Natsuki's Girl
Disclaimer: I don't own anybody except Hikari.
"No!" The scream came loud and sharp from a little 4-year-old, brown-haired girl that ran through her house and away from her mother. "I don't want to go to!" She flung herself into the far corner of the living room and tried to push herself behind a large cabinet.
Shizuru stopped chasing her daughter and flopped down on the couch in defeat. Never had her child been this difficult about going to her Aunt Mai's house. "Hikari, please come out of there." She pressed her fingers to her temples and wondered how her wife didn't have this much trouble with the child. Just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard the front door open. She looked up quickly to find the woman-in-question coming into their house. "Why is Natsuki home from work? Does she not feel well?" she asked as she got up from the couch to join her wife.
Natsuki grinned and chuckled when Shizuru felt her forehead. "I feel fine. I just had a feeling that something was wrong and, hey, why are you still here? Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Mai's house?" When the brunette pointed to where Hikari was attempting to hide, she understood and sighed, shaking her head lightly. Looking down at her watch, she nodded before speaking. "Go to work. You're already late. I'll deal with her."
Shizuru looked over to their daughter one last time before moving to the door. "Is Natsuki sure?" The look she received confirmed the younger girl's statement and Shizuru nodded.
Once her wife closed the door and went to her car, Natsuki turned to where her daughter was. "Hikari?" she asked as she went over and knelt in front of the cabinet. "Want to come out? Mama's not here." She watched as her little girl looked around cautiously before coming out and picked her up once she stood up. "What's the matter?"
Hikari pouted. "I don't want to go to Aunt Mai's house," she explained. She threw her arms around her papa's neck and hugged her as tightly as she could.
Natsuki had to fight to hold back her laugh. She knew why the child didn't want to go back to Mai's house. "Was Aunt Mikoto home yesterday?" She felt the girl nod almost violently against her shoulder. She chuckled softly before going over to the couch. "You can stay home today but you have to go tomorrow, ok?" She felt another nod and rubbed Hikari's back. With her free hand, she picked up the remote and turned on the television as the girl removed herself from her grip and sat on her leg.
Seven hours, two movies, and a nap later, Natsuki was woken up by a loud crash. Before she could get up to find out what had happened, she heard light sobbing and knew it was her daughter. Moving from the couch, she went into the kitchen and found Hikari sitting on the floor next to a fallen-over-chair. "You ok?" she asked as she went and picked up the child.
The little girl nodded and sniffed, trying not to look directly at her papa. "I wanted a drink," she admitted shyly.
Natsuki smiled and chuckled. "Baby, you should have woken me up. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt." She ran her hand over Hikari's light brown hair. After watching the girl for a moment and thinking, she smiled again. "Want to go surprise mama?" She received a nod and a smile and she felt better. Seeing her child happy always made her happy. "Ok. Go get your shoes on." She watched as the girl ran to the front door and hurriedly put her shoes on.
Once they were all set to go and Natsuki had gotten Hikari buckled into her car seat, they were on their way to Shizuru's office. When they arrived in front of the building, Hikari let herself out of the seat, a habit she had gotten scarily good at. The blue-haired woman and her child walked hand-in-hand into the building and went straight to Shizuru's office, not needing to be asked who they were or who they wanted to see. They were in the building often enough to know the staff on a first name basis.
Shizuru sat at her desk, her head in her hands as she listened to her assistant, Yuki, run through a list of complaints about one of her employees. "I wonder what Natsuki and Hikari are up to. Probably having fun," she thought as she tuned out Yuki's voice. A loud knock jarred her from her thoughts. "Come in," she instructed. When the door opened and revealed her wife and child, the pain in her head subsided and she smiled for the first time all day. "Yuki, could you please have Sato-san go home for the rest of the day and inform him to report here first thing in the morning?"
Yuki nodded, her short red hair covering her eyes for a moment. "Of course, Fujino-san. I'll go do that right now." She bowed slightly to her boss and then to Natsuki before hurrying out of the room and closing the door behind her.
Shizuru smiled brightly as her family came up to her desk, Natsuki sitting sideways on said piece of furniture. Hikari moved around the desk and crawled into her mother's lap. Stroking her daughter's hair, she looked questioningly at her wife. "Why are my girls not at home?"
Natsuki shrugged. "I thought maybe we could all go to dinner," she suggested as she watched the interaction between her wife and child. "Man, how did I get so lucky?" she thought with a smile.
Shizuru nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a lovely idea. Where does Hikari want to go?" she asked her little girl. After a quiet moment of thought from the child, Shizuru had to agree with her decision of the "winded bum dinner." After hearing how Hikari pronounced the establishment's name, she had to laugh before correcting her. "That's the Linden Baum diner, sweetie."
"I said that," Hikari protested. "Winded bum dinner!" She didn't understand why her parents were laughing at her.
Natsuki cleared her throat. "Ok. Do you want to meet us there since you're not off for another hour?"
Shizuru shook her head. "No, I can leave now. I'll just come in an hour early tomorrow so you can take Kari-chan to Mai's house," she said with a slight grin. She hugged her daughter quickly before picking her up and handing her off to Natsuki. She got up from her chair and moved to the coat hanger in the corner of the room, removing her black jacket and slipping it on.
Natsuki looked down at her child. "Do you want to ride with me or mama?" When the girl motioned to her mother, Natsuki nodded. "Ok, Shizuru. You get her for the rest of the night."
"Natsuki," the older woman scolded. "Kari-chan is not an object to be pawned off." She picked up the 4-year-old and hugged her again.
Three hours later, after they had finished their food and returned to their house, the family sat together on the couch watching TV. The bike-loving woman looked at her wife and daughter and smiled to herself. "I love my girls," she thought as she squeezed the hand that had made it silently into her own, which turned out to be Shizuru's. All three fell asleep on the couch that night and all were late to their respective locations the next morning, but none regretted it.
AN: Absolutely pointless. I know this. It was more of just a time-waster that turned into a fic. I hope you liked it nonetheless. Please review.