Chapter Text
With the shop being renovated, Zuko felt a lot like he did when he first managed to bend lightning. There was an electric feeling under his skin, a sense of anticipation, and a gradually building excitement at the creation of a new Jasmine Dragon. He wasn't alone in his excitement either as the kids were showing it in their own ways. Touya was perfecting the logo that he had settled on, sometimes forcing Druk to pose for him so he could make sure that he got the whole posture right. Natsuo would sometimes drop little hints in conversations about the research he was doing to make sure that they would have all their bases covered when they opened the shop. Shouto and Fuyumi were rather straightforward, just expressing their excitement to get to visit the shop once it was up and running.
It was kind of nice and a little reassuring that the kids were as excited for it as he was. They clearly weren't doing it out of obligation, like he had for his uncle back when they first started working to Pao's tea shop, and it was nice to see. He knew that he had a tendency to give people what they wanted even if it hurt him, and while he grew a backbone during his early years as Fire Lord, he tended to melt for kids. He never spoiled them, being something that he tried to actively avoid doing with Izumi, but he had trouble telling them no. He was just lucky that the kids that he'd taken under his wing weren't the kind to abuse that.
Of course, even with all the research Natsuo was doing to make sure that everything about the Jasmine Dragon would be perfectly legal and above suspicion, Zuko knew of several things that would need to happen before they could open the shop. They had to furnish it, decorate it, and probably most importantly of all, hire employees to work there. He knew a lot about hiring people, something he'd had to do a lot right after the end of the war as there were far too many empty positions for his liking. Of course there was probably a whole different hiring process here, so he was better of going to the person that would know best about it.
"How does the hiring process work here?" Zuko asked Natsuo one night, as he was going over his accounts, making sure that there wouldn't be any issues with paying the contractors.
"Well," Natsuo said as he set aside his laptop, the document on the screen talking about opening businesses in Japan, "The first thing to do would be to put out a notice that you are hiring."
Zuko nodded along commenting, "I remember that. It's really hard to fill a position if no one knows it needs filled."
Natsuo nodded in agreement. "Yeah I figured that would probably be pretty universal," he stated while he pulled out a notebook flipping through it before stopping on a page that seemed to be covered in rather sloppy handwriting, "Generally after you start receiving applications you want to set up an interview where you can talk to the applicants and see about hiring them. It's really easy to find a list of good questions you should ask during the interview, although you can probably wait on it for a bit. There no point in putting out a hiring notice while the building is still being repaired, and we probably don't want any strangers coming here."
"Very true," Zuko replied, his mind easily able to come up with several scenarios about just how wrong that would go, "When do you think I should start putting out notices?"
"Maybe next January?" Natsuo offered with a shrug of his shoulders, "That would give you a few months to get the place furnished so interviews could take place at the shop."
Zuko gave a slight shrug as he thought about it. "It probably would be best to wait until then at the very least," he stated before turning his attention to the laptop screen, "So how's your research going?"
"Well," Natsuo started as he pushed the laptop towards Zuko so he could read it more easily, "There's some paperwork that going to go into starting up the whole business, but after that it doesn't look like there is that much to do. Once the Jasmine Dragon has been opened the biggest thing is going to be staying on top of expenses and there are a few ways to make things cheaper and easier."
"Like using the tea plants you kids bought me?" Zuko pointed out as he slid the laptop back over to Natsuo.
"Yeah," the twelve year old agreed distractedly, "But there are other things like buying things in bulk, and stuff like that. Touya and I have also been talking about him making pots and cups for the shop."
"Why?" Zuko asked, hoping that Natsuo didn't take it the wrong way. If Touya wanted to freely make the pots and cups for the shop, he would find some way to make it up to him, but he also didn't want the teen to feel pressured into doing it. It was Touya's art and only he should decide what would be done with it.
"I mean, it started as a discussion about his ceramics," Natsuo explained, sounding a little sheepish as he deliberately avoided Zuko's gaze, his eyes fixed on the computer in front of him, "He was telling me about the different projects he'd been working on in class, and I asked him about whether or not he could make tea cups or pots. When we were talking about it, I did point out that it would be great exposure for him as a lot of people would be able to witness the quality of his work which might encourage them to commission him."
