Wow, I honestly haven't been to this site in two or so years, but it's interesting to be back.

Just to fill you in, I'm honestly more or less just using the backdrop of Fumizuki as a school because it split up my characters in an interesting enough way to capture my attention. There is a good possibility there may be cameos from characters from the original series later in the chapters of this work, but for now at least, all I can really promise is the presence of original characters.

The speed of posting may vary, college tends to be consuming, although I have been working on this thing for quite a while (over a year by now) and figured maybe another eye or two overseeing it might be a little nice. Just a boost to the old self-esteem, or maybe some well deserved criticism to push me back into reality. Its age means I have more than a few chapters that only need a quick comb through to catch mistakes, but I can't promise anything when it comes to posting speed.

But, other than that, I thank you for taking a bit of time to look at my mediocre writing and I hope to be back soon enough.

xKiha

It was a warm spring morning when Noko Tanaka set down the final box from their once incredibly crowded car. The satisfaction of finishing the first wave of moving was overwhelming as she wiped her brow. "Well then, it's finally ours." She cooed, feeling the stirring in the sling resting against her back. Without hesitation, she shifted the sling around so she could meet the heavy eyed child resting inside of it.

"Welcome to our new home," Noko practically purred as the small six month old stared up at his mother. She'd always assumed that he understood everything she told him, that he already had so much wisdom within his tiny body. "My sweet Vash."

The neighborhood was quite different from the six tatami mat apartment they once lived in, but the smell of freshly fallen sakura petals alone made everything feel so much better. Everything would be better now, surely Gerard would be happier now that there was more space for the family of three. Surely he'd be kinder now that he had all the "space to think" that he was always yelling about.

Vash began to shift around in her arms, stifling a small cry while he clenched his eyes shut. After the long car ride, it was no surprise that he'd grown fussy as a wail of hunger left his throat.

"Oh!" Noko slightly surprised by how quickly her child unraveled, the exhausted woman quickly growing distressed. "Damn it, where did I leave your bottles!?"

Vash's cries only grew louder, Noko's panic overtaking her as she quickly slid the sling back into place on her back while she scrambled towards the car and began tearing through the front, trying to locate the cooler that she'd kept in the car with premade emergency bottles during the long ride.

Vash's cries only grew louder, the sobs only making Noko's movements more frantic and unfocused. "It's okay, it's okay! I'll have that bottle to you in a moment, darling, I just need you to hold on."

It would have been so much easier if her husband was involved enough to help her.

It was only now that Noko realized just how exhausted she truly was, the cries of her son only growing more desperate which only seemed to bring tears to Noko's eyes. "I… I'm getting it, I'm trying." She sniffled.

And then the crying began to calm, Noko feeling somewhat lighter.

"It's okay, ssh, I'm sure your Mother will be with you in a moment." An unfamiliar voice rang out from behind her.

"H-Huh!?" Noko's blood ran cold, jerking around to see two women standing there, both with a stroller beside them, one of the strangers cradling her baby.

"J-Just what do you think you're doing!?" Noko shouted, wiping any signs of tears away.

The woman, clad in a rather uncomfortable looking business suit, seemed somewhat surprised by Noko's outburst, glancing down at the dark haired baby now resting in her arms. "Calming him down so you could continue your business without his crying hurting you."

"I…" Noko was stunned, this wasn't something the city born woman was used to. But surely two women with babies of their own didn't come here with malicious intent, not with how casual they seemed to be.

"You're pretty young for a mom, aren't you~?" Noko turned her attention to the second woman who was dressed in overalls with a bright red shirt underneath, hazel eyes wild. "How old are you? Twenty five?"

"Twenty three," Noko blushed.

"W-Wow, even younger!" The overall clad woman gasped. "Misae had her son when she was thirty four, you're practically a baby compared to her!"

"Chizuru!" The woman holding Vash, presumably Misae, scolded. "She doesn't need to know that!"

Noko was admittedly confused beyond belief, looking from one of the woman to the other while biting her lip. "I…"

"Oh you poor thing." Misae said, offering Vash back to his skittish mother. "You haven't even gotten a proper introduction yet. Both of us live further down the street, I'm Misae Nensho and my companion here is Chizuru Seto. It's a pleasure to meet you." Both women bowing.

