Authors Notes: I'm quite aware Ougi, Villetta and their relationship are quite unpopular among Code Geass fandom. I don't think either of them are ideal, model human beings, but then neither are Lelouch, Kallen, C.C., or most of the cast. So now that we've gotten that out of the way, please refrain from leaving any rude character-bashing comments, or I'll politely delete them.
Since I adore the Ougi/Villetta pairing, and feel they need more love, I decided to attempt to write something for them. Suppose it came out rather cracky, but crack fic is fun.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except Naoto, but not really, because I was just making up details for their not-yet-born child whom I don't own.
Made With Love
Being the Japanese prime minister was an unsurprisingly tiring job. There was always something that needed to get done, from papers to sign, to diplomats to meet. New conflicts constantly arose, that needed solving. But yet, to Kaname Ougi, sometimes that could be the simpler part of his life.
Naoto Ougi was now three years old. Villetta had decided that he was old enough to not require her constant care, and thus, had recently returned to work as Ashford's gym teacher. It was something she'd always enjoyed back from when she was a part of the Secret Intelligence Agency, but never would've admitted at the time. Plus, it helped her stay in shape. The extra weight she'd put on was one of her least favorite things about her pregnancy. But Ougi's job didn't require consistent hours of work, so he was often home to care for their son. And other times, they were fortunate enough to have reliable babysitters, including some of the former Black Knights.
But on this particular morning, Villetta woke up feeling as if she hadn't gotten any sleep at all, and on top of that, spent the night listening to Lelouch go on about his latest successful sinister plot against Britannia. Although, thinking about it further, that would perhaps be more painful and nauseating than the entire course of her pregnancy combined, and definitely her current state, so she could at least take comfort in the fact that he was long dead. Still, she felt miserable.
Rolling over, she noticed that Ougi was also waking up.
"What time is it?" she asked him, although it was obvious. She set the alarm for the same time every morning, in order to not be late for school.
"It's six AM," he answered, wondering the point of her asking.
"Great," she replied, burying herself under the sheets.
"Villetta, are you alright?" he questioned, now certain something was bothering her. "You shouldn't go back to sleep."
"You're not helping," she responded, not moving.
"Well, alright," Ougi replied. He wasn't going to tell her what she could and couldn't do, but was still concerned by her behavior. He sat up, preparing to get himself ready for the day, only to find his arm being pulled on.
"Ougi, stay," Villetta mumbled.
"Huh?" he questioned, though he didn't get up, as she asked.
"Do I look alright?" She removed herself from the covers, sitting as well.
Studying his wife for a moment, he replied, "You look tired."
"I am," she agreed. "But I mean, do I look sick?"
"I don't know," Ougi replied, clearly worried by the idea.
"Well, I'd better be fine," she said, with frustration. "I'll have to leave soon."
Irritated, she quickly forced herself off the bed, only to feel dizzy from the sudden movement, and find herself collapsing back onto it.
"Villetta!" Ougi shouted, trying to prevent her from hurting herself. He held her close to him, supporting her head with one hand, and placing the other on her forehead.
"You seem to have a fever. Maybe-" he began.
"Then it can't be helped," Villetta sighed, knowing where he was going, and thus interrupting. "I can't just stay home when I have a job to do, and you will not stop me, Kaname Ougi!"
"But Villetta," he protested. "When you were a soldier, loyalty to your duties was important, but being a teacher isn't the same."
"You're right," she replied. "It's more important, because I make money now to help support our family."
"Unless things are different from when I was a teacher, wouldn't you be able to take a paid sick day?" he responded.
"I suppose," she said, though was obviously unhappy with the idea. "But I'd rather not. And even if I didn't work, there's still a lot I need to get done today. I have to cook, because you're not good at it. I need to clean, because both of the men I live with seem to forget the meaning of cleanliness. I need to exercise, because I take personal pride in being in better shape than a bunch of high school students who are full of themselves. I refuse to play sick."
Ougi sighed.
"It isn't playing if you actually need to be taken care of. I'd be worried if you pushed yourself in school and got hurt. You need to rest. And if you're really worried about things around the house, Naoto and I can take care of it."
"I don't see how," she answered.
"I promise I'll try my best, Villetta," he said. "You won't regret it."
"Fine," she replied. She smiled slightly though, deciding to put her faith in Ougi. The worst he could do was destroy the house, but she knew she'd still end up forgiving him. It was very clear to her now that he was still the same caring person she fell for. Villetta was glad that he was willing to try for her.
After getting dressed, though in normal clothes rather than his work suit, in the case of making a mess, Ougi headed to Naoto's room. Sure, it was early in the morning, but kids tended not to mind getting up at crazy hours.
Slowly opening the door, Ougi wasn't too surprised to find his son awake, and watching early morning cartoons on the TV.
"Daddy?" he questioned, turning his head. His face lit up. "Can we play?!"
The TV. still playing in the background, the light-skinned boy, with short white hair got up and ran to him.
Ougi paused, wondering how Naoto would take his plans for the day. Technically, the boy didn't have to help. There were certainly things he'd be too young to do as well, like using the stove.
"Well can we?" he asked.
'Maybe later," Ougi replied. "I'm sorry. You see… how should I put this? Your mother isn't feeling well, and even though she's unhappy about it, it's up to us to take care of things for her. She'll be fine, of course. Don't worry."
Naoto looked up at him curiously.
"How do we do that?"
"Well… making breakfast for one," he began.
"Okay. That sounds fun," Naoto replied.
