~Inari's POV~

Halfway through my shift, I got an update from my co-worker about her baby. They were able to get the toy that he'd stuffed up his nose out with only a small nosebleed as a result. She asked me if I wanted her to come back in but I told her not to worry about it and to stay home with the baby since he sounded upset in the background from the traumatic hospital visit. I stopped for donuts after my shift and got an array of perfectly fluffy pastries for Hitoshi to choose from on his first day of school.

By the time I got home after waiting in line for donuts it was about 6am. I set the donuts on the counter, brewed a pot of coffee and tucked some of the cash from my tips into Hitoshi's backpack, just in case. I jotted down a few quick words of encouragement on some sticky notes and randomly placed them in his school things in various notebooks and folders so he'd find them throughout the day.

Once the coffee was done brewing, I heard the sound of his alarm going off and went to knock on the door to make sure he was awake. He didn't respond to my knocking so I burst through the door with a loud cry, "FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!"

Hitoshi jumped, startled by my early morning screaming and leapt out of bed, getting tangled in the sheets as he went before toppling over onto the floor. "Nee-san!" He groaned.

"First day of school!" I yelled again. "I brought home donuts and made you some coffee." I piped up with a smile.

"I'll forgive you for the heart attack since there's coffee." He grumbled and disentangled himself from the sheets. He stumbled his way to the kitchen for coffee and I saw a small smile twist across his lips as he spotted the two boxes of donuts sitting on the table. "You went overboard."

"As usual." I smiled. "You could take one of the boxes with you and make some friends?"

"No thanks." He shook his head.

"Want me to walk you to the station?" I offered.

He took one look at me in the skimpy bunny costume and blanched, "not a chance in hell."

"I can change clothes!" I snapped.

"No, that's okay, go to bed." He gave me a quick hug before taking his coffee and a donut to his room as he went to get ready.

I fought off a yawn and waited at the table with my camera at the ready to take a picture as I sent him off for his first day, as I did every year since he'd started going to school. Fifteen minutes later, he returned in his new school uniform and groaned as I snapped a picture of him.

"We're still doing this?" He sighed.

"Every year." I grinned.

"Great." He grumbled sarcastically though I could see a smile slipping through his moody teen mask.

"Have an amazing first day of school. If you need anything just give me a call. You know I am not above showing up to punch a teacher in the face, pro hero or not, they will suffer my wrath if they mistreat you." I reassured him.

"I won't call you." He sighed as he scooped up his bag and headed for the door.

"Love you, brat!" I waved after him.

"Love you too." He smiled before taking his leave.

I sighed and picked up the second box of donuts that would go untouched and headed out into the hall to take it to our next door neighbor. As I exited the apartment, the nosiest of all my neighbors stepped out of hers across the hall and immediately shielded her child's eyes and scowled at me.

"Honestly! I can't believe the landlord would let someone like you live here. This is supposed to be a good neighborhood." She hissed at me.

I rolled my eyes, "what can I say, I gave him a great handjob he couldn't refuse." I said sarcastically, causing her to shriek.

"Could you be any more indecent?!!" She yelled.

"As a matter of fact, I could very much be more indecent. Shall I start walking through the building in the nude? I do strip for a living so it won't bother me." I shrugged and acted as if I were going to unzip my tight bunny leotard.

"How unsightly!" She wailed.

I rolled my eyes once more and went to the door to the left of mine and knocked softly. The busybody snapped a photo of me no doubt to send to our landlord with another formal complaint. Our landlord, who was a respectable man, found her complaints amusing and would normally forward them to me with various laughing gifs or memes attached. He'd also started referring to the nosy neighbor as Karen.

A moment later the door opened, and a middle aged man with perfectly styled medium dark hair answered it. His name was Kazuma, he was an agoraphobe who worked from home and had been my neighbor since I'd moved into this apartment complex three years ago. He was a nice guy and even watched over Hitoshi when I first started working nights at the club until I felt comfortable leaving him alone.

Kazuma threw a wary look at Karen across the hall as she continued shielding her child's eyes and taking pictures of me. "Good morning, Inari. What's going on here?"

"Guess Karen needed some new masturbation material, I think she's snapped a picture of EVERY angle, honestly I should probably charge her." I shrugged.

"Don't say such preposterous things!" Karen shrieked, her face flushing scarlet.

"I'm thinking you were right." Kazuma's lips pulled into an amused smile. He looked to the box of donuts in my hand and quirked a brow, "what's this?"

"I bought extra, they're from a place that doesn't deliver and I know you're a foodie, want them?" I asked.

Kazuma's smile grew, "thank you, Inari." He accepted them. When I'd first met him, he'd been wary of getting close to other people or letting them into his home, but he adjusted to Hitoshi and I rather quickly. I thought it was most likely due to the fact that neither of us judged him for his condition and often offered to pick things up for him when he wanted to try something that couldn't be delivered. He looked over my costume curiously, "Bunny week at the club?"

"Yes, it's the literal worst." I grumbled.

He chuckled, "I think bunny week is my favorite week so far."

"Very funny." I rolled my eyes. "I noticed boyfriend prospect number 7 hasn't been by in awhile, everything okay there?"

Kazuma sighed, "same old same old. Hard to date when you can't take them out on dates. Everyone says they're fine with it, until they're not, But you know how that goes with your profession."

"Yeah...everyone wants to date a stripper, until they do." I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled.

"You know I could help if you wanted to give it a go sometime. I'd say with all the free babysitting you've done for me over the years you've totally earned a few of my services." I said the last part loud enough for Karen to hear, causing her to gasp and throw a fit before storming away no doubt to harass the poor facilities manager at the front desk downstairs.

Kazuma chuckled, "I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass. I don't think I could relinquish control like that."

"Understandable. The offer is always available. And I don't mind turning my apartment into a restaurant and cooking for your dates if you ever want to give that a try to change things up but still be in a comfortable space."

Kazuma thought it over, "that sounds marvelous, perhaps with boyfriend prospect number 8."

"Sounds good. I'm going to go pass out now because I am fucking exhausted and then I'm going to burn this costume." I waved farewell and headed back to my apartment.

Kazuma chuckled, "don't burn it, it's cute. Goodnight, Inari."

"Good morning." I grinned before ducking into my apartment.

I didn't even make it to my bedroom, and collapsed on the sofa in the living room, exhausted by my long night.