"H-Hey, stop that!"

Her little feet were too fast for Kumiko's eyes. Her calculating ability to detect where Kumiko was at all times were too strong, her cunning.. Simply too great.

"You're going to break something!"

Tiny thumps resounded in the apartment and laughs of entertainment—or were they of evil?—rang out, echoing against the hardened oak flooring.

"Aaand… Caught you!" Kumiko's arms shoot out once to catch the bumbling child. She laughed mirthfully, unknowing of the great annoyance she had been causing the brunette since her time here.

Kumiko shifted from her haunches to straight up sitting on the floor, holding the small child in her arms carefully. She was still rather unsure how to go about holding her, never actually having held one in the past, but she figured as long as she was laughing and not crying, she was bound to be doing at least something right.

The sound of newspaper crinkling came from beyond the couch, and its raven-haired captor looking down at the pair from her spot. "You're having a lot of trouble with her, Kumiko."

Kumiko snapped back, but merely out of exhaustion, "Just because I agreed to watch their kid, doesn't mean you can't help me out, Reina!"

The lilac eyes she'd adored so much were narrowed, Reina breathing out a tiny chuckle. "Mmm… Actually, I think you're doing fine. Please proceed."

Kumiko rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the small child in her arms. Upon closer inspection, she'd noticed it had the same dirty blond colored hair as the father, which was unfortunate to say the least, but she was glad she had the same shining eyes as her mother.

It had been a few months since Shuichi and Hazuki were married, and today they were going out on a date; something they haven't had the chance to do since having their kid. Kumiko finally agreed to watch her at the insistence of Hazuki, who she just really didn't want to hear beg her over and over again.

The child cried out in joy, trying to pull forward to run into anything else she could. Kumiko was exasperated. "Ai-chan, do you wanna take a nap? Maybe? Please say yes."

Ai stopped her lunging and looked at Kumiko with serious eyes. If anything, Kumiko was getting a little scared, subtly drawing her face away from the child. But Ai shook her head vigorously, continuing her quest to escape Kumiko's clutches.

"Yeaaah, of course not." Kumiko threw her head back in a sigh, but her momentary rest was interrupted by a pair of arms scooping Ai out of her restraints.

Reina had taken hold of the girl, propping her tiny body up on her hip, bouncing her up and down as she swayed. She pinched Ai's cheek softly in two places, causing the giggling girl to swat at her face. "Sleepy time?"

Ai stared again, only this time at Reina's stoic but kind face. She nodded with enthusiasm, and Reina laughed lightheartedly as she took Ai into their bedroom to lay her down for a bit.

Kumiko couldn't believe her eyes. 'I literally just asked her the same thing! How can she be so obedient with Reina, and not me!? Then again, I'd do anything Reina asked me to, if she looked at me like that…'

Reina returned from her quick and successful mission of taming the beast. She gave Kumiko a smirk before plopping back down on the couch, resuming her daily newspaper read.

The brunette pulled out a dining table chair out and all but collapsed onto it, supporting her chin with the heel of her palm. She spoke in a drag, much too tired to consider anything else. "How'd you even do that? I don't even have the energy to keep up with her."

Kumiko absently ran the pad of her finger along the wooden table, inspecting it for scratches and other imperfections.

Reina flicked a lock of hair over her shoulder. "I don't really know. Maybe I just know how to handle children?"

"Well that's a great skill to have, sheesh."

"It is. I hope you're able to gain that skill before we have children of our own."

"Yeah, I—" Kumiko ceases her grazing of the wood and picks her head up to stare at Reina, a furious blush racing across the tops of her cheeks. "W-Wait, what?!"

Reina looked up from her newspaper, her neutral but inquisitive expression unchanged. "What?"