Zuko let out an amused huff at just how defensive but cute the twelve year old was being was being as he tried to explain the whole situation. "Natsuo," he said, which managed to snap him out of his anxious ramblings, "As long as Touya is the one who decides to make them of his own volition, then it's fine. Just don't pressure him about it, okay?"
Natsuo nodded and he chuckled, ruffling the kid's hair to show that everything was okay. He ducked his head away, but as Zuko made his way to the kitchen, he was able to spot a small smile on his face.
Tetsuya had gotten a lot of questions when he told his men about the job. It was hard to believe, and honestly there were days when he would have to go and check the contract just to confirm that it wasn't just a crazy dream he'd had. It was the first job of theirs that hadn't come from Yakuza or Yakuza connections, which just had the entire crew confused. They'd spent the almost fifteen years been explicitly ignored by the general public for the most part, so being offered a job at a fair price was shocking to say the least.
There were a few of the men that couldn't help but wonder if this was a scam of some kind, that whoever had hired them just simply wouldn't pay after all the work was done and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. More than a few of them had done brief stints in jail, and any judge looking that their case would probably throw it out based on that alone. The other theories were pretty much the same with the most optimistic ones being that they might get partial payment, but not all of it.
Tetsuya had been doing his best to fight the rumors, but hadn't been having much luck in that regard. The crew were well aware of their reputation after all, and so finding someone that hadn’t been put off by their past was strange and suspicious. Especially with the number of gangs in the area. There were a few that liked to piss the Yakuza off, and stealing the Yakuza construction crew for a few months would be right up their alley, if they didn't hate the whole crew on principle.
Kenji had actually been a great help in abating the rumors, talking at length about what he knew about Yoshida san, and praising the refreshments he'd brought them. Tetsuya hadn't been sure about it at first, especially given Kenji's tendency to exaggerate, but supporting his subordinate's claims seemed to help with the slight paranoia. At least in regards to the likelihood of them getting paid at the end of it. One issue they did run into fairly quickly, was the violent reaction the local gangs had to their presence.
They weren't really met with any hostility up front, their reputation more than proceeding them, leading to gang members occasionally stopping to glare at them from across the street. It was almost kind of funny seeing gang members crowd the sidewalk across from the store front to glare at them like a bunch of moody teens, which honestly wasn't that far from the truth. They would occasionally yell insults at the crew, but it was honestly kind of ridiculous given how all of them could scatter as soon as one of them would leave the building.
It was kind of surprising that there hadn't really been any vandalism or increased damage since they started working on the building. The windows had pretty much all been broken when they arrived on June first, but other than that things were going rather smoothly. Although it seemed it wasn't for lack of trying. There were a few days when they had arrived to find signs of a scuffle having happened outside the shop, but all of their things would be perfectly fine when they checked. The local vigilante, because there was little chance a hero would manage to keep a fight that contained, was clearly going above and beyond to keep this place safe, something they could appreciate at the very least.
When the crew started work on the stop they had to shore up the front of the store so when they took out the door frame, they didn't end up bringing the second floor down on them. There wasn't much of anything up there, but the materials that made up that space still had weight that could spell disaster for them if they weren't careful. Taking out the supports was risky, as with the position of the front windows being right next to the door, taking out the door frame would mean that all the support in the middle of that wall would be gone. Honestly, with how messed up the door frame was it was a surprise the place hadn't collapsed yet.
The crew took their time, making sure that the temporary support structure was secure before doing anything that might compromise the building's integrity. Once they were done shoring up, they took out the door frame, first removing the rather mangled right side, before taking out the slightly sturdier left. Taking out the left side had been a nerve wracking experience, because if they had messed up the support structure at all, taking it out would bring the building or just that side of it really, down on top of them. Fortunately, everything went according to plan.
With the old door frame out of the way, they were able to start rebuilding the brickwork that framed the doorway. They did their best to make the new brickwork that they were putting in match the original brickwork, although the difference in shade was kind of obvious to anyone paying attention. It was rather hard to convincingly make new bricks look like old bricks and without doing some artificial aging, so there wasn't anything they could really do about it. Besides, they weren't getting paid to do that.
