Finral stretched his arms over his head feeling quite good about the day. Only when he walked into the common room and already saw the rest of the squad up and going about their own business did he feel something was off. He stopped and watched as Magna chased Luck around the room because the lightning mage had done something, anything to piss off the fire mage. Vanessa was already a couple bottles deep into her daily rations and Charmy looked to be on third breakfast. Asta was no where to be found, which was typical as the young knight usually spent his mornings training in the woods when he did not have a mission needing his attention. And he could never quite figure out what Noelle did when she wasn't in the room bossing people around. Gauche had been given leave to visit his sister, and Gray and Gordon seemed to be locked head to head in a game of some sort.

Finral knit his brows together as he watched the scene unfolding before him, feeling something was very wrong. He was typically the first one up, well, after Yami anyway. The captain usually woke him to perform some inane task, like send him to the bathroom or pick up his paper, or some other waste of his talent as a spatial mage.

Looking around now, though, Finral noticed Yami was no where to be found. Now he understood why he felt so well-rested.

"Hey, where's Yami?" He tried to get the attention of one of the other Bulls. Any one of the others, he didn't really care which.

"I dunno." Magna answered before launching a stream of obscenities to go with the fire balls he shot at Luck.

"He's here." Luck answered. "I saw him earlier, with some woman."

"Woman?" Finral asked before the memory came back to him. He had awoken in his bed and he was fairly certain he hadn't fallen asleep there. He must have gone to his room after he let her in.

"Yeah, I couldn't see much, except that she was a she and she was blond." Luck skillfully dodged Magna's attacks. "She seemed sick though. I mean, she was in the bathroom and Yami was talking to her about something. I thought there was a line."

"We really need to get another couple of bathrooms." Finral complained, thinking of how one of the facilities was nearly always occupied by their fearless leader. Frankly, Finral didn't quite understand how anyone could shit for that long.

"Yeah, well, Yami told me he'd kill me if I told anyone..." Luck said as he bounced around the room before skidding to a stop. "Oh, shit." Magna took the opportunity to land a hit on the faster mage.

"Haha! Gotcha!" Magna shouted triumphantly.

"Keep it down, will ya?" Vanessa whined as she rubbed her head.

"Luck, are you sure he's still here? And what about this woman?"

"Woman? What woman?" Vanessa asked with sudden interest, her hangover forgotten for a moment. She winced with the movement.

"Well, I didn't see either of them leave. At least not through here."

Finral frowned. He looked down the hallway toward Yami's room.

"I guess they're still in there." He watched the door with a furrowed brow. Unless some sort of door had opened up no one else knew about (which give the base's penchant to rearrange itself, was entirely possible), anyone coming from Yami's room would have to pass the common room. As he stared at the door, Finral felt a growing sense of curiosity building within him.

Luck peaked around the door frame to also look at the large door at the end of the hall.

"I wonder what they're doing."

Finral looked at him and cocked his eyebrow. With Luck's focus on fighting all the time, it was easy to forget how young and naive the lightning mage could be.

"Well, if he has a woman in his room, that's his business." Vanessa said with an angry tone to her voice as she sat back down at the bar and popped open another bottle. Charmy snored where she had passed out in a food coma.

"I'm going to go find out." Finral squared his shoulders, knowing the decision could very well lead to his death. He tiptoed down the hallway to the heavy wooden door and pressed his ear against it. After a moment, Luck and Magna joined him. The voices were surprisingly easy to hear through the wooden barrier. He could distinctly hear Yami's voice, and another more feminine one.

"Were you even going to tell me?" Yami asked, his tone a cross between anger and impatience.

"Yes." The woman countered with an equally harsh tone before backpedaling. "No, maybe. I don't know. It's not like you wouldn't have found out anyway."

"That's not the point. You should have told me. I shouldn't have had to find out this way."

An exasperated breath.

