Akashi was at a loss. Truth be told, this was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation. As the successor to his family, he was no stranger to dating as it was in his obligation to produce an heir within the Akashi bloodline. The multiple women his father had introduced all shared one similarity: they were after his wealth. Given they were the daughters of his company's partnerships, Akashi always knew that even if it wasn't the women who wanted his money, their fathers were the next likely candidates fueled with jealousy of the young chairman's success.
Tetsuki had been his first desire. Each time they met it was as though she was a new person with a new sight to behold. The once fragile bluenette he met at the orphanage was now the strongest woman he had ever met. Not only did she survive through a divorce and infertility, she adopted the very beings she could not produce herself.
She was the bravest person he had ever known.
He could tell her divorce had wounded Tetsuki the most out of the experience, the man who vowed to stay by her side disappeared in an instant when she needed him most. The story alone was enough to make Akashi resent the poor excuse of a man. Part of him wished to find Kagami Taiga and make him pay for the damage he caused to others and to Tetsuki, yet part of him also wanted the same questions to be answered. If Kagami really did love the blue haired woman as much as Tetsuki made it seem, what other reason would make him run away the moment he heard of her flaw?
Chattering sounded throughout the hall as the cake was served. After their time in the garden, Akashi and the family of four returned to the party in time for Daiki to fulfill his sweet tooth for the night. As they searched for a table, Daiki ran ahead with a grin on his features. "Obaa-san!"
"There's my precious Daiki-kun!" Sorano cooed as she spread out her arms invitingly. Daiki embraced the older blue haired woman with all that he had, as he was lifted off the ground and twirled side to side by his ecstatic grandmother.
Shintaro approached a few steps behind and gave a small bow to his grandfather. "Hello Ojiji-san," he greeted bashfully. The blush on his cheeks brightened when Hiroki's hand ruffled his hair lightly.
"Hello." Tetsuki hugged her parents and searched around them before asking, "Where's Onii-san?"
While her mother was distracted by the sight of the dressed infant, Hiroki took the liberty to answer the question. "He went to talk to some friends earlier."
"Oh my, is that Akashi-san?" Sorano gasped as she invaded the quiet redhead's space, Ryouta now in her arms. Flustered, Tetsuki tried to distance her mother but the dark blue haired woman held her place.
Akashi gave a gentlemanly smile. "Hello, Kuroko-san. I hope you're both doing well."
A firm handshake was shared between the two men. "It's nice to see you," Hiroki said with a minuscule smile. "What brings you here tonight?"
The bluenette cleared her throat and gathered the attention of her parents. "Akashi-san is my d-date tonight," answered Tetsuki, her voice nervous but stern. "As my boyfriend."
Moments passed until a loud gasp came from Sorano, cut off halfway by Hiroki's hand over her mouth to avoid attention. "B-Boyfriend?!"
"Tetsuki is nothing less than precious to me," he told the bewildered parents. "If you allow me, I will do everything in my power to make her happy."
Sorano and Hiroki shared a glance, thinking on the matter silently to themselves. Tetsuki began to worry and opened her mouth to speak when a hand touched her shoulder. She looked up to meet the stone colored eyes of her older brother.
Ruffling her hair in the slightest, Chihiro looked to his boss. "Would you join me?" he asked vaguely. He didn't wait for an answer from the redhead as he walked towards the outside garden, Akashi steps close behind.
A comfortable silence settled between the chairman and the secretary, as it usually did during their time at the office, but tonight they were just two men enjoying an evening with friends and family. They stood a feet apart, their gazes directed forward until Chihiro decided to break the silence.
"Call me overprotective," the gray haired man began solemnly. "But I want to know your intentions."
Akashi glanced at Chihiro from the corner of his eye before closing them shut. "I will not treat her dishonorably as Kagami Taiga had."
