Only one child this time, simply because I'm utterly useless at writing children.

Chapter 11: KiKuro – Punctuated! For! Emphasis! – Part 5/Omake

Kise Tetsuna woke up to the hollow snores made by her 5 month old baby girl, Kise Kyouko. She was a carbon copy of Kise, having the same silky blonde hair, the same golden eyes, and the same adorable, albeit, toothless smile.

Tetsuna smiled as she reached out her hand to gently poke one of the soft, chubby cheeks of her baby girl. Any minute now, the precious little girl she had with Kise Ryouta would wake up crying, asking for her mother's milk. But, for now, she was sleeping soundly on top of her father's head.

Somehow, someway, Kyouko always ended up sleeping with her bottom on either hers or Kise's face. While Tetsuna repositioned her every time this happened, Kise would simply let her sleep as she was, even if he had to endure a diaper in his face throughout the night.

Kyouko had her father completely wrapped around her little baby fingers.

Kyouko had been a fussy little newborn. She rejected everything but Tetsuna's breast milk and would cry for hours for no apparent reason. The nursery was left unused as well. Kyouko absolutely refused to sleep anywhere but between her parents. Back then, it made for many sleepless nights. Both Kise and Tetsuna had been afraid of rolling over the baby in their sleep.

However, as time went on, Kise and Tetsuna got used to all the sleepless nights and incessant crying, as well as the endless diaper changes, feedings, and burpings. Baths and clothes were still difficult though. It's amazing how someone so tiny needed the collective efforts of 2 people to bathe and clothe. Sometimes, Kyouko would wiggle around so much that it'd take ages just to get a single mitten on.

"Nwa… ngwaa… ngwuaaahhhh…" Kyouko wailed as she woke up, her little feet kicked Kise's shoulders. It was feeding time.

"There, there. Mama's right here," said Tetsuna as she picked up Kyouko.

"Ugh… Tetsunacchi…" Kise groaned into his pillow, unwilling to open his eyes. "What time is it?"

Tetsuna petted her husband's head with her free hand while she held Kyouko as she suckled. "A little past 4.30"

"Mmmm…" Kise turned to his side and snuggled into Tetsuna's right hip, showing no intention of waking up.

It was Golden Week, and the family had plans to visit an agricultural exhibit in one of the larger shopping centres in Tokyo. But, Kise was tired from a tough game the Generation of Miracles played yesterday. If he couldn't get out of bed, Kyouko would have to hold out on seeing her very first farm animals.

"Should we leave the exhibit till tomorrow?" asked Tetsuna.

"No…" Kise mumbled sleepily. "It's supposed to rain tomorrow. I don't want to risk you two getting sick."

"You're so tired though, plus Kyouko and I aren't that fragile," reasoned Tetsuna.

"No…" Kise repeated in a soft, almost inaudible mutter. "You guys are too important to…" He fell asleep, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Tetsuna's blush was barely noticeable in the dimly lit room. But, blush she did. She smiled at Kyouko, smoothing the soft curls on her tiny crown as she whispered, "Even after all these years, your dada is still so adorable. But, don't tell dada mama said this okay?"

Hours later, Kise returned from his morning run to find his daughter sleeping soundly on the living room sofa. Tetsuna was asleep too, her head rested in her arms on the sofa as she sat on the carpet next to their daughter. Kise quietly took out his phone and snapped a photo of the two most important girls in his life.

Tetsuna would sing nursery rhymes and hum children's songs while rocking Kyouko to calm her down. Most times, both mother and baby would fall asleep together. Kise readjusted his daughter's wee beige blanket and gave his wife a small kiss on her head.

Suddenly, Kyouko's little eyes popped open. She looked at Kise, as if silently saying, 'I caught dada kissing mama!' She raised her little arms, and Kise knew that she wanted to be held.

"Dada's still stinky from running though," Kise whispered in a soft voice, but Kyouko began to fuss, adamant that her father pick her up.

Kise lifted Kyouko off the sofa, being careful not to wake up Tetsuna. Her little hands gripped his clothes as Kise gently bounced her in his arms. When Kyouko pulled her father's hair, Kise feigned agony and started to make funny faces to his daughter. Kyouko's little gurgles evolved into full on baby laughs, waking up her mother.

"Ryouta-kun?"

"Heheh, sorry Tetsunacchi," Kise laughed along with their baby.

"No, it's fine," Tetsuna replied as she got up. "Has she been up for long?"

"Nope, woke up just a moment ago. You okay? I could play with her if you still wanna sleep." Kise tickled Kyouko, eliciting another big laugh from her.

"Thank you, but no," Tetsuna smiled. "We have to start getting ready for our trip into town."

"Ah right. Our little Kyoukocchi's gonna see lots and lots of cute animals today. Are you excited?" Kise asked Kyouko, but she began to cry. "Ehh… What did I do?" Kise looked to Tetsuna.

"Did she poop?" Tetsuna asked.

Kise held Kyouko above his head and gave her diaper a little sniff before pulling away almost immediately.

"Yup," Kise confirmed and handed Kyouko to her mother's outstretched arms. "That's one stinky baby."

"Speak for yourself." Kise took that as his cue to get in the shower.

The family of three had been wandering around the agricultural exhibition when they reached the petting zoo. Kyouko had been given a carrot and Kise was holding her close to the pony to feed it. However, Kyouko poked the carrot into the pony's nose, making the bystanders laugh.

"Lower Kyouko, that's Mr Pony's nose," Tetsuna told Kyouko, but the 5 month old baby kept holding the carrot all over the place.