"Why did you come here, Charlotte?" Yami's voice still held an edge to it, but had calmed a bit. The way he said her name, Finral thought it sounded like a prayer.

Finral's eyes grew wide as his speculation was confirmed. He wondered what the Blue Rose captain had kept from Yami.

"What?" he whispered partly to himself, partly to his two companions.

"I..." She sighed. "I was going to tell you." Her voice had softened. "That was my plan anyway, but... I don't know, once I got here, I..." Her voice trailed off.

Silence filled the air for a long period. Finral could only speculate what filled it on the other side of the door. Slowly, he could hear the sound of whispering, though he couldn't make out what was being said. Another period of silence stretched on, and then the door opened.

"What the fuck are you three doing?" Yami's large form filled the doorway. Finral, Luck, and Magna looked up at their captain riddled with guilt. The look in Yami's eyes was murderous and the three young men scattered down the hall.

Once they were safely back in the common room, Finral collapsed on the couch. Magna and Luck joined him.

"So, uh, that was Charlotte Roselei in the captain's room, right?" Magna asked.

"I believe it was." Finral answered, his brain working overtime to piece the bits of information together.

"Why was she in a nightgown?" Luck asked. Finral looked over at him, thinking someone really needed to teach the fighter about the birds and the bees.

"Do you think they were, you know...?" Magna slipped his glasses down his nose and looked from Luck to Finral over the top of their rims. Luck tilted his head and looked back confused.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time." Finral said without thinking. He was met with Magna's wide eyed, questioning stare.

"How come I've never heard about this?"

"Shit." Finral sighed, knowing he too was going to be on the chopping block.

\*\*\*

"What was that?" Charlotte asked, craning her neck in an attempt to see through the door as Yami closed it.

"Eavesdroppers. Don't worry, I'll kill them later." Yami's voice was tight with tension. Charlotte certainly didn't want this secret to get out, but she also didn't think it was worth killing people over.

"I really did mean to tell you." She sighed, returning to her cross-legged position as he knelt on the mat he called a bed. "That's why I came."

"But I had to find out when you were throwing up in my toilet. Dammit, Charlotte. Haven't I told you something about trusting people before? Why is it so difficult for you to get through your beautiful, but thick skull? Huh?"

"You, you think I'm beautiful?" She seemed shocked the the admission.

"Well, yeah." He looked at her as if she had asked if the sky were blue or grass were green or if he smoked too much (He knew he did, but he didn't care to stop). But the look on her face shocked him, like she had never had anyone call her beautiful to her face, or if she had, she had never believed them. He leaned forward and ran a hand through the blond hair which framed her face in flat sheets. He pulled her lips to his, touching them softly before pressing his forehead against hers.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." He sat back and looked at her. "And I still can't believe that I've, that you're, that we've... I can't believe I can't say it now." He looked at the ground between them. Charlotte watched every nervous movement of his face, the twitch of his eyebrow, the quirk of is lip. She smiled as she saw what she thought was a light blush spreading on his cheeks. She wasn't sure, she was never sure, because his skin wasn't as much of a filthy traitor as her own with its coloring.

"Fucked, Yami. We fucked."

"Oh yes we did."

Their eyes met, and they both knew what they had done was much more than fuck.

Yami wanted to lay her down and fuck her again. No, he corrected himself, explore her is a better term. He sighed, knowing he was far too gone, knowing part of him belonged to her now. He ran his fingers through her hair again as she turned to look at the door.

"Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag now." She said. He could hear the worry in her voice.

"It will be fine. Actually, Finral already knew."

She turned to him with a look of shock.

"What?"

"Don't worry, he's good with secrets. He, uh, actually, he found us in the cave."

Charlotte's face took on a shade of green and she clutched her belly and squeezed her eyes shut.

"He saw us?"

"Like I said, he's good with secrets. Well, he's afraid I'll kill him, so..."

"You really do intimidate everyone, don't you?" She shook her head in disbelief. He ran his fingers through her hair again. His fingertips landed lightly on her cheek.

