They stay up all night talking.

Sometimes, they talk about their deepest, most profound feelings. Sometimes, they talk about days long gone. And sometimes, they just talk about silly, insubstantial things. But they always talk the night out until they fall asleep in each other's arms, regardless of whether they are in his room or hers.

Grandpa doesn't seem to notice this, or if he does, he chooses not to comment on this. Until the day before they have to go back to their universities to start a new year.

"Why don't you just move in to the same room?" he asks them over breakfast, as though picking up where he left off from a previous conversation.

Tsumugu merely blinks at him in surprise, while Chisaki almost spits out her tea in surprise, going bright red.

"G-grandpa!" she manages to say eventually, once she recovers somewhat.

The older Kihara simply gives her a look.

"It'd make a lot more sense than moving from room to room each night." He says simply.

"He has a point, Chisaki." Tsumugu says eventually, after thinking for a moment. Chisaki finds herself agreeing. It does make sense, after all. Still, she can't help but feel her cheeks go redder.

They eat the rest of their breakfast in silence, before going to clear away their things.

"Anything in particular you're doing today?" Tsumugu asks her.

"Hmm…I'm thinking of going to Shioshishio today. The second year is meant to be busier than the first, so once I've started I may not have time to visit as often as I'd want to. "

"Maybe I'll come with you. " Tsumugu offers. "I didn't plan anything in particular for today."

"That's fine by me." She says.

They say nothing more as they leave the house, but their hands still manage to find each other. And once they do, they don't let go.

…

Tsumugu finds it fascinating to see the friends who were once his age go through everything that he has already gone through. Sometimes he feels a little regretful, thinking that his high-school years would have been more interesting with Hikari, Kaname and Manaka, and occasionally he is stunned by how easily he and Chisaki had been replaced with Miuna, Sayu and the transfer-student Shiori.

But for the most part, it is fascinating. And sometimes amusing. Like now, while he is attempting to help them with their biology homework. They are sitting at a table in the office he sometimes shares with Professor Mihashi when they do research, attempting to write a few paragraphs about the presence of Ena in those descended from ocean people, and the relevant genetics. Sayu, Shiori and Kaname seem to be having little trouble with it, only asking him to check the occasional sentence here and there, but Hikari is grumpy, and Miuna and Manaka are questioning everything. He doesn't blame them, to be honest. A lot of the truth cannot be explained away by mere biology. Even while studying Oceanography, he knows that there is more reality in the folk tales than anyone would ever give credit for.

But of course, high-school biology homework doesn't care for those details.

So he ends up reading through Manaka's work again, and carefully pointing out the things she should change. He does the same with Hikari, but apart from that he just sits back and watches them squabble and work.

Occasionally, Miuna would ask him an interesting question, and they would spend a few minutes debating in a way similar to how he would discuss matters with Professor Mihashi. But for the most part he watches them, and thinks of his own high school days.

Eventually, as always, they seem to decide collectively that they are enough for the day.

"Did you guys even do any work?" Sayu asks as she sweeps up her items and puts them into her bag.

"Of course we did!" Hikari protests. Manaka backs him up, resulting in a short but circular argument, which Tsumugu cannot resist laughing at. Eventually, Kaname is the one to stop(or at least pause) the argument by indicating that Hikari had actually written on two sides of paper, while Miuna and Manaka had done slightly more than that.

"Thanks for helping us, Tsumugu-san." Miuna says , pausing at the door.

"Not a problem." He says, smiling at them.

"Hey, hey, Tsumugu-kun! Say hi to Chii-Chan for me!" Manaka calls from the corridor.

"I will." He replies.

He can hear their laughter and banter as they head down the corridor, and he listens to it until he no longer hears it. Then, he pulls a stack of work towards him and begins to tackle it, smiling all the while.

…

Chisaki enjoys working at the hospital, now that she is qualified as a junior nurse. It is long, and nowhere near easy, and she is often very tired when she gets back home. But it is enjoyable, and she is happy there.

One afternoon when she catches a break, she decides to go chat with her friend Eri, who works in the maternity department of the hospital. She enjoys looking at all those little babies, imagining what her own potential children may look like, despite the fact that neither she nor Tsumugu are in any particular rush for that to happen.

