Kiku walked through the history aisle, worn leather bound books that had been there even before he had started working at the library sat on the bookshelf, looking as if they were the book embodiment of a wise old king that had many tales to tell. There were newer books as well, covered in a thin layer of plastic, signifying that these were the ones allowed to be checked out of the library for one lucky person to take home and consume. He stopped and pulled a book from his cart, reading the label on the spine and finding it's place on the shelf. It was a rather thin book on World War II, the kind that had many pictures and explained the war in snippets and captions at the corner of its photo. He imagined a little kid about nine or ten years old picking this book and sitting in their room with wonder and fascination in their eyes. That was one of Kiku's favorite sights, seeing someone find something they were passionate about, especially if that someone was a child with a whole life ahead of them. He continued to return the books to their proper places, slowly making his way to the end of the aisle. He stood on his toes as he pushed the last book into place with his finger tips. Being short came with its own perks, but when you are a librarian, it can be a flaw. On several occasions a child would come up to him and ask for his help reaching a book, and he would try his hardest to reach the child's desired book, but to his defeat it would be just out of his reach. It got to the point where he simply went out and bought a stepping stool for the children, and after a few months, there were step ladders for each isle.
Kiku sat quietly behind the front desk reading some old manga that had gone untouched for quite a while. The paper felt leathery between his fingers, and the plastic that kept the paperback book intact was worn and soft to the touch. Kiku enjoyed casually running his fingers up and down the cover as he read.
Around five o'clock, Kiku made the announcement that the library was officially closed. The ancient building didn't have a PA system, so he had to walk around the library repeating the message on a megaphone.
Kiku checked all the stalls in the bathroom for any lost items. His reflection in the mirror caught his eye. He wore a pair of round tortoise shell glasses that, quite frankly, made him look younger than he was. He looked at his clothes, a too big gray sweater with a salmon button down underneath. The sweater was definitely at the end of it's life, it was faded and had multiple holes at the bottom. Dark skinny jeans and a pair of tan workman boots topped off his look. Some teenagers had complimented his outfits before, so he thought he was doing at least something right; Kiku wasn't sure what a 'hipster' was though.
After he was done checking for stragglers, he turned off the lights and gave the keys to the night guard.
Kiku walked a few blocks to get to the bus stop. Taking out his phone, he sent a quick text to Alfred telling him where he was going. He wondered about their plans for the weekend as he waited for the all familiar blue bus to roll up to the stop. The bus was rather empty today, with only a few people sitting more towards the back. He never understood why people preferred the back of the bus, maybe it was just one of those weird social habits this culture had.
His bus left him about two streets away from his destination. Kiku walked inside and showed his ID to the teacher at the door and told them who he was picking up. After being let deeper into the school, he walked down a few hallways before entering the gymnasium.
"Daddy!" A little girl shrieked, bouncing up from where she was sitting. She was wearing a light pink sweater with white tights and purple sneakers. Her hood was up, even though it wasn't allowed in school, and part of her hair was clipped back with a flower pin. The group she was in looked to where she was pointing and stared at the petite man. As she ran toward Kiku, her hood fell off, exposing her long dark brown hair.
"Mei! How was school?" Kiku said, welcoming the running child into his arms and picking her up.
"We learned about the moon today!" She said, squirming in her father's arms. Kiku set down the energetic child and watched as she ran ahead.
-
A siren could be heard in the distance as Kiku and Mei entered the small townhouse. They both took off their shoes and walked into the kitchen.
"What do you want for dinner Mei?" asked Kiku. He opened the fridge to look at what they had left.
"Cheese burgers!" Mei said. Sitting at the kitchen table, she took out a coloring book and some crayons. Mei loved cheese burgers almost as much as she loved the color pink. Her Dad would often take them out to his favorite burger joints around the city for dinner. On more than one occasion Alfred would spend hours on the phone with an old friends trying to locate a burger truck that was 'to die for'.
Mei swung her feet in her chair and started humming a song that was being played every few seconds on the radio. Kiku disliked overplayed things, when something went popular it was everywhere. The corporations in this country sure liked to squeeze as much money as they could out anything remotely famous.
Kiku made enough cheese burgers to feed a pack of wolves and wrapped them in tin foil. He grabbed a grocery bag from a drawer and packed up the meal.
The walk to the fire station was a short one, but with Mei's short legs, it took longer than if Kiku walked by himself.
The two entered the fire station and made their way back to the living quarters. Mei ran around informing everyone of the dinner Kiku had made and, like a boomerang, returned to her father.
A loud and enthusiastic mix between a yell and a laugh could be heard from a distant room, the sound of feet running on the floor grew louder as the yeller approached.
"Kiku!" Alfred yelled excitedly as he picked up his husband in a hug and spinned him around once. Setting the short man down, Alfred held Kiku's face and his hands and gave him a passionate kiss. He gave his husband another hug, wrapping himself around Kiku as much as possible. Still wrapped around Kiku, Alfred grabbed the bag of food with his free arm and started walking, dragging Kiku to the table.
Alfred smelled like a vanilla candle, his body heat consumed Kiku and gave him a good feeling. His clothes must have just gotten out of the dryer, going off the fact that Alfred's Captain America sweatshirt was incredibly warm. It was Friday, which was laundry day for the fire station.
Alfred smothered Kiku's head with pecks of kisses before letting him go and sitting down at the round kitchen table. The other firemen started to gather at the table as well, greeting Kiku and thanking him for the meal.
"Your cooking is as delicious as ever." Ivan said, giving Kiku a smile that made Alfred's eyebrow twitch with jealousy.
Another man swallowed hard and nodded in agreement, "Your meals are awesome!"
"Yes," Ludwig started, "Me and brother thank you deeply for feeding us."
Kiku nodded pulled up some chairs for Mei and him. He reached into the bag and took out two cheeseburgers and unwrapped them, using the foil as a plate. Mei sat next to her dad and started to eat her meal with gusto.
The small group of people ate their meal, and by the end of it, there was nothing left to put away. Alfred and Gilbert usually eat two or three burgers without complain, but Kiku knew if there were more food to go around Alfred would have certainly eaten more than enough to fill his stomach.
After the cleanup the group gathered into the entertainment room to watch a movie. The group decided to watch Marley and Me. The german brothers were sobbing by the end of it, and Ivan sat at the end looking both sad and confused.
Once the credits started rolling, Ludwig looked at Alfred's family. They had completely taken up the couch and were fast asleep, Mei wrapped in her father's arms. Ludwig smiled at the site and grabbed a blanket to cover them.
The family slept peacefully that night.