After the brickwork was set they tested it to make sure it was sturdy. The best way to do that without potentially ruining all the work they had put in up to that point was to have two crew members press on the bricks to see if they would shift, which would indicate that either the sealant wasn't dry or they just didn't use enough. Once the supports proved to be stable they went about putting in the door frame. Putting in the commercial glass door with it's hallow metal frame was actually a first for them, since most doors they'd installed tended to be inside, but it wasn't really that difficult. They put the metal frame in place before going through the process of fusing the metal to the brick, making it more secure. When all that was done, they got the door in place and made sure that there were no gaps or anything that might compromise weather proofing.
Once they had finished the door, they had to go through the process of replacing all the windows. It felt slightly ridiculous to have to replace every window in the building, but it was necessary. Fortunately, Tetsuya and Yoshida san had already anticipated this so it was factored into the cost, even thought there had still been four or so unbroken windows when the inspection had been done. Honestly the relatively small amount of broken glass that they'd had to remove since starting the job seemed to indicate that either Yoshida san was coming and cleaning it up or he'd hired someone to take care of it for them, which was nice.
Replacing the large glass windows in the front was a long and tedious process as they didn't want to accidentally break the glass and have to start all over again. It wasn't exactly easy to break them, but given how large the windows were, and the brittleness of glass in general meant that they probably would break it if they weren't careful. They were dedicating entire days to the process of installing them, although that came after going through the process of removing all the glass pieces still in the frame, before taking out the frame itself. They had managed to install the first window, and were in the process of getting the second in when Yoshida san stopped by.
Tetsuya could only be thankful that they weren't working with the window glass that day, or they definitely would have needed to buy another sheet. "Hello Yoshida san," he called out to the kid who was carrying a large bag, "What brings you here today?"
"I just came to see how things were going," the kid replied, his voice sounding slightly rougher than it had the last two times that he'd spoken with him, "I wanted to see what it looks like in progress. Also, I brought some treats for you guys since you're probably using a lot of energy fixing this place up for me."
Those words had definitely gotten the men’s attention and soon space had been cleared on the counter so the bag could be set down and emptied. It had a box of assorted pastries, some napkins and paper plates. Tetsuya hung back. letting his men at the treats first, since they had been doing some pretty good work so far. The kid ended up talking to them while dishing out the pastries, since several of them didn't have the cleanest hands at that moment. He didn't seem to mind, often smiling at the ones who bothered to thank him.
Tetsuya noticed some rather familiar looks appearing on the faces of his men. Those looks were ones that they tended to get when talking about their families or friends. That was the look they got when they had something that they wanted to protect. He could even hear some of them mumbling about keeping the kid.
It wasn't hard to imagine why they would feel that way. They rarely got this kindness. Despite having spent several years outside of the criminal element, people were either apathetic or hostile to them. Only their close friends and family really bothered to treat them like regular people, so this was definitely a novelty. It probably didn't hurt that he brought treats with him though.
Soon enough the rest of the crew had all gotten something, leaving the path to the kid open for Tetsuya. "There isn't much left," Yoshida san told him as he approached, "Apple fritter or cheese Danish?"
"Cheese Danish," Tetsuya replied, not really recognizing either of the foods, although he could tell that they were probably western in origin, "So what really brought you here?"
"I did just come to check up on the progress," the kid told him as he handed him a plate with the pastry on it, "This was the first time my day off coincided with your workday, so I decided to come check on how things were going. I know this neighborhood isn't great, so I was kind of worried that some vandalism or something like that might happen while you were working here. I don't want you to have to waste time repairing things twice."
Tetsuya didn't know what to say about that. He'd been aware that they would probably have to redo some of their work, which was why he had padded the time frame so they would be able to deal with potentially having to make the repairs more than once. It wasn't something that they had to deal with often as they tended to work in areas that were protected by the Yakuza, so there was little chance of anything or anyone messing up the work site. That wasn't the case here so he'd figured it was better to just be safe, especially since heroes wouldn't give a damn about the construction work happening in the area during a fight.
And the kid was worried about them getting caught in the middle of that. He had to be too good to be true. "Things have been going well," Tetsuya told him, figuring he could at least fill him in on what they had been doing, "As you can see, we've replaced the door and one of the front windows. The other one goes in tomorrow, and we should have the rest of them done by the end of the month."
