The mood of the Gōketsu Clan reunion breakfast was strained.
Hazō had had to give Yuno a formal clan head order not to murder Mari, which was not the kind of thing he suspected most clan heads had to deal with. Mari and Keiko were even less on speaking terms now that the mission was over, and Noburi twitched whenever Yuno so much as looked in Satsuko's direction. As a small mercy, Noburi's natural charm seemed to have finally won Keiko over during the course of their journey back, or maybe she'd just decided that it was time to get back into the habit of tolerating foolish younger siblings.
Still, it was good to see everyone back after what felt like five months away, and there was only so much the ominous clouds hanging over his family's heads could do in the face of a bouncing, welcoming Akane. Kagome-sensei too was full of questions for the returnees, even if most of them concerned the Yoshida's tactics and capabilities. Atomu struggled to get a word in edgeways, even though, as someone who'd never been to Isan, he was the most fascinated to learn more. Even Snowflake was present, as Noburi revelled in his restored access to all the chakra he could eat. (The clan was still broke, but Hazō wasn't going to begrudge Noburi how he spent his share of the mission payment.)
As the breakfast drew to a close, Keiko, next to him, began to fidget nervously. After a few seconds, Snowflake reached over and squeezed her hand.
"If I may have your attention, please?"
Keiko waited for everyone to put down their spoons. Hazō remembered the last time this had happened. Had Keiko acquired a new girlfriend in Isan? Was she going to publicly swear a blood oath of vengeance against Mari? Was she about to give a speech praising Hazō's brilliant planning that had secured the Leaf-Isan alliance and possibly saved their lives?
"I... have a request," Keiko began, which ruled out all of those options—at least unless she had fallen for Yuno during the Isan mission and was about to ask her out. Disturbingly, that became more plausible the more Hazō thought about it given the forced proximity, the emotional and physical isolation, the many opportunities for the suspension bridge effect to trigger, and the many things they shared in common. For example, both girls had a troubled childhood (and a single point of emotional dependence to get them through it), a naturally serious attitude, a love of edged weapons, and a willingness to murder their loved ones at the drop of a hat. Now that Hazō had seen the possibility, he could not unsee it.
"Obviously," Keiko said, so far addressing no one in particular, "please feel free to ignore me if you consider it unreasonable or inconvenient, and I entirely understand if you would rather not... but would you mind, on a purely experimental basis..."—she hesitated—"addressing me as Kei?"