Ougi was glad that he'd complied so easily. As he headed to the kitchen, Naoto in tow, he wondered to himself just what kind of breakfast Villetta would want. Often, she would make them Japanese-style breakfasts. She seemed to enjoy the food, but she was technically Britannian. Although, he wasn't really sure what her favorite Britannian foods were… other than oranges.
"Hey, Naoto, can you see at we have in the fridge?" he asked.
"Okay," he replied. "There's milk, water, juice, some vegetables, meat, yogurt, eggs…"
"Eggs sound good," Ougi said. "And we have bread, right?"
"Yeah," Naoto replied, pointing to a shelf that was out of his reach.
"Thank you," replied Ougi, going to get both that and the carton of eggs. Hopefully eggs and toast wouldn't be that hard to cook. "Now I need a frying pan, and I guess the bread can go in the toaster later," he thought to himself out loud.
"But what can I do now?" Naoto asked. "Can I break the eggs?"
"I don't see why not," Ougi responded. "I wonder how many to make." The carton wasn't full, but he probably still didn't need a lot. As he thought to himself, he heard a crack. There was a shattered egg, shell and all, on the floor.
"Sorry, I dropped it, Daddy," Naoto said, looking sad.
"Umm… don't worry about it," Ougi decided quickly. Looking down at the mess, he remembered Villetta's comment about cleanliness. "How about you get a rag, and help me clean the floor and table?"
"But that's boring," he replied. "I want to break more eggs."
Ougi took a deep breath. This was already becoming a challenge.
"If you do, I'll let you break the eggs first," he said. "But this time, can you wait until I get the pan?"
"Alright," he agreed, contented by the fact that he'd get to smash more eggs.
Quickly going through a cabinet, Ougi returned with a frying pan, and placed it on the counter. Excitedly, Naoto took the next egg, and dropped it inside, where it shattered.
"Is that wrong?" Naoto questioned, seeing his father's expression.
"It's closer," he replied, trying to calmly pick out all the pieces of eggshell. "I don't normally do this myself, but I think you're supposed to not mix the shells with the insides."
"But how does that work?" Naoto asked.
"That's… a good question," Ougi replied. "It would be hard to avoid getting shell mixed in altogether. You know, maybe we should do it your way. As long as we can get the shells out, it's still the same."
"Mhm," he agreed, continuing to smash eggs into the pan, until the container was empty.
Meanwhile, Ougi hurried to get a wet rag, for cleaning the mess of egg on the floor. He handed it to Naoto.
"Just make sure to dry it too when you're done," he instructed. "We wouldn't want it to be slippery."
"Can you do it?" Naoto asked. "I want to watch the next cartoon."
"I suppose," he replied.
Turning on the stove, he began to fry the giant mess of eggs. He hoped there weren't too many in the pan, but it was too late now. He'd also considered that there might be other essential ingredients missing. Villetta had cooked eggs like this before, but he'd never thought to ask her how it was done. If they were bland, he could always add salt, he decided.
As he waited for them to reach the right consistency, he kept watch of his son's progress. He seemed to be doing well enough, but was probably rushing a bit.
When Ougi finally decided his eggy blob looked like something, he turned off the stove, and decided to move on to toast. That was much more manageable. He'd simply have to wait for the few slices he put in the toaster to pop. At least that gave him an opportunity to dry the now-abandoned floor. It seemed Naoto hadn't started on the table yet, but Ougi didn't really mind. It wasn't really fair to count on a three-year-old to clean the whole room anyway.
He worked until he was satisfied, despite realizing that the room would likely be a mess again after breakfast.
"Maybe she was right," he thought to himself, marveling at the shining floor. "It really hasn't been this clean in a while." Looking at his finished work bought him to the realization that he'd have to see if Villetta was even up to eating now. He didn't want the food to get cold. But either way, he and Naoto could eat their breakfast now. That is, if his egg-like substance was even edible.
Glancing at it, he decided to be brave and taste it first. Grabbing a knife, he cut off a piece from the side. Surprisingly, it was edible. Better than it looked, but perhaps still a little off. Salt probably would be necessary, but on the chance that it'd worsen the flavor, he decided he'd leave that up to Villetta.
Hurriedly, he set the table, pouring three glasses of orange juice as a finishing touch. Seeing that Naoto was still absorbed in his show, Ougi returned to Villetta on his own.
She had been half asleep, but Ougi's approach was enough to wake her.
"Ougi," she whispered, feeling both glad and concerned to see him back.
"You're awake," he commented, smiling. He would've felt bad waking her up, when he was the one who pushed her to rest.
"It's somehow hard to sleep when I have so much to worry about," she replied.
"Don't you trust me?" Ougi asked.
"Yes," she replied. "Most of the time."
"Would you like breakfast?" he asked.
"Alright," Villetta said, looking apprehensive.
"It's… better than it looks," Ougi assured.
"I'll be the judge of that," Villetta answered. "But if it manages to make me any more sick, you'll pay."
He swallowed, hoping it wouldn't come down to that. Villetta was not someone to anger, even as her husband.
Allowing Ougi to help her walk to the kitchen, though she was certain she could do it herself, Villetta was stunned to see just how clean it appeared.
"You did all this?" she questioned, stepping inside, towards the table.
"Naoto helped," he answered. "But I'm not sure my cooking can live up to my cleaning."
She turned to him, smiling. It was so like him to see only the flaws in something positive he'd done. She was really touched to have someone who cared about her that much, whether it was necessary or not.
Villetta threw her arms around him.
"Thank you, Ougi," she said.
Glad to see her satisfied, Ougi returned her embrace. Perhaps, being a husband and father was ever challenging, but he wouldn't trade that life for the world.