The kid nodded along, his eyes going over the work they had already done. It wasn't much, less than they should have had done over the course of nearly two weeks, but it was better to take it slow and do it right than to move quickly and mess things up. He opened his mouth, probably to ask a question when a phone started going off.
The kid jumped, pulling the ringing phone from his pocket and dismissing something before turning back to Tetsuya. "Sorry about that. I need to go. My little brother's teacher set up a meeting this afternoon, and the alarm is my reminder to get ready so I get there on time. Is that okay?"
"It's fine," Tetsuya told him, doing his best to be reassuring, "It sounds important so you should really focus on that. Everything's fine here so you don't have to worry about it."
"That's good," Yoshida san said, breathing out a sigh of relief, "I guess I'll see you later then. Keep up the good work and be safe."
"Take care," Tetsuya called, although it was probably lost in the many farewells that the men gave him.
Yoshida san turned back towards them long enough to give a quick wave before taking off, rushing to get to wherever it was he needed to be. The men got back to work not long afterward, although they did occasionally shoot glances back towards the counter where the things that the kid had brought sat forgotten. As they wrapped up at the end of the day Shiro, his second in command asked, "Do you think adoption is on the table?"
"He's twenty," Tetsuya deadpanned as he went through the process of securing all the equipment as well as the tarp they were using to cover the currently empty window, "And taking care of four younger siblings. Do you think you can afford to adopt five kids?"
Shiro shrugged at that, which was probably as close to concession as he was ever going to get from the man. "He's sweet though," Kenji piped up, causing many of the men around the room to nod in agreement.
"Maybe we could see about getting him a little protection," Masaru suggested, which had those around him perking up, "I'd be willing to throw down with anyone that wanted to wreck this joint. The kid's too nice to have to deal with the constant destruction."
"I agree," Tetsuya replied, a grin splitting his face as his men cheered in unison, "We'd better spread the word that this establishment is to be left alone, unless they'd like to deal with the full force of my wrath."
Zuko rushed home from the storefront, hoping that he'd have enough time to change before heading to Nabu Middle School. He had intended to head to the shop earlier, so he would have more time to talk with them, but his activity as the Blue Spirit was starting to catch up with him. Ever since the contractors had started working on the shop, people have been going out of their way to try and vandalize it. He'd been heading out every night to just make sure that the hard work would be undone overnight. The attacks had even been regular enough for him to tell Eraserhead about it. The pro said he'd look into it, but until they showed any signs of stopping, Zuko would head out every night.
However, his nightly routine meant that he tended to be more tired during the day. It had gotten to the point that Miyata had noticed, and with the way the man was fussing, one would have thought Zuko was sick. Although the man did seem to believe that that was the case. He actually insisted that Zuko had to start using more of his vacation days if only so he could get more sleep or else he would call Shingo so they could tag team him.
Zuko didn't know if the man was bluffing or if his boss and eldest child had exchanged numbers while he wasn't looking. He wasn't sure how to feel about it if that did happen, and when Natsuo's teacher called to arrange a parent teacher conference, it gave Zuko a slight out in the situation, as he took a day off but still had important things to do. He was a little concerned about what Natsuo's teacher would like to talk about, but he doubted it was that bad. Out of all the kids, Natsuo was probably the most level headed.
Of course the one thing Zuko hadn't anticipated doing that day was falling asleep after taking Shouto to school. After dropping the youngest off at Endo elementary, he'd gone home intending to build a kiln in the back yard for Touya when the combination of the warm sun and soft grass put him to sleep. His stomach had woken him sometime later, and he realized while getting lunch if he wanted to visit the shop, he would have to leave not long afterward.
He stopped by the Rising Sun on the way to the shop, hoping that the pastries would be a nice pick me up for the men. He turned out to be right, as the men seemed rather happy to receive the treats, but he wasn't really able to talk to them before his alarm went off, leading to him having to rush home. He was halfway there when he realized he left the trash on the counter and felt kind of guilty that they were going to have to take care of that. He'd have to apologize the next time he stopped by.
When he got home he changed into his nicer clothes, which wasn't much all things considered. Miyaka had gotten him a nice button up shirt and slacks for his last birthday, claiming that he would need them for dates, not that Zuko had felt all that inclined to date. Even if he wasn't wholly dedicated to his kids, it still wouldn't feel right, not with all the secrets he would be keeping from them. Any potential partner would be held at arm's length until he was sure that he could trust them, which would put too much strain on the relationship.
