Bonding Through Shared Experiences

Morning rays shine through Lucario's window, waking up the beastly man. As he sits up to stretch, he feels a tug on his shirt. He looks down and finds Lily clinging onto him as she quietly locks eyes with him.

"Good morning, Lily," Lucario greets with his best meek smile so as to not scare the little girl. Not responding, Lily sits up on the bed without breaking eye contact. Lucario can see on her face that she isn't quite sure how she ended up here, so he reaches out and places her on his lap. "Were you scared of the thunder last night?"

Finally breaking eye contact, Lily glances down at the bed sheets and tightens her grip on the blanket.

"It's okay if you were scared." Lucario sets a hand on Lily's head to fix her messy hair. Now that the sun is up, he gets a closer look at Lily. Her fiery red hair curls around his fingers with every stroke. The repressed sadness in her emerald eyes hides behind the slight sparkle that twinkles every time she looks up at him. "Next time, if you're scared, you can come find me. I'll protect you. I promise." Lily simply nods without saying anything as she ponders on what Lucario meant by what he said.

Shortly after their one-sided conversation, a knock echoes throughout the room. "Boss, breakfast is ready," Billy announces after opening the door. He catches a glimpse of Lily sitting on Lucario's lap and begins to mischievously smile. "I can't believe you finally have someone to share your bed with. Lily, did you sleep well with my boss?"

Shyly, Lily nods her head which surprises both Lucario and Billy. "It was loud and scary last night," Lily mumbles as she covers her face with the blanket. "I called for you and Ryan, but you didn't come. You said that you would come running if I called your name, but you didn't show up." Tears start to well up in Lily's eyes as she remembers the frightening memories of last night. "I ran around the house to find you, but I found someone else. When I woke up, I was here. Mr. Luca's body was very big and warm, and he protected me from the loud noise."

Lucario and Billy, astonished by Lily's answer, watch her with mouths agape. "Does that mean that you are not scared of me anymore?" Lucario asks, eyes widened from anticipation. Now completely hidden under the blanket, Lily doesn't answer. Billy lightly laughs at the rare look of disappointment in his boss's eyes. "Don't laugh," Lucario grumbles as he starts getting out of the bed. "You failed to show up when she called for you after you promised that you would always come when called."

Just as Lucario was about to stand up from the bed, Lily reaches out from the blanket and catches Lucario's shirt. She peeks out from under the covers and quietly says, "Thank you for protecting me last night." Before Lucario could even get a word out, Lily slips back under the covers and doesn't reemerge until Lucario is far enough for her to run out of the room.

A few hours later, Lucario sits in his office as he meets with an unwelcomed guest. "What are you doing here?"

"How rude. Can't a dear friend visit another friend?" jokes an older man with enough white in his hair to mimic snow.

"Friend? That's rich coming from an old geezer who tried to kill me to get his nephew to be the head of the family." Lucario stares coldly at his guest as he takes a sip of his drink. "Are you gonna tell me why you're here or not?"

The old man sits back in his chair and watches Lucario for a minute as if he's examining for any openings. "I see you're still single. Why don't you get married? I have a lovely niece who would be able to serve you well."

"Any family member of yours would be a poisonous addition to the Buenavista Family," Lucario starkly responds. "I already have enough to deal with you sticking your head in everywhere like the snake you are. I'm surprised you haven't gotten your head blown off."

A hearty laugh sounds from the old man's mouth. "Still as mean and harsh as always. A kid like you could never change even if you had a woman in your life."

Lucario rubs his temples and loudly sighs as he sits back in his chair. "Relationships with women are pointless especially in a family like mine where they will only be used as transactional tools, so you can stop trying to persuade me."

The old man stands up from his chair and adjusts his clothes before grabbing his cane that rested on the side of the chair. "Just remember, Luca, the Kang Family will always be a part of the Buenavista Family, so you better decide now how we are going to be squeezed in before we decide for ourselves."

With that, the old man excuses himself but not before running into Billy and Ryan who has Lily in his arms. The man stares down at Lily and gently smiles at her before walking past. "Who is that child?" the man asks his attendant after he gets inside his car.

"I am not sure, Mr. Kang. She isn't in any of the records that are in the Buenavista database," the attendant answers after quickly searching on his phone.

The old man looks over at Buenavista Manor and grunts to himself. "This family will be mine one way or the other. I will kill Luca and make Nicholas the family head."

Meanwhile, back in Lucario's office, Billy and Ryan stand before their boss. "What were you thinking bringing Lily to my office while that snake was here?!" Lucario scolds after banging his fist onto his desk. "You have now put the child in danger!"

Terrified by Lucario's sudden screaming, Lily covers her ears and hides herself in Ryan's chest. Lucario notices this and calms himself down as he sits back in his chair. "Lily wanted to see your office since I couldn't show it to her yesterday. I wasn't aware that you had Mr. Kang as a guest," Ryan answers while rubbing Lily's back.

"She wanted to see… my office?" Lucario clarifies as his eyes shift over to the scared child.

Nodding his head, Billy teases, "Lily couldn't see the office since neither you nor I was with them, but since I was with them today, I told Lily that we could go."

Lucario clears his throat and stands from his desk. "Lily, I'm sorry if I scared you," he says as he makes his way over to the little girl.

Surprised to hear his boss apologize, Ryan nearly drops Lily, but Lucario catches her. "Ah! I'm sorry, Boss."

"I'm not the one you're supposed to be apologizing to," Lucario scolds as he adjusts Lily in his arms. "Are you okay, Lily?"

Without answering, Lily quietly nods as she motions that she wants to get down. Once Lucario sets Lily onto the floor, Lily hesitantly walks around the room, staring at each book she passes. Suddenly, she stops walking and points at a book on the very bottom shelf, so Billy gets closer for a better look.

Pulling the book out of the shelf, Billy comments, "It seems she has found the boss's old fairytale stories from when he was a kid."

Lucario smiles to himself as he watches the excitement in Lily's eyes as she stares at the book. "You can take it to your room if you would like. Ryan can read it to you while you have your lunch."

"R-really?" Lily hushly asks while switching her glance from the book to Lucario.

"Ryan, tell a couple of the men to buy extra cookies for Lily's lunch," Lucario orders as he begins to make his way back to his desk. "Lily, you can pick out some more books from that shelf. There are a lot of fairy tales and folk stories to choose from."

Excited to listen to new stories, Lily eagerly starts pointing at almost every children's book on the shelf while Billy obediently stacks them in his arms. After Lily chooses her books, Billy passes the stack over to Ryan, and the little girl and her escort head to her room, leaving Billy and Lucario alone in the office.

"What is your plan now?" Billy asks after closing the door to the office.

"Make sure that there are at least three men watching and guarding Lily from a safe distance at all times," Lucario sharply orders with a serious look in his eyes. "If anyone from the Kang Family gets within eyeshot of the men, tell them to arrest them immediately and bring them to the meeting room. Nothing is more important than Lily's safety for the sake of the Buenavista Family's future."

"You still believe that she will agree to leave her grandfather by the time the week is up?"

Lucario sits back in his chair and crosses his arms. His intense gaze could burn a hole into his desk if he stared for any longer. "I believe she will see that living here will be a lot more fun and a lot better than living with her grandfather. As long as we continue to treat her gently and give her whatever she wants, she will come to see that she likes it here and would want to stay."