Author's Notes:
Credit to Freinoir for the image! You can find her twitter freinoir !
This story was made in AO3's format but I decided to host it here too. Enjoy!
ii. the reactions p.2
Saturday was daddy time with Kaori. Since Makoto has developed morning nausea as part of her daily life, Akira Kurusu thought it was best to take out Morgana and Kaori out of the house with him while Ann watch over Makoto. He strapped in Kaori into her baby stroller while Morgana sat on top of the stroller. Akira held the baby bag on his right shoulder and was ready to go.
"Moaan-a!" Kaori reached her tiny hands out, wanting to hold the feline while they go out for a walk. Akira shifted his left eyebrow at Morgana for a response but Morgana shook his head at Akira, shooting down her request. "She's just going to pull on my ears."
Kaori started to get even more fussy but Akira remedy it with a cat plush that he grabbed from the baby bag. He dropped down to Kaori to give the small plushy and dropped a small kiss on her forehead. "Be nice, Kaori. I'll let you hold Morgana after."
She pouted but held the plushy close as a sign of resignation. With that, Akira pushed the stroller for a walk around the busy streets of his neighborhood. He thought of going to the park but didn't want to take the crowded train with Morgana and Kaori. Along the walk, he saw his old teacher from Shujin Academy.
"If it isn't the former problem child..." Sadayo Kawakami mused. Akira nodded back at her as a way to say hi. It has been a while since he last saw his former teacher; her hair had grown longer with strands of white roots faintly showing, something Sadayo would vehemently deny. She grinned at the little girl playing with the small blue cat toy.
"How is little Kaori? Not giving you trouble I hope." Akira shook his head. He rubbed his neck with his hand and held firmly on the stroller handle with his other hand.
"Not at all. For others, perhaps." He smirked. Sadayo chuckled and went over to place her finger under Morgana's chin rubbing gently as he happily meowed at the response. "She has grown bigger the last time I saw her. Soon enough, she's going to be a student in my classroom."
Akira rolled his eyes. "You'll have your hands full. She's going to have a little brother or sister soon. Who knows what they'll do as a pair."
"Is that so? Another kid?" He held a wide grin on his face. After talking with his friends, the thought of having another child was no longer scary for him. In fact, he felt quite proud. As Sadayo peered into the stroller to look at Kaori, Kaori giggled and pointed back at her.
"Becky becky!" Sadayo immediately shot a glare at Akira and Morgana, in his own cat ways, was laughing along with Kaori.
"How does she know that name?" He snorted and flashed a smirk at Sadayo, not saying a word. Akira started to walk away from Sadayo before she can respond back at him.
"Kaori loves her story time." He grinned, looking back at her. Sadayo only shook her head frowning. Some things never change.
"I hope your next kid take after their mom." She shouted at him. Akira only gave her a thumbs up as a reply.
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Along his walk, he was stopped by a lot of familiar faces. They greeted him and Kaori warmly along with a congratulations after he broke the news of another child.
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"Your next child will have the greatest fortune of happiness and love."
"You didn't even use your cards."
"I don't need cards to see your children will have a joyful life." Chihaya said smiling warmly at him.
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"Congrats kid." Iwai spoke gruffly. "They grow up so fast, you better watch out."
"I'm not a kid anymore.."
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"The future just grew brighter!" Tora gave a hearty laugh when he grabbed his old friend in his arms. Akira happily returned the old man's warm hug.
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"Heh, as their future mentor I'll be sure to teach them some new tricks." Oda put out his fist for Akira to bump it back at him.
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"If they're anything like their father, no doubt they will share the same kindness as you did for me." Togo said as she shook Akira's hands as a congratulation.
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"Congratulations, darling." Lala Escargot winked at him. "But slow down, boy. Not that I'm complaining, I'll gladly be their godmothers for all of them."
Despite being a grown man, Akira felt embarrassed. He shuffled his feet while Ohya gave out a chuckle. She pat his back and threw out a victory sign.
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"Wow, it was nice seeing all of them again," Morgana commented. "How long has it been?"