"I don't intimidate you." The way he said he sounded so sure of himself, but when she met his eyes once more, they were full of questions and uncertainty.

"No." She placed her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes at the touch. "No you don't." She ran her thumb over his lips before drawing them to her. "You are a completely different animal with me." She kissed him lightly, then waited.

"Oh, really." His eyes were closed as he pulled her on top of him. She tucked herself into his arms as she slipped next to him. "I can be any animal you want me to be, Charlotte."

He kissed her again, though this time it was less sweet. She met him with a desperation she hated admitting she felt.

"There was another reason I came here." She said breathless between kisses.

"Oh?"

She pushed him onto his back, straddling him. Her hands ran over his bare chest, lightly scratching him with her short, well manicured nails.

"Oh." He grinned as his hands slipped underneath her short nightgown and over her thighs. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

"Needed sleep first." She leaned forward and kissed him, trapping him in a cage of her hair. She wanted to tell him more, to say what had been pressing against her heart and her mind since the cave, since he had given her the rose filled with their memories, but the words refused to come. His hands slipped over her hips and she shivered as his fingers gripped her waist.

"Are you still sleepy?" His voice was low and deep. He stole a kiss as her face hovered over his. A wide grin spread over her lips.

"Not in the least." She kissed him deeply as he pulled her nightgown over her head. A draft in the room chilled her skin. He rolled her onto her back, and propped himself up on his elbow looking down at her. His fingertips traced lazily along her skin, starting by brushing the hair from her face as she also balanced herself onto her side, head resting on her hand in a similar fashion. She giggled as his light touch brushed her neck, tickling her before they continued on down her arm.

"What are you doing?" The giggles still tinged her voice as she looked at his serious face.

"Learning."

"Learning?" She chuckled.

"Yep." He interlaced his fingers through her free hand. He brought their hands up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. She chuckled again.

"Learning what?"

"Everything." He put her hand back on her hips and let it go as he brushed her thigh. He ran his fingers up across her belly and pressed his hand against it, his fingers spread wide. He thought he could feel something there, a little spark of something new, an energy he had never felt before, well, not so distinctly. He had felt something different with Charlotte the day before, when she had spoken to Julius. The feeling was why he had lingered. He missed her and wanted to see her again, but he had been living with his longing for her for a long time, much longer than he cared to admit. He also knew the feeling was not based on his desire. He closed his eyes, concentrating all of his senses on her-the sound of her breathing, the smell of her, the feel of her skin beneath his hand, the slight movement as she adjusted herself on the thin mat beneath them.

The feeling was still there, energy emanating from her belly, her womb.

"So, we're going to have a child." His voice was soft and filled with awe. She laid her hand over his.

"Yeah." Her voice shook slightly as she caressed the back of his hand. She slipped her hand from beneath her head and tucked herself against him.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I wonder how anyone could bring a child into this world. I mean, things are pretty crazy right now."

He brushed his hand through her hair before he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's not like we can go back and change this now, Charlotte. Besides, if we waited until the world got unfucked, we would be waiting for a very long time." He kissed the top of her head.

"I guess that's true." She rolled onto her back, her head pillowed on his arm, one hand resting on her belly. He put his hand over hers.

"You thought about it though, didn't you? Ending this." His thumb drew circles on the back of her hand. She nodded. She felt the pressure of tears building in her eyes. He kissed her head once more.

"Please don't." His plea was soft and sad, and when she met his eyes, she thought he looked as vulnerable as she had ever seen him. She smiled at him in an effort to reassure him.

"Okay."

He kissed her fully, passionately as his hand which covered hers slipped further down her body, through the lawn of soft blond hair to her sex. She gasped as his calloused fingers pressed against her.

"This is alright, yeah? I can still fuck you, right?"

She looked at him with knitted brows.

"Of course you can."

"I mean with the baby, and all."