Regardless of the realities of his romantic prospects, the clothes were still good quality, and would hopefully provide the teachers with a good impression. The teacher hadn't really told him anything about the situation so he hoped that a good first impression would make things a little easier at the very least.
Once he was changed he walked to the school, the occasional crowd of children indicating that school had let out for the day which honestly made sense. A teacher wouldn't want to have to juggle a class and a parent at the same time. Agni knows he wouldn't have been able to do it, although firebending was more volatile than a room full of preteens, if only by a slim margin.
Zuko shoved those thoughts away as he reached the school and had to remember the instructions he had been given to reach the classroom where the meeting would be held. It was kind of eerie walking through empty hallways, his footsteps echoing in the empty space. Fortunately it wasn't long before he reached the classroom. Inside was Natsuo sitting next to his teacher's desk, the teacher looking stern and disappointed. "Are you Yoshida Zuko?" the teacher asked as he entered the room, surprise appearing on his face for a split second before falling back into its previous expression.
"I'm Yoshida Zuko," he agreed as he made his way over to them, sitting next to Natsuo.
"I'm Ito Shinichi," the teacher said as they held out their hand to shake, "I'm glad you were able to make it today."
"May I ask what this is about?" Zuko inquired as he snuck a glance at Natsuo who looked like he was trying so hard to appear bored but was terrified.
"Saburo has been getting into fights," Ito told him, "We gave him warnings at first because nobody was really getting hurt, but the fight he got into the other day resulted in another student's nose being broken."
Zuko didn't really understand what was going on here. He knew that fighting in school wasn't allowed, but he also knew that Natsuo wasn't the kind of kid that would go out looking for a fight. There was clearly some context missing here, so he turned to him and asked, "What happened?"
Both Natsuo and the teacher looked surprised, but a lot of the tension in the kid's shoulders bled out at the question. "I was hanging out with my friends when we came across some third years beating up on a first year calling them names and I told them to stop," he explained straightening as he did so, "I told them to stop and actually had to pull one of them off of the kid and they weren't happy about it. So they decided to take a swing at me, and since you taught me how to defend myself I fought back. The kid whose nose I broke had been sneaking up behind me when I accidentally elbowed them in the face."
Zuko felt both amused and furious hearing what was going on. Amused at how an attempt at poor sportsmanship backfired horribly, and furious that Natsuo was the one being punished for all this. "Have you had meetings with the other students' guardians?" he inquired, his gaze shifting to rest of the teacher as he put a protective arm around Natsuo.
"No," Ito replied cautiously, looking rather nervous and unsure.
"Have you scheduled any meetings with their guardians?" Zuko asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Not as of yet," Ito responded, shrinking back slightly.
"And why not?" Zuko was honestly furious now, but he had to keep his temper in check. Burning down the school would be bad.
"The students told us that Saburo had attacked them and they were just defending themselves," the teacher defended, seeming to have regained some of his confidence with that justification, "And since Saburo has a history of getting into fights we felt it was prudent to bring the issue to you so it could be corrected for at home."
Zuko remembered how Natsuo had talked about his friends, how they had been bullied and he helped them, and the fights were making a lot of sense with this extra context. "Are you aware that our brother is quirkless?" he asked, the sudden shift in the conversation seeming to throw the teacher off balance.
"I do remember seeing something about that," Ito replied hesitantly, "But I don't see how that is pertinent to the conversation."
"Shingo has been bullied significantly because he is quirkless," Zuko explained, wondering if it was really going to have to spell it out for them, "That's why I started teaching them self defense in the first place. Saburo has seen the effect that bullying has had on our brother. Have you bothered to consider the fact that the whole reason he gets into fights is because he's trying to stop bullies?"
Ito sat there sputtering for a moment before seeming to collect his wits. "As noble as his intentions may be, it would be best for him to get a teacher."
"Because that's worked so well in the past," Zuko stated sarcastically.
"I've seen teachers walk straight past bullies beating up on their targets," Natsuo interjected, a quiet fury in his voice, "I know you won't help them, so I do what I can."