"Hello, Eri-Chan."

"Chisaki-Chan!On a break?"

"Yep. Who've you got there?" Chisaki goes over to see the babies Eri is currently tending to, and notices that they both have Ena, and eyes the same colour as her own.

"We're not entirely sure, to be honest." Eri says. "They were found washed up on the beach this morning, near to Shiroimachi. It seems they have just woken up from hibernation."

Chisaki wasn't entirely surprised to hear that. Although most ocean-dwellers had woken up a long time ago, there were the occasional few that were still asleep due to old or young age, and the occasional case of illness.

"Where are their parents?"

"That's the thing. They don't seem to have any, and according to the police, nobody has come forward to claim the twins. The injuries complicate things too."

Chisaki looks closer, and notices the swathe of bandages each twin is wrapped up in. It makes her shudder-who would be so cruel to someone so young? Then, she looks at the labels on each crib, and sees that they are both girls, each without a name.

"Twins, huh?" she murmurs, a thought beginning to take ahold in her mind. She chats to Eri about other things for a few moments more, then goes down to her lockers so that she can use her phone to call Tsumugu.

…

Over the next week, she continues to visit the maternity department and pester Eri about the twins, and Tsumugu comes over to see them too. They both talk to the police and social workers responsible for them, and seek advice from Grandpa and her parents.

By the end of the week, they know what they have to do. They have to adopt the girls.

…

The next few months are a whirlwind, as they adjust the home for the impending arrival of the twins, sort out paperwork and juggle daily life on top of this. The only lull comes when they loan out their house to Hikari and the others to have a graduation party, and go to visit Shioshishio.

Chisaki's parents are pleasantly surprised to see Chisaki, Tsumugu and Grandpa at the door. They usher them in, and serve snacks, and make small talk. Eventually, the conversation topic steers around to the twins.

"So, how long do you think it'll be before you can bring them home?" Chisaki's father asks.

"Maybe a few more months. We've actually gone through a good amount of the adoption process, but they're both very weak. Especially Yume." Tsumugu replies.

"Yume?" Chisaki is just as surprised as Grandpa and her parents are. Tsumugu looks sheepish, a rare look for him.

"Yes. I've kind of been thinking of them as Mugen and Yume. "He says. "They need names, in any case. "

"You are right. And those are nice names. Mugen and Yume…" Chisaki smiles at him, her way of telling him it is fine.

"I can't believe someone would even think about hurting a baby! They're what, two, three months old now?" Chisaki's mother exclaims. "At least they'll have you two soon. Make sure you bring them down to visit as soon as possible, okay. I want to meet my granddaughters." She pauses, and then adds. "And don't forget a wedding. I've always dreamed of being able to attend Chisaki's wedding."

"Mum!" Chisaki laughs. "We've been through this already. We barely had time to get married, let alone a wedding, and we'll be super-busy once we bring them home."

"I know, I know. A mother can dream though, can't she?"

Chisaki laughs again, and they change the subject once again.

They go home the next morning, ready to start another busy day, when Chisaki suddenly feels nauseous.

"Are you OK?" Tsumugu asks with concern.

"Yeah…I'll be fine." She yawns, and then goes slightly green. As soon as she reaches the house(Which, surprisingly, is still somehow very tidy), she rushes straight to the bathroom and throws up.

"Perhaps you should stay home today."

"Hmmm….."

"I'll phone for you, if you want?"

"Please." Gratefully, she goes to their room and sleeps the whole day. When she wakes up, it is evening, and she feels a little better.

Perhaps it was just something I ate…She thinks.

…

Unfortunately for her, she ends up feeling ill for the next few days after that. She stays home, and finds that she misses not being able to see the twins.

In between short periods of sleep, she thinks of the twins.

The twins.

She sits up suddenly. All of a sudden, it's obvious. She face-palms for a moment, and wonders what Tsumugu would say. Wonders whether or not this will end up being too much for them to deal with.

She gets up and goes to make herself some tea, waiting for Tsumugu to come back. When he does, the first thing he does is to check up on her.

"Are you OK now?"