"If you couldn't, my entire life right now would be one cruel joke, Yami, since all I've wanted for the last several days was for you to do just that."

He chuckled before he covered her body with his.

A couple of hours later, Yami woke to the tingling pain of her head pressing against his arm weirdly. Noises throughout the building made him groan and wonder what was going on. His imagination only made him worry more. He slipped his arm from beneath her head as gently as he could, hoping he would not wake her. She stirred briefly before settling back to sleep. He brushed his fingers over her face and through her hair and was rewarded with a sleepy smile and peaceful look on her face. He wanted to wake up with her like this forever. He wished he could curl up next to her again, but a crash in another room demanded his attention. He sighed as he pulled himself away from the warmth of her body. He quickly threw on his pants after picking up a pair from the floor and sniffing it to make sure it was a clean pair, well, clean-ish, anyway. He pulled a shirt over his head but didn't bother donning his robe.

Another crash, another sigh, and he lit a cigarette. The first drag tasted delicious-as good as the food Charmy's chefs could cook up, almost as good as Her kisses. The filter was firm between his lips, familiar and comfortable. His mind calmed as he exhaled, blotting out the sounds of chaos echoing down the hall. He glanced back at Charlotte asleep in his bed. The cigarette soothed his worry almost as much as Her touch.

Something else crashed in the distance.

He groaned, took another slow drag, put on his boots and went to put an end to the insanity, at least for a while.

He pictured what he would find as he walked down the hallway and was disappointed to see he had been right. The entire common room was in a shambles and half of the team were in a state unfit for duty. The other half was nowhere to be found.

"Hey." He called loudly, garnering the attention of those who could actually attend. "What the hell is going on?"

Luck and Magna immediately stopped their fighting. Vanessa raised her head slightly before letting it fall back to the table and Charmy stopped with a drumstick midway to her mouth.

"Whose that woman, Boss?" Luck asked, trying to force an admission of some sort.

"I could ask you the same thing. About what's going on.." Finral, who was seated on the couch next to the doorway Yami stood in, said as he flipped through the newspaper looking for nearby social events he might be able to weasel his way into.

"You two sure were talking for quite some time." Magna noted. "Or were you... you know." He looked over at Luck and the pair of them started giggling.

"What are you, twelve?" Yami looked at the younger men.

The dynamic duo immediately stopped their laughter.

"Wait, Yami has a woman in his room?" Charmy asked from the other side of the table.

Yami pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm surrounded by fucking children." he muttered. "Yes, I have a woman in my room. I can do that, and do you know why?"

"Because you're the boss?"Luck suggested.

"No, because I'm a fucking adult." He practically yelled, before glaring at all of them.

They looked at him in fear until he closed his eyes and took another deep drag on the cigarette pressed between his lips. As he sucked in the smoke, he could feel some of his ire fading away. They were all so broken in their own way, he guessed none of them-aside from Finral anyway-ever really put much thought into their personal lives or companionship. He sighed on the exhale, releasing a cloud of smoke in their general directions.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Finral asked, his eyes fixed on the paper before him. "You sounded pretty angry about her not telling you something."

Yami gritted his teeth.

"Our discussion is none of you damn business."

"What's her name, Boss?" Luck asked, knowing the answer, but wanting to hear Yami say it.

"Also none of your business." Yami said, walking over to the bar where Vanessa lay with a glass still gripped in her hand. He picked up the bottle, looked over the label and poured himself a drink. They didn't need to know; She wouldn't want them to know. Not yet. Not until she was ready to tell them. He downed the glass in one large gulp.

But as much as the idiots drove him insane on occasions like today, he looked back at them, wishing for all the world he could tell them all the news.

He shook his head and poured himself another drink. He wondered if the yelling had woken Her up. The day had already stretched toward noon. He was sure She would need to leave soon. He lit another cigarette.

He watched his misfits as they went back to their usual activities, their curiosity of his relationship developments forgotten for the most part at least.