Zuko's heart filled with pride in that moment and he knew as soon as they were home he was going to heap loads of love and praise onto him. He didn't deserve these amazing kids. He had to focus though. They needed to finish up this meeting before that could happen.
"I think it's clear that Saburo is not the problem here," Zuko stated, his gaze fixed on Ito, "And if something isn't done about it, I'm sure the authorities would be interested in conducting an investigation."
Ito gulped and nodded, seemingly unable to say anything else. Zuko took that as the sign that it was time for them to leave. He rose from his seat, Natsuo following his movement, even going so far as to tuck himself into Zuko's side as they left the room. Zuko was a little worried about how much Natsuo was shaking, although as soon as they exited the school he burst out laughing. It was kind of nice to hear the kid laugh loud and long considering what had just happened although it had been kind of amusing.
"That was great," Natsuo said as his laughter finally abated into occasional chuckles, "I've never seen Ito Sensei so expressive before. I thought he was going to faint."
"I'm glad it was so amusing for you," Zuko told him sarcastically, although not really. With how terrifying that must have been, it was kind of nice that things turned out the way they did.
There was a slight shift in the atmosphere as Natsuo's laughter fully died down, he was was suddenly looking away from Zuko. "You aren't mad, are you?"
"Why would I be mad?" Zuko asked, completely confused by this sudden shift in tone, "I'm proud. I'm so fucking proud that you're willing to step up when others aren't. I know you're not the kind of kid to get into a fight just for the sake of fighting someone, and no one should make you feel bad for doing the right thing."
Zuko then pulled Natsuo into his arms, giving the kid a hug that he hoped conveyed all the pride and love he felt for this child. "Thanks Dad," he said, his voice sounding surprisingly wet, although Zuko's mind got caught up on Dad.
"What did you call me?" he asked, just kind of stunned hat having the label again, even if he had thought of them as his kids for a while now.
"Shit," Natsuo exclaimed, seeming to realize what he had just said, attempting to pull out of the hug, "You aren't mad are you?"
"I'm not mad," Zuko promised as he released Natsuo, "If anything I'm honored and kind of stunned."
"You really shouldn't be," Natsuo stated as he started walking again, "You've been acting like a dad to us this whole time. I'm surprised Shouto wasn't the first one to slip up since he's been referring to you like that for over a year."
"Shouto's been calling me dad behind my back for over a year?!" Zuko echoed, surprised he hadn't found about this before.
"It might have been longer," Natsuo commented, which felt like even more of a gut punch, "We weren't sure how you would react to it, so we've been doing our best to avoid it. The others will probably be happy to hear that we don't have to anymore."
Zuko didn't know what to say to that so he just let the conversation end there. The rest of the evening went well, with Shouto being overjoyed that he could finally call Zuko dad to his face, which was equal parts sweet and heartbreaking. His obvious hesitance turning to joy at the response just made his heart ache.
Zuko tried to push those thoughts out of his head when he took to the rooftops that night. Eraserhead told him to meet up on the roof of the building that was getting targeted, which helped him to focus his thoughts. Taking care of the vandalism was important, and something he could only really do as the Blue Spirit.
When he arrived on the rooftop, Eraserhead was already there, his goggles already on his face, although his posture indicated that he was watching the street below. He approached the pro hero, who seemed to take notice of him when he was about ten feet away. It was probably the goggles. They didn't allow for a very good peripheral view.
"Things have been quiet so far," Eraserhead commented as he shifted, arranging himself so he was half facing Zuko while still able to see the street, "There have been a few suspicious characters that have passed by, but no signs of trouble as of yet."
Zuko nodded, somewhat unsurprised by that news. The attacks on the shop had been happening between eleven and two in the morning, which could lead to spending the next several hours there sitting and waiting for something to happen. The problem was, when he was forced to wait, his minded tended to wander and that was rarely a good thing.
The meeting at the school earlier was upsetting, especially because despite what Zuko had said, he couldn't really enforce it. Reporting the school would only do good if the people in charge actually bothered to investigate, and he didn't really have faith in the government to care. With everything he'd learned about this world, what he'd seen and experienced, had him doubting that change would be possible the way things currently were.
Zuko's thoughts were interrupted by a jaw cracking yawn, his body reminding him that he hadn't gotten a lot of sleep recently. "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you make a sound," Eraserhead commented, wry amusement in his voice, "I don't know how you manage to stay quiet all the time but there are a few people I know that I wish knew that skill."