"Yeah…and actually, I think I know why I've been so ill every morning."

"Oh?"

"Morning sickness." She says, watching his face carefully. He seems confused at first, processing what she just said. Then, suddenly, he gets is, and his face lights up, despite the fact his expression seems unchanged.

"Are you sure?"

Chisaki nods, thrown off by how happy he seems. He comes over to her and wraps his arms around her. Although she has a million worries, both old and new, none of them seem to matter right then, as she revels in the feeling of his embrace and the presence of a new life inside her.

…

When Yume dies, they are both there.

Things had been going so well, and at 7-and-a-half months of age, they were at a healthy weight, and almost well enough to go home to them. But then an infection that had been making its way around had found the maternity ward, and three babies had died. Including Yume.

Tsumugu was left with a strange feeling that was a mixture of grief at her death and gratitude at the fact that Mugen was none the worse, but at the moment he was more worried for Chisaki, 5 months pregnant and utterly hysterical.

He was holding her carefully as she cried, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say. It reminded him a little of when they were 17, and Grandpa had been taken into hospital. The difference here was that this time he had the right to reach out and wipe her tears, to share the sadness. But even so, he couldn't help but wonder if this would be the thing to break them.

"Chisaki-Chan…" Eri, one of the nurses Chisaki was friends with, hovered nearby nervously.

A couple of other nurses went by them, taking care of Yume while they stood there, not sure what to do.

Suddenly, Chisaki gasps. Tsumugu is immediately alert.

"What, what is it?"

"The little one just kicked me." Chisaki laughs weakly for a moment. "The little one just kicked me." She repeats, dazed. He reaches out, and touches her stomach. Sure enough, he feels the baby kick. Chisaki looks up at him, as if silently asking something. He isn't entirely sure what it is she is asking him with those turbulent eyes of hers, but he already knows what his answer would be, so he nods.

Chisaki turns to Eri.

"Eri-Chan, I want to take Mugen home."

"B…But…"

"I want to take her home. Now, ideally. "Her voice is steely, and although Tsumugu decides to remain silent, he makes it known that he is backing her up. Eri looks at them, and sighs.

"I'll get Dr Tadashi, then. "

…

One day, Miuna visits unexpectedly.

As her due date approaches, people have visited her many times, always offering help if needed. Akari is often a frequent visitor, despite having three young children, always with food and advice. But Miuna, like Hikari and the others, is busy with her studies, and rarely comes.

"What a surprise!" Chisaki exclaims when she slides the door open. "Do you want anything to drink, or eat?"

"No, it's fine." Miuna says shyly. "Don't trouble yourself." She comes in and sits in the living room.

"So, how are you then? Everything OK? I hope Tsumugu and Professor Mihashi aren't working you too hard."

"No they aren't. Actually, it was Tsumugu-san who told me to come visit, get my nose out of the books for once."

This doesn't surprise her in the slightest. They talk for a while longer, and when Mugen wakes up, Chisaki 'introduces' her to Miuna. Then, she takes them both to the room that has been prepared for the arriving baby.

"Why yellow?" Miuna asks, gesturing to the newly-painted walls. "It's a nice yellow, but that's a random choice."

"That was Tsumugu's idea, actually." Chisaki explained. "He wanted a gender-neutral colour. I said it should be yellow because that's a happy colour, and a child's room should always be happy."

"Gender neutral, but why?" Miuna's eyes widen. "Don't you know that-"

Suddenly, Chisaki remembers one of Akari's anecdotes, about Miuna and her strange ability.

"Shhhh." She says, smiling. When Miuna looks surprised, she elaborates. "We want to keep the sex of the baby a surprise, you see. So I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell us." Miuna still seems confused, but accepts the explanation well enough.

"Well, it kind of feels good to know something you don't." Miuna eventually says, smiling to show she's just teasing. Chisaki grins back. Miuna has definitely come a long way from the troubled and too-serious little girl she once knew.

…

They sit in the hospital poring over a baby-name book while their new-born daughter sleeps in a crib next to Chisaki's hospital bed and Mugen sits on Tsumugu's lap.

They flick back and forth, debating names.