"O-Oh, neighbors!" True neighbors, not like the cruel and distant neighbors she'd experienced when living in the city. "Well, my name is Noko Tanaka and this is my son, Vash." She brought herself to smile while bowing in return.

"It's great to have another mom with a baby around!" Chizuru exclaimed. "I was worried I would be stuck with just Misae! But now my little Haruhi will have another future husband to choose from and grow up with!"

"... Future husband?" Noko frowned, looking at her son before glancing over to the stroller in Chizuru's grasp, the sleeping baby girl seeming rather peaceful, long doll-like eyelashes fluttering slightly.

"Ignore her, she should know better than to plan a wedding between two infants," Misae sighed. "My Kiyotaka shouldn't be limited by anything when I want him to have all options opened to him."

"You and Shinichi aren't going to like what he becomes if you tell him he can do literally anything~"

"Oh and letting Ryota show anime to Haruhi is any better?"

"Hey! What a father chooses to do with his daughter is his business and his alone!" Chizuru shouted back, the once sleeping Haruhi beginning to open heavy lidded brown eyes. "Don't you think so, Noko?"

Misae scowled, bending down and unstrapping fourteen month old Kiyotaka from his stroller, the infant's emerald green eyes wide as they looked from his mother to the frustrated Chizuru. "Oh come on, surely Noko wouldn't want her husband to only spend quality time with their child when watching anime!"

"Er…" Noko looking from one of the women to the other.

I wish Gerard would spend time with Vash in general… Back before Vash, when I had… Before we lost… He was so excited about… I thought he'd love him as much as he was going to love her… I just thought maybe if we had Vash to love and raise, he'd start to love us both.

"See, she wouldn't want her husband watching anime with her baby. That kind of programming can be way too violent or sexual for children." Misae huffed.

"Well at least Haruhi will be able to appreciate the hobbies of her parents instead of being raised by boring old Misae and her busy husband." Chizuru stuck her tongue out. "But, anyways, where is your husband, Noko? Is he inside?"

I wish I knew.

"O-Oh, Gerard? He… He went to the grocery store so we would have fresh food in our kitchen as soon as possible."

"Gerard?" Both women blinked. "He's foreign?"

"He's American," Noko nodded. "I met him when he was studying architecture in Japan four years ago and we've been married for two now."

"An American?" Chizuru giggled. "Then why is your surname Tanaka?"

"Er… He said he didn't want his last name spoiling our first names…" At least that's what she told herself in fear of having to accept Gerard's refusal to give either of his family members the surname Taylor. The denial of sharing his last name with his son was Gerard's way of refusing ownership of their son and silently it absolutely destroyed her.

"Are you okay?"

Noko jerked, giving her attention to the two women standing beside her. "Oh… yes, of course, I'm alright."

"Well then, maybe, if you would like and your husband wouldn't mind us borrowing you, you and Vash might like to go on our daily walks with us?" Chizuru offered. "It's not super exciting, but we've found it's a nice time to decompress and get some fresh air."

My first true set of neighbors and they're trying to include me so quickly? It couldn't hurt, not if I could find myself with both friends and playmates for Vash. I don't want him to be a lonely child and just making these women my friends might give him lifelong friends.

"I'd love to join you both."

"Come on! If you weren't such a baby, we could have some fun!"

Six year old Haruhi Seto was a hurricane, the kindergartener clad in her school uniform currently standing atop the stone bridge leading to their subdivision. The bridge was infamous with elementary school children, having a deep enough stream underneath for most of the younger children to take turns leaping off of it and into the cold waters below. Haruhi was no stranger to "courage bridge", but her friends never seemed to want to join her.

"I'm not getting wet," Kiyotaka announced, folding his arms across his chest.

"You're just a fraidy cat!" Haruhi shouted, sticking out her tongue at the green eyed child.

"Am not! I just don't want to get sick!"

"Yeah right!" Haruhi scoffed. "Vash will teach you, because he'll jump with me! Won't you, Vash?"