Zuko shrugged. He didn't really know how to respond to that so he just let his attention drift back down to the street. His thoughts started to stray again when Eraserhead asked, "What's bothering you?"'
Zuko returned his attention to his companion, hoping the confusion in his body language would be obvious enough that he wouldn't have to sign it out. "You're worried about something," Eraserhead elaborated as he shifted to they were more face to face, "And it's distracting you, So, what's your problem?"
Zuko wasn't sure what to tell him, especially since he really didn't want to risk the hero figuring out his identity. So he just signed, "School," hoping that might get the hero to back off.
"What? Are you having problems with university courses or something like that?" Eraserhead asked, catching Zuko off guard, "Because sneaking out like this will only make your grades worse."
Zuko didn't know how to respond to that at first. He knew his vigilante activities weren't good for his sleep schedule which is why he'd tried to limit himself early on, but he also knew he had to derail this conversation before wrong conclusions were made and a lecture was given. "Not me," he started, hoping that the signs wouldn't be too confusing, "My kid's school. Bullying problem."
"Huh," the hero commented, his demeanor shifting slightly, "What-"
The question was abruptly cut off as a loud slam came from the street below. The two of them peeked over the edge to see a large van with four or five people standing next to it, grabbing crowbars, paint, and a variety of other things from the back. Without a word the two of them jumped down, taking the would be vandals by surprise. The fight was rather short as a result, and Zuko was soon taking off for home while Eraserhead waited for the police to arrive.
It was honestly kind of nice to have things wrapped up so quickly, because his bed was definitely calling him. As he was putting his things away, he noticed a text from Eraserhead that said, "What's the name of the school?"
Zuko grinned almost as wide as his mask when he sent, "Nabu Middle School."
Zuko did his best to check up on the renovations of the Jasmine Dragon at least once a week, preferably while the work crew was there. They were fun to talk to and he learned a lot about the work they were doing in the process. He made sure to bring treats for them every time he came because they deserved it. They were doing a lot of work for him, and put up with all the questions he asked them which probably slowed the process down considerably, so he figured it would only be polite to express his appreciation. The fact that they were reformed criminals meant that they needed the appreciation more anyway, since most people didn't seem to want to give them a chance.
His visits were often met with smiles, and the work seemed to be getting done faster than they had thought it would. At the end of July, they had replaced all the windows redone the floors, and had gotten the walls almost completely redone. The only thing that they really had left to do was build the greenhouse on the roof, and there was a little over a month left in the contract. Zuko had jokingly commented that he was probably going to have to give them a generous tip for the good work, and someone had shot back that the treats were good enough.
The men in the crew had definitely taken a liking to him, which Zuko wasn't sure how to process. They liked trying to ruffle his hair, which was a little annoying as he had decided to let it grow out and had been tying it back. It was long enough that he could tie it back into a top knot or wolf tail, which made the attempted ruffling awkward, but also meant that they tended to ruin his hair more often then not. However, the worst part was when they did it he would have a sudden pang of longing for his friends.
All of them had ruffled his hair at some point, even Toph despite the fact that she had never really managed to get very tall. These casual interactions that he was having with what were effectively strangers had him wishing that he had his friends back, that he would be able to interact with them like that again. He did his best to hide the sadness he felt when those thoughts hit him, out of the blue and generally with no warning.
It didn't help that there were sometimes that he could have sworn he saw one of them out on the street. A brief glimpse, barely a second, and whenever he tried to get a second look there was nothing. He tried not to be disappointed every time it happened, but it couldn't stop the swell of hope that he felt, every time he spotted something familiar, only to lose sight of it in the blink of an eye.
He did his best to try and rationalize those feelings when they kept him up at night, when he was running across rooftops because his mind was running at the speed of thought and refusing to slow down enough for his body. Spotting someone with what looks like a wolf tail doesn't mean it's a wolf tail. Seeing a flash of blue on someone's arm doesn't mean they are an airbender that got their mastery tattoos at twelve. Just because it looks like someone has hair loops doesn't mean they actually have hair loops. Toph wasn't the only person in the world to sport a large bun. Mai isn't the only person to have severe posture and twin buns. There are plenty of people as bubbly as Ty Lee. Suki is by no means the only person to wear face paint or carry golden fans.