All except Finral.

The spatial mage was smarter than he looked. Yami knew he could keep a secret well enough, but of all of the idiots in his makeshift family, Yami was most worried about Finral figuring everything out. No only was the kid smart, he had the most information. Yami watched the younger man's face contort as he performed some mental gymnastics until finally his eyes widened with some epiphany. Yami took a sip of his drink followed by a long drag on his cigarette as Finral sidled up to him.

The young man took the stool next to Vanessa who mumbled in her sleep. Yami saw his eyes dart over her curvaceous body before he leaned on the bar.

"The woman. It's Charlotte Roselei, isn't it?" Finral coughed as Yami blew smoke into his face in response.

"And why do you think that?"

"Because I let her in last night. Took me a while to realize it was her though. Vanessa had me drinking with her."

"I'm surprised Vanessa's out here then and not in your room." Yami blew a cloud of smoke in his general direction once more.

"What? Oh, no. She, uh, she doesn't like me that way." He looked up at the captain who seemed as oblivious as ever as he took another sip of his drink.

"A shame."

"So I'm right, aren't I? About Charlotte. Unless it's some other hot blond with the same name you utter like it's the most amazing thing in the world." He recalled how Yami had spoken of her when he had admitted his feelings during their trip to the Blue Rose headquarters.

Yami sighed and Finral knew he had trapped him. Yami stubbed the butt of the cigarette out on the wooden bar top and nodded his head. Finral grinned triumphantly.

"So, what brought her all the way out here in the middle of the night, I wonder?" Finral waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Yami shrugged.

"She said she's been having some severe insomnia."

"Is that what they're calling it these days?"

"Do you want me to kill you?"

Finral threw his hands up in surrender, knowing Yami would never make good on the oft-repeated threat.

"She couldn't sleep, so she came here."

"Of all places."

"Yeah."

"I could be remembering things weirdly. I was pretty drunk, but she seemed very insistent, like she needed to talk to you."

Yami took a sip before lighting another cigarette.

"I wonder what was so important?"

"She's, uh, well, I guess you'll have to find out when she's ready to tell people about it."

Finral furrowed his brow as he tried to decipher what Yami meant. Yami took another sip, then an inhale and exhale as he watched Finral's face contort with the machinations of his mind. The younger man chewed the inside of his lip as he thought. His eyes darted from the bar top to Yami to the doorway leading to the hall and back.

"Luck said she was sick."

"Where is he? I'm going to kill him." Yami muttered as he held the cigarette tightly between his lips, smoke billowing out as he spoke. Finral's eyes darted around the room again.

"So, insomnia, and sickness, and she's still sleeping? You didn't wear her out that much, did you?"

Yami fixed him with a glare and Finral abandoned that train of thought. As he considered the details, another possibility sprang in his mind.

"Yami?" Finral leaned toward him over the bar and whispered. "Is she pregnant?"

"Shit." Yami closed his eyes and shook his head, not in denial, but in frustration. Finral's eyes went wide and he started to say something when Vanessa stirred next to him.

"Huh? Who's pregnant?" Vanessa muttered as she sat up and rubbed her head. Yami fixed Finral with a murderous glare.

"What? No one!" Finral chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to deflect any further questions. "I don't know how you got that at all, I said repugnant."

Vanessa looked from Finral to Yami and back several times, confused by the conversation. She took the bottle from near Yami's glass and poured herself another drink. She refilled the captain's cup as well.

"Oh, I just thought with that mystery woman here and all..." She swayed as she put the bottle back down and lost her balance on the stool. Finral reached for her, catching her before she hit the ground with his magic and depositing her onto the empty couch. She was snoozing even before her head hit the cushion.

"Nice save." Yami pointed out, and Finral wasn't sure if he meant the quick backpeddling or his actual catch of the drunk, unconscious woman.

"Thanks. I couldn't just let her fall."

