?" I whispered to Yuki.

"No yandere-ing allowed in the dining area," Yuki replied nonchalantly as he swallowed a bite of his food.

"Are you implying something? Yakuza can be gentlemen," Sakyo replied to the director.

"Well, shouldn't the gentleman yakuza great our guest, then?" she raised an eyebrow as she sat back down, having finished giving everyone their food.

"Ah," Sakyo replied as he sat down, apparently only having noticed me then.

"Furuichi Sakyo from the Autumn Troupe. You must be Sakisaka's girlfriend?" he asked after noting that I was seated next to Muku.

"Yes, sir. I'm L/n Y/n, a second-year in Tanegaoka High School," I greet cheerfully.

"Hm...didn't you go to Tanegaoka Middle School?" he looked at a tall boy sitting across from him.

"Yeah," the boy answered simply with a roll of his eyes before continuing to eat.

"That's Azami-kun. He's our youngest," Izumi supplied.

I nodded, thinking of how it really did sound like they were a family.

"Aren't you gonna eat, L/n-san?" a gentle older brother type of voice from the far end of the table asked.

I looked up and was about to answer Tsuzuru when Yuki chuckled beside me.

"...shut up, Yukki," I whispered.

"Are you okay, N/n-chan?" Muku looked at me worriedly, his big blue eyes searching my face for answers.

"Of course I am, Mukkun," I gritted as I took a bite of curry.

"I suppose it tastes better than most curry...but I still hate it. I hate all curry..." I thought as I shoveled bite after bite into my mouth.

As soon as I finished I gulped down my cold water, relieved.

"Ahah. You ate fast so you wouldn't taste it but still seem eager. That's the most you've used your brain in a while, Speed Demon," Yuki giggled beside me.

Thankfully, no one noticed anything strange and the night continued on pleasantly. It felt wonderful to even just be in that room, almost like I was part of a big family...

"So, Yukki, why d'you call the little lady there Speed Demon? I mean, totes stylin' nickname, but like, what's the reason?" Kazunari asked.

Muku smiled at me reassuringly as Yuki laughed in a sinister manner. Oh no.

"You see...Y/n-san here has a little habit of--"

"Yukki!!!"

My begging was to no avail and soon Yuki was telling the entire company about all of my antics, and even how I met him and Muku!

I groaned as I hid my face in Muku's shoulder, "Mphh...it was all for nothing."

"You mean how you pretended to like the curry because you thought it would impress the director?"

I was too dejected at Yuki's stories to be surprised Muku knew. I merely grumbled, "I can't just act like a brat and refuse the food my Mother-in-law made! And it's my first time meeting her too!"

"N/n-chan. They're not actually my parents."

I sighed and muttered, "I didn't want to worry you either but you realized anyway..."

"It's alright. I thought it was cute," he smiled and played with my hair, twirling it in his fingers.

"Hmph...the worst part is...Yuki's only doing this to annoy me..."

He laughed as I pulled back to glare at Yuki and pouted, crossing my arms.

"But I'm glad I went today. I feel like...even for just today...I had a family..." I smiled brightly at him, unaware of the way his heart throbbed at my words.

"N/n-chan..." he took my hand in his and kissed it lightly.

I looked around and realized that Yuki had finally finished his story.

"Jeez, I tell a story for a few minutes and you two have an emotional moment..." Yuki sighed.

"However cheesy it sounds..." he started.

"...from now on, Mankai will be your family." Muku finished.

"If...if you want us to be of course..." he added as I looked around the table, some were smiling, some were asleep, some were bickering, and some were simply staring back, but all of them felt warm.

I laughed and said a single word, "Yes! Of course!"

...

"Oi, was that a proposal? You sure move fast!" Tenma laughed.

"I hate to agree with the hack but yeah," Yuki nodded sagely.

"I do think they're a little young to be engaged but I give my blessing!" Izumi said as she elbowed Sakyo.

"As long as it won't get in the way of your acting. Or cut into our budget," Sakyo replied.

"Wha-what?!" Muku and I exclaimed, both blushing.