"Years, possibly since Kaori's birth." Akira said as he decided to take a break. They were quite far from their home but Akira thought it would be best to rest and to have Kaori out of her seat before heading back home. They stopped at a nearby wooden bench and Akira took his daughter out of her seat. "Up you go. Did you have fun Kaori?"
"Dada!" Kaori giggled as Akira grabbed her into his arms. He was standing as she wrapped her little hands around his neck with her head resting between his shoulder and neck. He bounced her back and forth as she giggled into his neck. Morgana jumped onto the bench.
"You know, Joker, I never noticed how mature you looked." Morgana tilted his head, scrutinizing every detail; Akira no longer needed his glasses, his hair was still wild but was much shorter than it used to be back in his high school days, and he had brushes of hair on the bottom of his chin. He grew a little taller and there was some sort of quiet, somber demeanor that Morgana couldn't place where it came from.
"Maybe, it's because you're holding Kaori." Morgana meowed. Akira rolled his eyes at Mona and was about to reply until he heard a familiar voice.
"Akira? Is that you?" Akira and Morgana turned to look at the source of the voice. It was a tall, lean man with short spiky black hair wearing a rolled up green shirt and dark blue jeans. He held a black goatee and he flashed a smile with a wave.
"It is! How are you!" Akira and Morgana looked at each confused, not recognizing the young man.
"It's me! Mishima!" He frowned. Akira widen his eyes in surprise.
"Wow Mishima! It's been so long, you look very different. Not that it's a bad thing." Mishima sheepishly put his right hand behind his neck, forgiving Akira for not recognizing him earlier. After taking a look at the young man, Kaori turned her back to him and held Akira tighter. She seemed embarrassed.
"I haven't seen you in years. I'd say ten years about before high school. Are you still traveling?" Akira inquired. Mishima nodded. His website and forum dedicated to helping people online made him well known after college. Soon after, he would travel to other places to help set up internationally.
"I am just here to visit today. I heard you live around here and I wanted to stop by but I got lost." Mishima said as he gave a small chuckle. "Luckily I spotted you. Who is this cutie?"
Mishima stared at the little girl in Akira's arms. Akira glanced back at his daughter. Her fluffy brown hair was rubbing against his neck and every time he tried to move her to look at Mishima she would turn the other way, holding her father close. It was clear that she did not want to look at Mishima.
"This is Kaori, she's my daughter." She huffed. Mishima's eyes grew big at the response.
"Your daughter? Wow! Akira Kurusu, a doting father. Who would've thought?" He grinned. Akira smiled back at him while patting her back with his right hand as his left arm was holding her up. Morgana meowed at Kaori as if he was teasing her. She stuck her tongue out at the cat in response.
"One more on its way." Akira commented. Mishima clapped his hands together as a sign of congratulations.
"Nice, do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Akira shook his head.
"Still too early to tell." Mishima gestured his thumb at himself.
"If it's a boy, make sure you name him after me." Akira flashed out his smirk at Mishima. It really has been too long since he's seen Mishima. He seemed much more confident and it was clear to what Morgana meant about how mature someone can look.
"If it's a girl, I'll name her after you." Akira responded as they both laugh.
After talking to Mishima for a while, Akira thought it was best to head home. Mishima waved good-bye as Akira walked back home with Kaori sleeping in the stroller and Mona wrapped up in her lap snoozing quietly. Walking quietly as he pushed the stroller down the street, he thought about the connections he used to hold when he was younger and how much they helped him to be the person that he is now. Now it was time for him to form a special bond with his next child.
A doting father indeed.
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iii. mood swings and cravings
"Akira, are you awake?" Makoto whispered. Akira stirred, not responding to his wife. Kaori was sleeping in a crib next to their bed with Mona sleeping soundly next to Akira. Makoto held her blanket tight and took a glance at the time. A red 3:01 showed faintly on the screen. Makoto decided not to wake up her husband and slowly got out of bed as she silently crept outside of their bedroom.
