I know, I should really be concentrating on the main fanfic... but I couldn't help it! When you have inspiration, you've got to write! So here you go, a very very future fanfic for Katie and Hikaru! WARNING: It contains spoilers (although I have a feeling that you guys probably knew that this would be the outcome for our lovely couple... considering I wrote a oneshot about it...)

This story, unlike my other side stories, is split into parts, so I'll be updating as soon as I finish the parts.

Anyway... enjoy!

Fire

PART 1 – THE FIRE

Smoke.

That was the first thing that Hikaru smelt as he woke up. Not his usual Saturday morning pancakes, or early morning bacon.

Just smoke.

That was what forced him to open his eyes at 2am on a Sunday morning.

He groggily woke up, looking over at his wife, who lay beside him. The woman he had been married to for ten years now was sound asleep beside him, her red hair splayed out over her pillow. He smiled a little at her angelic face before the smell of smoke hit his nose again. He frowned and sat up, pushing the covers back. His amber orbs darted to the door, which was left slightly open to allow light from the corridor to filter in. He slowly got up, untangling himself from his wife's arms, before heading to the door and stepping out into the corridor.

The corridor wasn't narrow, but it wasn't wide either. The floor was carpeted and beige, and the walls were also painted beige. There were six doors that led off the corridor, one of which – the middle door on the left when approaching from the staircase – led to his and Katie's master bedroom. To Hikaru's left was the door leading to the family bathroom – a room that he barely ever used due to the fact that he and Katie had an ensuite in their master bedroom. To his right was the playroom – a room filled with toys, video games and computers to keep anyone entertained for weeks.

Across the corridor were three doors leading to his kids' rooms. One the left was his eldest daughter, Asuza's bedroom. Her hair was a reddish-auburn colour, like her mother's, but her eyes were amber, like her father's. She was eight, and was very bright, stubborn and outgoing – a combination of both her parents' well-known traits. Her bedroom door had been painted sky-blue – her favourite colour.

On the right was the door that led to his middle child's room – the room belonging to Minako. She was almost the complete opposite of Asuza, instead inheriting her dad's bright red hair and her mother's blue eyes. She was an introvert, and very bright as well, but she was definitely much more giving that her sister was. She was only one year younger than Asuza, but they argued as if they were twins. Her bedroom door was painted lilac, as purple was her favourite colour.

The middle door was painted half red, half green, and the bedroom behind it belong to his four year old twins, Rin and Kazuto. Kazuto was the older of the two, but since they were identical appearance-wise many people found it hard to tell between the two. In fact, only those in the Hitachiin family were able to truly tell between the two. The boys looked exactly as Hikaru and Kaoru had at their age, from the bright red hair right down to the amber eyes. They were also very troublesome, but were otherwise very different to each other. Whereas Kazuko was a lot like his father and uncle – always scheming, very imaginative, and ready to cause trouble at any moment – Rin was a lot more like his mother – calmer, with a love for reading and art, but still fairly childish and playful. The two seemed to balance each other out, and this is what Hikaru loved most about the boys' relationship. It reminded him a lot of how he and Kaoru were…

Each of the doors was closed, meaning that the smoke smell was coming from the staircase at the end of the corridor, to Hikaru's right.

He frowned and headed down the corridor, towards the smell, and found himself descending the stairs and heading towards the kitchen… where smoke was pouring out.

His eyes widened.

Smoke…

He turned and ran back upstairs to wake his wife up. "Katie! Katie!" He shook her violently.

She awoke with a start, her blue eyes flying open. "What?" she squeaked, looking around. "What is it?" Her blue orbs met his amber ones.

He opened his mouth to speak. To be honest, even he didn't believe what he said next.

"Fire. Downstairs. In the kitchen."

She stared at him in disbelief. "What?!"

"There's a fire downstairs in the kitchen. I saw smoke."

It was then that the smell hit her nose, and her eyes widened to the size of saucepans. "Th-there's a fire… in our home…" she whispered, stunned and scared.

And then they were both hit with a horrifying thought.

"The kids…" they whispered simultaneously before jumping up and racing out of the room.

By then, the smoke had reached the bottom of the stairs, and the smell was now far stronger than it had been when Hikaru had first woken up – this greatly worried the father of four as he ran into Minako's room, which was situated closest to the stairs.

"Minnie! Ko-ko!" Hikaru shook his daughter awake, pulling her to her feet. "Wake up, sweetheart. We need to go."

She was clutching her teddy tightly as she was pulled to her feet, and her bright blue eyes opened suddenly. "W-wha…?"

He quickly picked her up, giving her no time to argue, before racing out of the room with her on his hip.

When he reached the corridor, he found that Katie had already gone with the twins, as their bedroom door was left open. As was Asuza's, so he assumed that she was with her mother as well.

He raced down the stairs with his daughter in his arms, pressing her small face into his chest so that she didn't breathe in too much smoke. Little Minako coughed a little as a bit of smoke got into her mouth, and Hikaru pressed her face further into his pyjama shirt.

Within minutes the two had reached the front door, and Hikaru quickly burst out into the cool night air, wrapping his arms tighter around his daughter as she shivered.