"Right." Yami inhaled on his cigarette and let the smoke billow around him as he exhaled. "When are you going to tell her something?"

"What do you mean?" Finral's eyes lingered to the half-naked form of the pink-haired witch.

"You know what I mean."

Finral shook his head.

"Stop trying to change the subject." Finral slammed his hand on the bar top, frustrated by his superior's reading of his heroic rescue... even if it was right on the money. "Charlotte's pregnant, and you're the father aren't you?"

Yami took a sip of the newly filled glass and blew smoke into Finral's face once again.

"If you tell anyone, I will kill you."

"So I'm right." Finral grinned and chuckled as he looked at his boss. "Congratulations."

"Thanks? I guess?" Yami stared into the brown liquid as he swirled his cup.

"You're not excited?"

"I, well, Yes and no, I mean. I'm still trying to sort everything out. It's not like this was something I planned to have happen in my life, ever." He downed the rest of the liquid in a series of gulps, the glass never leaving his lips.

"Is she? Excited, I mean?"

"I don't know. We're both sort of, shocked, I guess?"

Finral shook his head in disbelief.

"I would imagine. I can barely believe it."

"Believe what?" Luck asked as he appeared out of nowhere.

"That's Yami's going to be a dad."

"What?" Luck exclaimed as Yami's hand shot out and latched on to Finral's throat.

"What did I just fucking say?" Yami shouted as he increased the pressure around Finral's windpipe.

"Sorry." Finral croaked out, his voice barely audible as his oxygen flow was cut off. "It just... came out."

"Maybe if I just crush your voice box you can still do your job and I won't have to worry about your big mouth anymore."

Finral's mouth gaped for air that could not enter his body.

"Yami, stop." Charlotte's voice cut through his anger as she stared at him from the doorway, and he released his grip on the younger man.

"Is Finral right, Boss?" Luck asked, keeping his distance as best he could. Charlotte looked at Yami.

"Right about what?" Charlotte asked.

"I promise, I didn't tell." Yami looked at her.

"That Yami's going to be a daddy." Luck said simultaneously.

Charlotte looked at Yami with raised eyebrows.

"Well, there's no point in hiding it now, I guess." She said as she walked over to him. She looked at Finral, who was still gasping slightly. She looked at the bruises on the younger man's neck where Yami's fingers had gripped it tightly. "Are you alright?"

Finral nodded.

"I'm sorry. I should have known before coming here how risky I was being. If I hadn't wanted anyone to know, I should have kept things to myself."

"No, I should have been more careful. I mean, Yami did just tell me he would kill me if I said anything not a minute earlier."

"He did." She looked at Yami. Finral waved his hands and smiled.

"He's always saying stuff like that, never acts on it. Just a toothless threat."

"These bruises aren't toothless." She looked closer. Yami watched her fret over his underling and felt a sense of rage, and guilt, and shame rising up from the pit of his stomach. He had no idea why he had gotten so angry. He had never lashed out as severely before, and never toward one he considered his friend, his family. He stubbed his cigarette out on the bar top once more and slipped outside.

"I promise, he never acts this way. Not to any of us, anyway." Finral said as he watched his captain's retreat. Charlotte followed his gaze as Yami walked through the door. "You should go talk to him." Finral said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. Charlotte looked at the door which had swung shut behind him. She felt paralyzed for a moment, wondering if she ever really knew the man she had fallen for so many years ago. They had been so young when he had broken the curse, and so much had happened to them since then. She had been so scared to own up to her feelings, she had dragged her feet, building a fantasy of him in her heart and mind. She wondered if in doing so, she had forgotten he was human.

"Go." Finral gestured for her to pursue him. Charlotte wanted to go after him, but part of her was too scared now, scared he would do something to hurt her or their child. She looked at the young man next to her. He gave her a reassuring smile she had thought impossible given what had happened. She hurried to the door.