Two sets of eyes turned to focus on the barely six year old little boy, his hands gripping his shirt nervously while he looked down. "I don't think this is a good idea, Haruhi."

"I've done it a million times," Haruhi boldly stated. "How could it be a bad idea? 'Sides, Mama says I'm going to marry one of you someday, so whoever jumps off the bridge first gets to be my forever husband! I can't marry a boy who won't be brave and jump!"

The boys, after exchanging glances, took a step backwards.

"You boys are so mean! You'd be lucky to marry me!"

"But I thought wives were supposed to be nice…" Kiyotaka muttered.

"So mean! Meanie Taka!"

Vash looked from Haruhi to Kiyotaka in surprise, unsure of where to look or what to say. Two strong personalities that constantly caused Vash to become the tie breaker and mediator. His brand new glasses, his very first pair, slid down his nose while he frantically tried to figure out where to look. Ah, pushing them back up felt kind of reassuring, a reminder that he'd always have at least one thing under his control.

"Come on, we're jumping off right now!"

Vash focused his attention back onto his friends, seeing that Haruhi had stepped off the ledge and was now pulling Kiyotaka closer to the lip of the bridge. The eldest of the group struggled to pull himself away, but it was pointless to try and refuse her now that Haruhi had her hands on him.

"Let go!" Kiyotaka whined. "I have piano lessons in a little bit! I can't get wet or my instructor will get angry with me!"

"Too bad, piano's boring anyways! Come on, Vash, it's jumping time!"

"I…" Vash looked from the determined Haruhi to the mortified Kiyo.

"Run, Vash, don't let her get you!" Kiyotaka shouted while Haruhi extended her free hand towards the youngest, smiling all the while.

"Come on, we gotta jump together." She reassured, smiling almost sickeningly when Vash too her hand, helping him onto the ledge while Kiyotaka shot a look of hatred towards the conflicted youngest.

They failed to notice the bicycle headed towards them.

"Let's do this!" Haruhi cried, her grip tight on both of the boys. "One! Two! Three!"

On three, Vash took the jump without hesitation, Haruhi immediately whirling around to stop Kiyotaka's attempt at fleeing at the third count. She wasn't going to allow this, shooting her hand behind his back and blatantly pushing him off the bridge, causing the child to tumble towards the cold waters below. And with both boys heading for the stream, Haruhi leapt off the bridge.

But when the splash came, Haruhi wasn't in the water.

She forced her eyes open, seeing herself just… floating over the water? No wait, somebody was holding onto her! She was lifted up and held tightly against a familiar body.

"Oh, my little Sailor Mini Moon, just what were you doing?" The voice of her doting father filling her ears as he cuddled her tightly.

"I… I was going to jump off Courage Bridge with Taka and Vash."

Ryota Seto was never the prettiest father, somewhat out of shape and rockin' the stereotypical "dad bod" with his brown hair usually unkempt and an otaku-like manner of speaking. But Haruhi clearly got the sparkle in her eyes from her father who seemed to hold his daughter in the highest of regards. He could only sigh in concern while staring down at his daughter, the look of pure innocence in her eyes making it clear that she didn't know what she was getting herself into.

"I know the local kids like to jump off the bridge, but I really don't want you to be jumping from such high places when you could get hurt."

"But I've done it before!"

"I see…"

This child is going to be the death of me.

It was then that Ryota remembered the child his daughter had coaxed into jumping off and the child that she'd just up and pushed off. Panic immediately set in, setting his daughter down and rushing towards the bank of the stream. Both boys had made it to the water, frantically trying to keep afloat.

"Oh, s-shit! Hold on boys, I've got you!" Ryota quickly abandoning his shoes and rushing into the cold water.

"We're home!"

Little to say, Chizuru Seto wasn't expecting to see two soaking wet six year olds along with her drenched from the waist down spouse while her daughter was completely dry. Haruhi was the only one with a smile, the remaining three consumed by shivers.

"Could you grab us some towels, hun?" Ryota sighed. "It's gettin' kinda c-cold."

"Yes! Of course!" Chizuru nodded. "Oh god, Ryota, get the boys out of their uniforms before they catch cold!"