"Here, Kyoukocchi." When Kise tried to guide Kyouko's hand, the baby gave a loud cry, letting her father know that she wanted to feed the pony herself.

In the end, the pony must have gotten impatient for it reached out and took the carrot from Kyouko's hand.

Later in the morning, when Kyouko began to fuss, Kise and Tetsuna brought her to one of the parent's room in the shopping centre. As they entered one of the private feeding rooms, Kise's phone rang.

"Akashi just texted me. The guys are at the exhibition too." It wasn't unusual for the Generation of Miracles to visit Tetsuna and Kyouko on their days off. They were Kyouko's godparents after all.

"Why don't you go meet them? This will probably take a while." Tetsuna referred to the feeding.

"Yeah, I'll come back in say about half an hour?"

"Okay, take your time."

Kise really did take his time. He returned to the parent's room 10 minutes later than he had told Tetsuna, but when he reached his destination, Tetsuna and Kyouko were nowhere to be found. Kise wanted to ask the other parent's in the room, but most were distracted with a mother scolding her child. The little boy had vomited all over himself and his mother's dress and was now crying.

Finding the situation hopeless, Kise left the parents room and dialled Tetsuna's number. It went straight to voicemail.

"Guys, I can't find them." Kise was struggling to remain calm as he informed his friends of his wife and child's unknown whereabouts.

"Calm down Kise," said Midorima. "They're probably safe. We just need to find them."

"Yeah, Tetsu's not exactly the hardest person too lose sight of," said Aomine.

"But I told her I'd return. Tetsunacchi wouldn't leave without telling me that she'd left." Kise was still trying Tetsuna's number to no avail.

"Maybe she got hungry," Musakibara shrugged.

"She keeps plain biscuits in the diaper bag."

"Panicking won't do any good," said Akashi. "Ryouta, you stay on this floor and keep trying Tetsuna's number. Daiki, check the other parent's rooms. Atsushi, look around on the second floor. Shintarou, you take the third. Everyone'll meet up at the ground floor information counter in 20 minutes. Let's go."

The Generation of Miracles ran around, dodging customers and employees alike in an attempt to find the missing mother and daughter. But, 20 minutes later, they still had no luck. Kise still couldn't reach Tetsuna's phone. By now, he had completely lost his cool.

"Did you guys find them?" Kise grabbed Aomine's jacket.

"No, cool down man," Aomine placed his hands on Kise's shoulders.

"No, you cool down. My family's fucking missing! She gave birth not too long ago, she's still weak, and she's never been strong to begin with. What if…" Kise's voice broke as he spoke. His mind was thinking the worst case scenario.

"I know you're stressed, but don't take it out on us. We're just as worried," Midorima revealed in a rare showcase of honesty.

"Hey look, it's Tetsu-chin and Kyouko-chin," Musakibara pointed behind Kise. The lazy giant must've placed extra effort into searching since he managed to detect Tetsuna's weak presence from amongst a crowd.

Kise immediately turned around, and sure enough, his wife and child were walking towards them. Kyouko recognised her father and was reaching out to him. Kise ran to them and immediately hugged them tightly.

"Ryouta-kun?" Tetsuna called him, bewildered.

"Where in the world have you been?! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" Kise shouted, angry and relieved at the same time.

"I was just-"

"Why did you leave?! I told you I'd return didn't I? And why didn't you pick up your phone for Christ's sake?!" Kise gripped Tetsuna's shoulder as he bombarded her with questions.

"Ryouta! Control yourself," Akashi commanded.

"Errmm… Excuse me?" A lady suddenly interjected. Kise recognised her as the mother from the parent's room. "I just wanted to apologise for troubling you." She said to Tetsuna before turning to Kise. "My little boy had an accident and Mrs Kise was kind enough to go out and buy some clothes for us." The middle-aged lady was evidently embarrassed at her earlier behaviour in the parent's room.

Her son, however, instantly recognised the men around him to be the Generation of Miracles, his basketball heroes. He had stars in his eyes.

"See? Tetsu had a reason didn't she?" Aomine said as he took Kise's hands off of Tetsuna. "Now, smile for the little boy. He looks like a fan," Aomine whispered to Kise.

After a short impromptu autograph session, Akashi took Kyouko from Tetsuna as he and the rest of the Generation of Miracles left to give the couple some privacy.

"Sorry, Ryouta-kun. I didn't mean for everything to get so out of hand."

Kise shook his head as he grasped Tetsuna's hand and placed it in the pocket of his jacket as they walked around the exhibition.

"I'm sorry for overreacting, and for shouting at you. But, please don't ever do something like that again. I can't stand the thought of losing you and Kyouko." Kise's tightened his hold on Tetsuna's hand.

"Okay," Tetsuna smiled.

"Why didn't you pick up your phone though?"

"Kyouko got bored waiting for you so I let her play flappy bird, but it drained the battery faster than I thought it would, sorry." Tetsuna explained.

"So it's all that damn bird's fault…"

"Hey, Kise-chin. Midorima wants to take a photo with Kyouko and a sheep at one of the stalls. Says, a sheep's his lucky item today."

"He doesn't need our permission for that," said Kise.

"Yeah, but Akashi says we should take a big family photo with all the animals there," Musakibara told them.

Nobody dared to go against Akashi. And so, the day ended with a family photo where Kyouko sat on top of a sheep with her parents either side of her, Midorima and Musakibara held a couple of lambs behind them, Aomine fought to keep a piglet still in his arms, and Akashi clutched a turtle upside down.

I got hospitalised this week, so I had time to write this in the ward.

Bye bye and thanks for reading :D