As she pushed the wooden door open, she blinked as she stepped into the sunlight. She took a moment to adjust to the brightness before she looked around. She realized she had no idea where he might have gone. She saw the broom she had flown in on leaning up against the building, and in the shadows a short distance away, Yami sat on the ground. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his head pressed against the exterior wall of the building. He looked to be staring into space. She could not see until she approached him, but his cheeks were streaked with tears.

He roughly wiped his face as she approached and squatted down across from him.

"I didn't mean to hurt him." He would not meet her eyes. "I, I don't know. It's just too much."

"That's not an excuse though." Her voice was firm yet caring.

"You're right; it's not."

"You should apologize."

He looked at her then before curling further in on himself.

"Are you angry? About this?" She gestured toward her belly.

"I don't know. A little, maybe? It's just... I didn't expect it. I never expected anything like this. Since I came here, I've never had a family, not a real one."

"You have a family, Yami. You may not be related by blood, but you are a family, at least from what I can see."

"What, my band of misfits?"

"What was the quote I heard somewhere? When you get a bunch of misfits together, you either get a family or a bunch of assholes, I think it was. So which are the Black Bulls?"

"Assholes, definitely assholes."

"Yami." Charlotte rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Probably a bit of both actually. If I think about it."

Charlotte nodded as she touched his cheek. Yami leaned into the light brush of her fingers.

"You should tell them." She said. "And you should apologize."

"But I, I didn't want to risk hurting you if I did. I know how important your reputation is to you."

Charlotte sighed. She knew how he had gotten the idea. And he was right-her reputation as a man-hating bad-ass had been incredibly important to her. But since being trapped with him, she found herself caring less and less about it.

"Everyone will know soon enough, anyway. Besides, it's not like our squads work together much."

"Are you going to tell your family?"

Charlotte looked at him, meeting his golden brown eyes.

"I'll tell those closest to me, but my mother and father... well, they wouldn't want to know."

He knit his brow together, wondering how much he should pry when she stood.

"Come on. You need to apologize."

"Now?"

She held her hand out to him.

"Yes, now."

He let her pull him up, only help a bit. She tried to turn him, to guide him back inside, but he stood rooted to the ground beneath him, interlocking his fingers with hers. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the inside of her wrist gently.

"Alright."

He would not let go of her hand as they entered the room. Nearly all of the Black Bulls had remained in the room, but not for any special reason, as far as he could tell. Rather, they were all there going about their own business-all except for Asta and Noelle, and a few others who were missing for any number of reasons. Even Vanessa had woken up.

"Listen up." He started, trying to gather their attention. Failing to do so, he put his fist through the wall behind him, taking out half the door in the process. Charlotte looked at him with wide eyes. The assembled squad members quickly fell into line.

"Is this typical?" Charlotte asked, stunned.

"Yep." Yami whispered to her before addressing the group before him. "Alright, you idiots. I have something to tell you all, but it cannot leave these four walls. Anyone who is not here, they don't deserve to know."

"Should we wait for Asta then? And Noelle?" Magna asked.

"Where are they?"

The rest of the team looked at each other and shrugged.

"Then they don't get to know. Alright." He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "You all know Charlotte? She's the Captain of the Blue Rose Squad? You should have at least heard of her..." Most of the assembled team nodded their heads, but Magna and Luck shrugged. Yami rubbed the bridge of his nose. The pressure of Charlotte's hand squeezing his helped to calm his frustrations. "Anyway, I... we..." He sighed heavily, his shoulders sagging under the weight of what he was trying to say.

"I'm pregnant." She said for him, opting to not sugar coat the situation. She sighed once the words came out of her mouth. She had not imagined how much holding the secret had weighed upon her until she said it aloud to others, strangers, essentially.

"Yami is the father."


A/N: Because of my work schedule, my writing/posting schedule will slow down. This will also likely affect my ability to edit for continuity before I post. Therefore, I do apologize in advance for any inconsistencies between chapters. Eventually I will go through and fix things, maybe.