Ryota bent down, helping Vash unbutton his blazer while his wife rushed off to get clean towels. Haruhi only glanced at her shaking friends before beginning to casually remove her shoes, Kiyotaka glaring at the girl. "If I get sick, I'll kill you."

"Hey, at least I got you to live a little. It was fun, wasn't it?"

"No."

"... A little…"

Both kids turned to look at Vash, the shaking smallest of the three lifting his head up to smile at the both of them. "I've never done something like that before. It was… It was kinda fun."

Haruhi lit up, snickering slightly. "See, dummy Taka, Vash said it was fun! And because Vash is the smartest, what he says is right!"

"I didn't have fun, Haruhi!"

"That's because you're boring!" Haruhi retorted while Chizuru reentered the room, covering the two shaking boys now stripped down to only underwear in a clean towel.

"Now then, Haruhi," Chizuru sighed, dabbing Vash's dripping hair with a fluffy washcloth, causing the small child to look up at her with trusting eyes. "You know that Daddy and I don't want you playing on that bridge. You could've gotten yourself, Vash or Kiyotaka seriously injured."

"But Mama…"

"No buts, Mini Moon," Ryota sighed, looking down at his precious child. "You've heard your Mother and I tell you no enough times for you to know not to jump off that bridge under any circumstances."

"Daddy! I've done it before I know that I can do it and I know I won't get hurt!"

"Haruhi," His voice grew stern, something that caught the three children off guard. "I'm not asking if you can do it or if you've done it before. I'm telling you that you are not allowed to play around on that bridge because eventually somebody will get hurt and I'm not going to let that happen."

"Y-Yes, Daddy."

Vash was silent, looking from Ryota to Haruhi in surprise. They were so different from how he and his Daddy acted when they were together. His Daddy never told him anything or worried about him when he did something like this.

I wish my Daddy would worry about me… That he would love me like Uncle Ryota loves Haruhi.

"There we are, that should feel better," Vash glancing up to look at the smiling Chizuru. She couldn't help but beam down back at him, his clearly hurting eyes melting her heart. Everybody in the neighborhood knew what was happening in the Tanaka-Taylor household, but anybody who knew the situation knew that only Noko could put a stop to this. The only thing that Chizuru, Misae or any other concerned friend could do was try to love and care for Vash and his mother when they were near them. Vash didn't know the love of his father like her daughter did and it only inspired Chizuru to love him with all her heart.

"I'll heat up something warm to help them feel a bit less awful," Ryota said, Chizuru taking his towel from him while he headed to the kitchen.

"Thanks, love," She smiled. "I'll go give Misae and Noko a call so they know we have the boys with us."

Soon enough it was just the three kids, Haruhi snickering as her bright eyes grew sinister. "Maybe tomorrow we can try doing flips after jumping off the swings!"

"No way am I doing anything with you ever again!" Kiyotaka scowled. "You always make us do what you wanna do and that's not fair!"

"Not my fault that I'm not boring like you! You wanna do boring stuff, like play board games and make us go to your dumb piano recitals!"

Vash could only feel himself smile slightly, the familiarity of his lifelong friends and their arguments bringing a warm sensation to the child. Yes, this was just another form of home. Even if Haruhi and Kiyotaka liked to argue and could be mean to each other, this was still just another form of home for the trio.

"All I'm sayin' is if he's gonna be sick, we shouldn't have to be nice to him for missing out on sports day!"

Ten year old Vash Tanaka could only sigh while Haruhi carelessly let the bento her mother made for their flu stricken third friend swing around in her arms. He felt himself nervously shift his glasses, trying to smile. "Well… I don't think he wanted to get sick. He did say he was going to beat your run time when sports day rolled around."

"Five minutes and forty three seconds, stupid Taka wasn't going to beat it."

"Don't you think you're being mean?" The two reaching the doorstep of the Nensho household as Vash nervously knocked on the door.

"Not really…" She huffed. "Why do you take his side all the time anyways? I thought I was your best friend."

"You're both my best friend."

"Nu-uh! You can only have one true best friend and there's no way it could be meanie Taka!"