"Hikaru!"

He looked over to see his wife standing with some of the neighbours, clutching their sons. He ran over, Minako still in his arms. It was when he reached the group that he realised something was wrong.

There were only three kids.

But they had four…

"Where's Asuza?" Hikaru asked, looking around for his daughter.

"The neighbours have called for the emergency services, and they're on their way," Katie explained before his question registered. She frowned. "I thought you had her?" she asked, suddenly becoming very worried.

"No… I thought you—" He felt his heart drop as he realised what had happened. "No…" he muttered before putting Minako down and turning to run back into the house.

"Wait! Hikaru!" Katie called out, watching her husband race off. She bit her lip. "Please come back alive with our daughter…" she whispered, clutching the three children they had managed to save.

Hikaru grunted as he pushed the front door open, minding all of the burning debris on the ground. "Asuza!" he called out. When he heard no answer, he began searching through the home, looking in the living room, the dining room, and the downstairs playroom. "Asuza!" He returned to the bottom of the staircase. "Asuza!" he yelled frantically.

"Daddy?"

His eyes widened as he turned to look up the stairs. "Asuza?!"

"Daddy!"

He couldn't help the smile that grew on his face as he raced up the stairs. Thank goodness… she's alive… He looked around the landing when he got upstairs. "Asuza, where are you?"

"M-my bedroom!" Her voice sounded scared.

He sped to her room and ran in, spotting his daughter curled up on the bed.

She sat up when he entered, her amber eyes wide. "Daddy!" She jumped off the bed and ran straight into his open arms.

He kissed her hair softly. "Oh sweetheart… don't ever scare me like that again."

She nodded before coughing a bit.

The smoke had finally reached the upper floor of the house, and it was just a matter of time before the fire would reach them as well.

Hikaru quickly pulled off his pyjama shirt, ignoring the tickly feeling in his throat, and folded it up, putting it to Asuza's nose. "Breathe through this, okay?" He hoped it would filter the smoke and ash from the air.

The little girl nodded, holding the cloth to her nose tightly as she grabbed her doll and held it in her other arm.

Hikaru picked the girl up and clutched her to his chest, wincing when he felt himself cough a little. He quickly forced the cough down before he ran out of the room and into the corridor, which was filled with smoke. He kept his head down as he headed down the corridor, trying not to get too much smoke in his eyes. He stopped when he reached the stairs.

The fire had finally reached the bottom of the staircase, the flames licking at the banister and the bottom stair. Black smoke from the burning wood filled and polluted the air, making it difficult for Hikaru to breathe without coughing.

He carefully descended the stairs, being careful so that he didn't slip or fall. He winced when his arm touched the banister, the black burn mark a reminder that his house was on fire and so everything would be hot. "Gah!" he cried when he felt the banister hit his arm again.

"Daddy?" Asuza asked nervously, trying to bring her head up to see what was wrong.

"Daddy's fine," he managed to say softly, pushing her head back down. "Keep your head down, Asuza."

She did as she was told, burying her head in her father's shoulder.

Hikaru slowly trekked down the stairs, avoiding the rising flames. He hugged his daughter to his chest, using his body to shield her from the heat. Just as he reached the bottom of the stairs, part of the ceiling broke off, landing on his shoulder and burning it badly. "Ah!"

Asuza whimpered. "D-d-daddy?"

Hikaru grit his teeth, trying to bear through the pain. "Daddy's fine, sweetheart." He grunted as he pushed on, making his way to the front door. He climbed over fallen and burning debris, coughing as his lungs tried to expel the smoke and ash "We're nearly out, darling. Just hang on…"

She nodded into his shoulder, holding onto him tighter.

Hikaru pushed through the fire, gasping with relief as they entered the cool night air. It soothed the burns on his body, but did nothing to help his cough.

Sirens blared lightly outside the four-bedroom, and fire engines and ambulances surrounded the house. Katie and the younger three children were being checked-up by the paramedics on the scene.

Hikaru stumbled over with Asuza in his arms, coughing and wincing.

Katie looked up when she heard the coughing, and she got up and ran over to her husband and daughter. "Hikaru!"

Asuza turned in her dad's arms and coughed a little before smiling. "Mummy!"

Hikaru put her down and smiled weakly as his wife and his daughter embraced. Suddenly, he found himself coughing uncontrollably, unable to breathe properly.

Katie looked up at him sharply. "Hikaru, go and see a paramedic."

He frowned. "I don't—"

"Don't try to argue your way out of this." She stood and folded her arms. "Go and see the paramedics now, Hika. You sound terrible."

He nodded and headed over to a paramedic to get checked-up.

Katie smiled softly as he trudged off before turning all of her attention to her children.

Minutes later, a paramedic walked over. There was a concerned look on his face.

"Mrs Hitachiin?" the young man asked.

Katie frowned as the turned to him. "Yes… that's me…"

He took a deep breath. "It seems as if the fire affected your husband more than we anticipated…"

She tensed. "Wha… what do you mean?" she asked hesitantly.

"Mrs Hitachiin… we're going to have to hospitalise your husband."

So... what do you think about part 1?