She went into the kitchen to scour for some food. Her morning sickness finally stopped but it was replaced by odd cravings in the middle of the night. After going through the cabinets of their kitchen, she frowned. Was there no beef jerky?
"You really shouldn't be up." A voice rang behind her. She turned to look to see Akira yawning as he stretched out his arms. As a former phantom thief, he knew when Makoto would randomly wake up in the middle of the night to grab some late night snacks for her cravings. Embarrassed, Makoto had a habit of pushing her hair back behind her ears.
"I.., well, I just didn't want to wake you and I really want some ice cream and beef jerky." She pouted. Akira gave a small chuckle as he head over to where Makoto was. Even years into their marriage, she was just being too cute. He held her close and kissed on the top of her head.
"I'll go down to the convenience store and grab some for you okay?" Makoto started to tear up and sniffed at Akira's kindness. Akira was taken back and asked what was wrong.
"I don't want you to leave!" Makoto grabbed his shirt and held him close. It reminded Akira the time Makoto was afraid of the dark in the Sakura's household when they were younger and Makoto couldn't stop holding onto him. She started crying into his shirt and Akira started to panic at the sight of his crying wife.
"H-Hey, I'm not leaving, don't worry Makoto." Akira reassured her as he ran his hand down her back. She sniffed once more.
"But what about the beef jerky?" What. Now she's just being unreasonable. Akira lowered his eyes at her and sighed.
"I can't just leave you.. what do you want me to do?" Makoto went silent for a bit but an imaginary light bulb seemed to go off as if she had an idea. She immediately stopped crying and jumped out of his arms while planting a kiss on top of his lips.
"OH, I know! I can make fried eggs instead. They practically taste the same anyways." Makoto beamed. Akira was about to open his mouth to disagree but chose very wisely not to say anything since she was too happy about making eggs. She was about to run off to the fridge to grab some eggs but Akira pulled her arm back.
"Woah hold on there, I can make it for you." Makoto stared down sharply with her piercing red eyes at Akira. He winced. Queen had just shown up.
"I can make it myself, I may be pregnant but I'm not helpless." She huffed. Akira rubbed his neck with his right hand. He should choose his words carefully so that he can make the damn eggs and keep her happy at the same time. Is this what pregnancy do to women?
"I know, it's just something I want to do as my part. Plus, I'll make them extra fluffy just how you like it." Akira bargained. Queen carefully thought what he said before she nodded and resigned herself to the chair at the dining table.
"Oh, I also want broccoli." Queen innocently smiled at her husband in the apron as he prepared to make fried eggs. Akira groaned. This was going to be a long night.
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iv. baby gender
It had been five months full of cravings and mood swings before it was time to find out the baby's gender. Akira and Makoto had an appointment with Tae while Ann babysits Kaori. Yusuke and Haru were conveniently busy when asked. Tae shook her head. "Why don't you go to a nearby hospital for an ultrasound?"
Akira shook his head as a no and Makoto warmly placed her hands over Tae's hands.
"It's because we trust you. You helped us a lot with Kaori, we owe you." A small grin appeared on Tae's face.
"Well. I'll have to remember to cash in that favor in the future." she mused. Akira and Makoto glanced at each other. Hopefully, they don't come to regret this decision. Tae ushered them into the room and told Makoto to lie down on the doctor's table. As Makoto went to lie down on the table, Akira held onto her hands. Just as Makoto laid flat on the table, without a warning Tae lifted her shirt up to slab the cold gel onto her stomach. Akira gripped harder as Makoto flinched at how cold it was.
Tae brought the ultrasound machine over to Makoto's stomach.
"Everything looks good so far. You seem to be quite healthy and the baby is developing at a normal rate. You can sort of see him here." Tae pointed at the screen. Makoto scrunched her face to look at the screen. It was hard to see.
"Him? It's a boy?" Akira said in shock. Tae took another look at the screen and nodded back at the two parents. Makoto's eyes widen at the sudden news. Her breath started to quicken and she was about to loosen her grip but Akira held on tighter as they both held their breaths.
"You're going to have a baby boy." Both collectively let out a sharp sigh. A baby boy.