The door then opened, both of the children immediately straightening themselves before coming face to face with the naturally stone faced Shinichi Nensho. He was rather intimidating, standing at a rather impressive six foot five with his own emerald eyes sharp and constantly focused on the world around him. Nothing got past the lawyer and nothing was ever going to it seemed.

"Ah, Vash, Haruhi," He nodded slowly, both of them quickly bowing.

"A-Ah, Uncle Shinichi."

"We came to bring a snack to K-Kiyotaka, if you don't mind."

A slight smirk brushed across the man's lips for only a moment. "Yes, of course. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you both."

Haruhi pursed her lips, but Vash nudged her before she could make any sort of comment. "Thank you."

The duo proceeded to take off their shoes and head into the house, Haruhi turning to look back at Shinichi for only a moment before sighing. "Jeez, I wish he wasn't so scary looking… I don't know how Taka isn't nervous around Uncle Shinichi when he's never really happy about anything. If my Daddy was like that, I'd always be hiding in my room."

Vash could only nod slightly, afraid of reminding her that he'd take Shinichi over the father he had to go home to. He knew it wouldn't do either of them good to bring it up though as the two headed up familiar stairs and down the hall to the room of their third group member.

"Dummy Taka, we brought you a snaaack~" Haruhi called, completely skipping knocking first and just opening the door. "Also, you'll never guess what my run time was~!"

"H-Haruhi, ssh…"

The little girl froze when she realized that Kiyotaka wasn't alone in the bedroom, Misae sitting on his bedside taking his temperature. She was actually in lounge wear, both of the children stunned by how suddenly casual she looked as she removed the thermometer from her child's mouth after it began to loudly beep.

"Ah, you're up to thirty eight degrees…" She sighed before glancing over to the children standing in the doorway. "Well, I guess if anybody is going to cheer you up, it'll probably be these two. You play nice with him, okay?"

They could only nod, trying to keep Misae in a good enough mood to allow them to stay in the house. She could only offer them a smile, reaching down and ruffling Vash's hair before heading out of the room.

"Wow, you really are sick, huh?" Haruhi quickly approached his bed like nothing had happened, unafraid as always. "Well, I guess you probably won't wanna eat Mama's bento that she made for you right now, hm?"

"..." Kiyotaka only turned his head away from her, turning to glance at Vash who could only offer him a slight smile while looking at the bright red cheeks and darkened eyes of his friend. "You just had to bring her with you, didn't you?"

"Hey, she always comes with… We're a team."

"Yeah… I guess so." Kiyotaka sighed, looking up at the ceiling of his bedroom. "Sorry that I got sick."

"You wouldn't have beat me anyways," Haruhi proclaimed. "I got a five minute and forty second run time, so I win."

"Maybe I'll race you… when I feel better…" He coughed.

"You can, but you won't win." She stated, crawling up onto the bed and sitting herself atop the foot. "You'll never beat me."

This felt more normal, Vash approaching the bed and climbing atop it as well as Kiyotaka propped himself up against his pillow so he could face them properly.

"I'm sure that you'll be eating my dust when I get better." He snickered, smiling to Vash slightly. "You know I'll win, don't you?"

"I…" He looked from one of them to the other. "I know one of you will… but I'll cheer both of you on no matter what."

The two children locked eyes, their glares quickly turning into nothing but familiarity and understanding.

"That reminds me," Haruhi interjected. "I've decided something important."

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

"I've decided who my husband is going to be." Haruhi said. "I'm going to marry Vash and Kiyotaka's gonna have no wife ever."

"H-Huh!?"

"W-Why me!?"

"Because you're the nicest boy here. You remind me a lot more of my Daddy than Taka does and Daddy always says you gotta pick a nice guy who treats you like your Daddy does. So I'm going to marry Vash."

"Fine by me," Kiyotaka huffed. "I didn't wanna marry you anyways."

"And that's why you're never going to be allowed to! So ha, I beat you to it."

"But I thought it first!"

"Nu-uh! I've wanted to marry Vash since I was a baby!"

Till death do them part, in sickness and in health. This was the home that they all knew and reveled in. The world they knew better than anybody else, a world where they could be understood as they truly were. A world where they belonged and could always bask in the sunshine of one another.