"What about something derived from your name? Chihiro? Chiyuki? Misaki? Sakiko? Sakie?"

"Why not something derived from your name?"

"There aren't really any girls' names that you can get from mine."

They try out another bunch of options. Izumi. Yuuri. Junko. Rin. None of them feel right. Eventually, they get to the end of the book and flip back to the beginning for the fourth or fifth time. They skip over names they've already dismissed and take a closer look at ones they hadn't eliminated outright.

Mugen watches the flicking pages, entranced by them. Occasionally, she reaches out and tries to help flick them, which makes both Chisaki and Tsumugu laugh. As they get to the halfway point in the book, she reaches out again, but this time her chubby little fingers poke the middle of the page.

As they laugh again, Tsumugu glances at where Mugen is poking.

"Kaede." He reads out "Maple. "

"Like the tree?" Chisaki asks, pointing to the tree that can be seen from the hospital room's window.

Tsumugu nods.

"Kaede." He repeats. "Kaede Kihara. How does that sound to you?"

Chisaki smiles slowly. "I think that sounds perfect."

Mugen giggles, and tries to turn the pages of the book again.

…

Chisaki finds it fascinating, watching the lives of her daughters' right from the beginning.

Everyone tells her that Kaede looks exactly like her, and it is true that as she grows, the only way of telling the difference between photos of Kaede and her own childhood photos are the hairstyles and clothes. But Kaede's eyes have a grey hint to them, and her skin is slightly more golden than hers. And whenever Kaede is sleeping or deep in thought as she draws a picture or learns to write her name, she looks a lot like Tsumugu.

Surprisingly, Mugen shares similar sleeping features, despite there being no blood connection. Even with bright-blue almond shaped eyes and silvery hair, there seems to be a resemblance between her and Tsumugu. A strange case of nuture trumping nature.

At some point, Mugen acquires the nickname 'Mucchi', and instantly, everyone starts calling her that. It ends up being Kaede's first word, and it drives them both crazy as she toddles around calling for her big sister. In a good way, of course. Chisaki sometimes suspects that Manaka was responsible for the nickname, but she doesn't take credit for it. Nobody does, and she never does find out where the nickname comes from. All the same, it sticks.

She also finds it surprising how similar they are. Maybe it is something to do with how there is only 11 months between them, but both girls are curious and the older they get, the more outgoing and independent they become. They both enjoy learning how to cook with her, and they love going out on the boat with Tsumugu. Infact, as they both become school-aged, they make a point of waking up early every morning for a swim, before having breakfast quickly and going to school.

She worries about them at times, the way any parent would, but no more than normal. Infact, the only thing that had truly scared her at first, back when they had properly become a family of four, was how Mucchi would react on knowing she was adopted and once had a twin sister. Thankfully, when they did tell her, she took the news in stride, and it doesn't seem to ever bother her, although sometimes Chisaki sees her turn and look at the space next to her, as if expecting to see someone there.

…

It is not often that Tsumugu gets an entire day off, and whenever he does, his first thought is that the time should be spent with Chisaki or his little girls.

On this particular Saturday, Chisaki has work for most of the day, so he decides to take Mucchi and Kaede out.

"Where are we going to go today, Daddy?" Kaede asks him as she spins around in crazy circles, making the skirt of her dress and the haori jacket she's borrowed from Chisaki balloon around her.

"I'm not sure about that. How about we take a walk and figure it out?" he suggests. "Although, we need to do some food shopping later."

"But that's boring!" Mucchi complains. "Why can't we do it now and get it over with? Or, or, even better , why can't Mummy do it?"

Tsumugu looks at his eldest and has to stifle a laugh at her indignant expression.

"She comes home late from work today. Also, if we did shopping now, we'd have to carry it around with us."

"Ohh. " Mucchi thinks about this. "That makes sense. Okay!"

They wander around for a while, often stopping to talk to friends, whether they are his own or the girls'. Of course, him being him, the friends are the ones who end up doing most of the talking. In between this, the girls regale him with funny stories from school.

After one particular story involving an escaped hamster and the school lunch line, Mucchi falls into contemplative silence. Kaede moves on to talk about something else, oblivious.

