"Kureno..." Akito stated softly, her daughter in her arms as she stared at the redhead ahead of her. His brown eyes looked into her darker ones, and he offered a smile, which she hesitantly returned.

"It's good to see you, Akito."

"And you," Akito responded with a nod, resting her chin atop Kaoru's head afterward. "How's your..."

"Fiance?" Kureno informed. "Arisa is wonderful. She loves living in the country, but she does miss the city."

"Mm..." The goddess said softly, her eyes glancing away. Kureno quickly spoke up.

"How's Shigure? You...You had a baby."

"I did," she reinforced, caressing Kaoru's back as the toddler drifted off in her arms. "She's four." She took a breath. "Do you...?"

"Oh, no, no, not yet," Kureno answered, shaking his head. "Arisa and I are waiting to have children. She just got a new job repairing motorcycles." The rooster paused, and so did his goddess. The two of them looked away from each other for a long while before they both turned back to look into each other's eyes once more.

"What's...What's her name?" Kureno suddenly spoke up. Akito looked down at her daughter, stroking the girl's hair gently as she slept.

"Kaoru. Kaoru Ren."

"She's...she's adorable," Kureno responded softly, looking at the girl. "Say...speaking of Ren, I heard that she..."

"Died. Yeah," Akito began, he arms protectively wrapping tighter around her daughter. "Why did you come back?"

Kureno was quiet for a moment, placing his hands in the pockets of his brown leather jacket. "I'm still a part of this family, whether you stabbed me or not." A long pause, and then. "...And, Arisa wanted to go to Tohru's baby shower."

"Baby shower..." Akito repeated, icily, her dark eyes looking down. "I hadn't even heard. It seems they've forgotten who their god is."

"You're not our god anymore, Akito," Kureno responded, coldly, his eyes as dark as his words, but a small, unfitting smile was fixed to his lips. "You seem to have forgotten that."

"Kureno!" shouted Shigure in greeting, as he walked out of the main estate, waving and grinning happily, though his eyes were acidic, full of a lot of remorse. "You're not harrassing my wife, are you?"

"So you did get married, then," the rooster responded, leaning back on his heels to view his old enemy. "It was only a matter of time."

"Precisely," responded the dog, smugly, but his eyes were acidic as he wrapped an arm around Akito, protectively. She was reluctant to accept it, but did anyway. Kureno gave a few nods to Shigure; not jealous, but the hatred still remained between the two of them.

"Well, if your elementary bickering is done..." Akito began, pulling away from Shigure, looking back towards the main house. "There is work that needs to be done. Enjoy your baby shower." She aimed that sentence at Kureno, before turning to her husband. "Shigure." She nodded her head towards the dog before turning on her heel and walking through the snow back to the house, carrying the infant in her arms. Shigure started after her, but stopped himself before turning back to Kureno.

"You know..." he began, a gentle smile on his face, though his gaze was hard. "You have a lot of nerve showing up here."

Kureno returned the look with an equally nasty one of his own, his eyes narrowed at his rival, though he said nothing. And, after a moment of shared silence, the two parted ways.

A/N: There you have it! Sorry for the wait, I've been uploading other stories. My next project is A Sohma Christmas, so keep an eye out for it!