He missed his friends, and it was hard to live in the present when flashes of his past kept swimming into view, daring him to follow them and risk drowning in his memories. He supposed that was what made the Jasmine Dragon so important to him. It was a connection to the past that he had forged, that was not burdened down by memories to the point that it would drown him. At least he hoped it wouldn't.
When the Jasmine Dragon was finally renovated, it had been interesting to walk around, seeing walls that were so different from the ones in his memory, and yet had become those of the Jasmine Dragon. He'd taken a big box of treats to the office for them having done such a great job, and several of them mentioned that they'd be keeping an eye out for what he would be doing there. Zuko would have thought they were joking if it wasn't for the genuine curiosity and excitement on their faces. Well, at least he would probably have customers at the grand opening.
There was still a lot to do before they could open as the Jasmine Dragon, but it was a lot of interior decoration. They needed chairs and small tables to allow people to sit, he had some painting that he wanted to do on the walls, and then there was doing up the information that would go on the window. Of course, he wanted to have the logo that Touya had designed to feature prominently, and it would be best if he put it up on the wall himself.
Zuko's first day off after the Jasmine Dragon was renovated, happened to be on a day when the kids didn't have school, so they grabbed some paint and tarps from the store and went to the shop. After setting up the tarps so that the tiles would be covered and paint wouldn't drip onto the floor or counters, they got to work putting on the base layer. They left the door open of course, so the paint fumes wouldn't collect in the room with them and cause any problems.
It had been a fun day, as the five of them were able to hang out and goof around a bit. They did their best to keep the paint from getting in anyone's hair, but it was no holds barred on the clothes. They all knew what they would be doing that day, so they wore some of their shabbier clothes, ones that they wouldn't mind getting ruined.
It took a long time to get the place properly painted since Zuko could only do it on his days off and they needed several base coats before they could start painting the designs. As fall gave way to winter, he had to stop the painting for a bit as it had just gotten too cold and too dark to work there, especially with the door open. So, he decided that it was the perfect time to go through one of the other items on the list: getting security cameras set up.
Natsuo directed him to a security company that would set up the cameras quickly and easily, feeding them into one of the upstairs offices which would act as a sort of security office. Zuko used one of his days off to observe as they got everything set up. There were only a few cameras.
One was in the main office, so they could keep an eye on the safe where the money would be stored. One was in the main room facing the door, situated in the upper corner of the room, near the door to the kitchen. It got pretty much the whole room, only lacking the area directly beneath it which was behind the counter. There was a camera on the roof, positioned right above the roof access door, which allowed a good view of the greenhouse as well as the rest of the roof. There was also one in the back at the employee entrance to the kitchen, to make sure that no one could sneak in through there.
Zuko was happy to have those there, making him feel a bit better about the safety of the location. With his other days off, while waiting for the weather to warm up again, he started setting up the beds in the greenhouse. He wasn't transferring the plants, not until there would be someone to take care of them, but it didn't hurt to set up the raised beds. It would make it easier to transplant things when the grand opening was close enough that there would be a designated gardener. He had also taken a moment just to mark out what plants would go where, so it would make the transplanting much easier and faster.
When things started to warm up again, Zuko almost got blindsided by something he really should have remembered: Touya's graduation. It was kind of hard to believe that the angry thirteen-year-old he had met a little over four years ago was an adult that could do whatever he wanted, within reason. There was also something comforting in knowing that he was an adult now, as if anything happened to Zuko he would be able to take care of the others.
This also meant that Touya no longer had obligations during the day, so if he wasn't working on commission work, he was at the Jasmine Dragon working on painting the interior of the shop. Zuko had nearly been blown away when in the span of a little over a week he had pretty much finished the main room.
The only thing that needed to be done, in Zuko's opinion, was a little tribute to the family. Along the back wall he had each of them put a paint handprint, a way of marking the shop as a place belonging to their family. He liked the idea that even if they weren't there physically that there would always be a part of them there. The line up was interesting as Shouto's had gotten smudged in his excitement and Touya's looked a little strange due to his scarring, but honestly Zuko wouldn't have wanted it any other way.