"Daddy, can we visit Aunt Manaka?" Mucchi says just as he is about to ask her if something is up.

This is the last thing he expected to hear.

"Mukaido? Why?"

This makes Kaede laugh suddenly.

"Daddy! You can't call her that anymore, remembers? She's been married to Uncle Hikari for….for a very long time!" she scolds, giggling all the while.

"I'm not entirely sure that would be a good idea, Mucchi. After all, she has just lost another baby…" he trails off, knowing that the full details aren't really suitable for the ears of one girl who has just turned 8 and one who is not quite 8.

"But Daddy, that's why we should go." Kaede says; ready to back up her sister instantly.

Mucchi nods, all serious.

"I think that maybe Yume is playing with the babies in heaven, so they aren't lonely." She tells him.

This gives Tsumugu pause. He knows Chisaki is worried that Mugen 'sees' her twin sister. Personally, he doesn't think it that much of an issue. But he thinks it is better that he finds out for sure, so he grabs ahold of her mention of Yume.

"Did she tell you that?"

Mucchi looks at him as though he is utterly stupid.

"No. She's dead. But we're twins, right? Once, a long time ago before we were born, we were the same person. So I feel as if I know what she likes and stuff. In any case, I know what she looks like. Like me!"

Tsumugu smiles. Just as he thought. Nothing to worry about.

"Okay then." He decides. "We'll go visit."

…

Surprisingly, they don't find Manaka at home, but at her restaurant, alternating between shifts in the kitchen and stints serving. She is at the bar when Tsumugu, Mucchi and Kaede arrive, and she spots them instantly, waving them over.

That in itself is a sign that all is not well. If she was fully herself, she would have rushed over to them and dragged them over instead. But her eyes seem brighter, and she looks a little less ghostly. Definitely an improvement on what Chisaki reported when she dropped in on her the week before.

After Mucchi and Kaede run out of steam, and opt to entertain themselves while drinking apple juice, Tsumugu asks if she is all right.

Manaka shrugs.

"Well, you know…life doesn't turn out how you think it would. Although I used to think that would mean things could only get better. "

"They could."

"No. I'm not trying again. I don't want to. I cannot…"

"And Hikari? "

"I…I don't know. We're still figuring it out. But this is the last…look, Kenta-kun did another canvas for me." She points to the wall opposite, where 6 canvases were hanging. Each had a calligraphed name written on them.

Haruka. Naomi. Jun. Ushio. Ryuuichi. The 6th one read 'Saki'. As in, youngest child.

Tsumugu nodded his understanding.

"You could try adoption, though. "He gestured to Mucchi. He rarely focused on the fact that she was adopted, but he thought this time it might provide some level of hope.

"I suppose. Anyway, we have a few sent-back orders dwelling in the kitchen, do you want some?" Manaka asked suddenly, changing the topic.

"Mukaido…"

"Tsumugu-kun! It's Manaka, I keep telling you this."

"I know! We told Daddy that too!" Kaede says, hearing that part of the conversation. Mucchi and Kaede giggle uncontrollably, which prompts a genuine smile from Manaka.

"They're right. In any case, let me just box up that food for you."

"Okay then…Manaka."

…

Having gotten side-tracked from bumping into her old friend Yuu, she expects her daughters to ambush her with questions as soon as she steps through the door. Instead, all is quiet.

"Tsumugu? Mucchi? Kaede?" She finds the quiet disturbing, but as soon as she steps into the living room, she understands, and the feeling is replaced with a warm one.

All three of them are asleep in the living room, a map spread in front of them, and pens scattered nearby. Kaede leans against Tsumugu's shoulder, and Mucchi is partially curled up on his lap. She watches them for a moment, and then sighs. She doesn't have the heart to wake them.

So, instead, she changes, eats her dinner quickly and cleans up. After her teeth are brushed and the room is tidy, she grabs a blanket from the linen cupboard and somehow manages to drape it over them without completely covering Mucchi. Then, she settles down on the floor on Tsumugu's other side, and falls asleep, thinking about how much she loves this little family of hers. How, if she had the chance to relive life again, she would do everything the same, just so she could end up with this family of hers.