Chihiro flinched at the name, his head whirled to his side to face the redhead. When Akashi said nothing, he let out a breath and looked ahead once more. "I had a feeling you were interested, but I didn't think you'd actually go out with her."
His final words caught his attention, causing Akashi to open his eyes and glower at the older man. "Are you implying that I would not accept her?" he threatened.
"You know better than I do that she can't give you what is expected from your family."
The redhead said nothing. In all honesty, the fact that pursuing Tetsuki meant sacrificing the expansion of the Akashi bloodline had crossed his mind the second he found out her infertility. He hadn't the time to think about the reveal, especially after being introduced to Tetsuki's parents about their relationship. Akashi knew the outcome of telling his father and yet it was undeniable that she was his ever first desire.
"And you know better than anyone that whoever dares to interfere is never forgiven. Even if it's my father." His golden eye gleamed sharply, a sight Chihiro knew all too well. When there was no sign of relent in the heterochromatic stare, the eldest Kuroko relaxed.
Chihiro turned his body to face the redhead, Akashi doing the same. "I'm sorry for pestering you, Akashi. It was the only way for me to know the truth," he admitted.
It was rare to hear the gray haired man address his name. Akashi knew, in times like this, it was Chihiro's way of acknowledging their relationship not as coworkers, but as a friend. Teasingly, a smirk grew on the chairman's lips. "After all this time we've known each other, you still struggle to trust me."
Gray eyes lowered to his feet. "It's not you personally," Chihiro said quietly, his thoughts weighing his mind. "The last time I trusted a man, he broke my sister's heart."
Akashi could see the hint of anger and regret flash in the older man's expression before returning to its natural deadpanned state. It was then the redhead realized a newfound respect for Chihiro. Unlike Tetsuki, the eldest sibling was more honest in his actions whereas the youngest tended to conceal her true feelings from others. For Chihiro to protect his little sister by asking the questions she feared to ask, Akashi almost wished he had an Onii-san like him. Almost.
Clearing his throat, the twenty-five year old turned away and made to enter the hall, but not before saying, "You can rest easy, Chihiro, knowing that I won't be the next."
"Sorry about this Tetsuki-kun, I don't mean to be a bother. It's only for a week, promise!"
"Worrying about it will only ruin your time," Tetsuki warned, a faint smile forming on her face. "Please enjoy yourselves and leave everything to me."
"You're the best!" And with that, the bluenette ended the line. Due to the newlyweds' honeymoon, Tetsuki was left with the task of overseeing the daycare in Riko's place on top of her regular set of work. She didn't mind the extra hours if it meant extra pay and it also served as an advantage of having her children make new friends.
The children at the daycare consisted of three year olds to seven year olds, most them sticking to their respective age groups. While Shintaro and Daiki played with the other children on the playground, Ryouta remained close to his mother side where the two sat on the patio as Tetsuki supervised the energetic children. Just as the clock passed four in the afternoon, parents would line up to pick up their children on their way back from their jobs. Tetsuki would occasionally converse with the parents about their child's behavior, but for the most part, the children were well behaved.
Pulling up to her childhood home after work, Tetsuki was greeted with the sight of her brother as he exited his car on the driveway. After parking the car, Chihiro assisted her with unbuckled the children from their seats. "I have a weird feeling about this," he commented as he lifted Ryouta from the carrier and into his arms, closing the door once Shintaro got out of the car.
Tetsuki nodded as she locked the car. "I wonder what it's about." The two siblings walked up to the door, Tetsuki grabbing her keys. Their mother had called and summoned them to their home where a "Super Important Family Meeting" was to commence. But before the bluenette could insert her key into the knob, the door swung open aggressively. The deadpanned siblings spared a blink when they were greeted by the sight of their ever energetic mother.
"Hello my babies!" cooed Sorano as she pulled her two adult children into a tight hug. Upon releasing them, however, her smile faded into a pout. "Mou! Why did you both have to take after your father?"
Chihiro, whose attitude resembled his mother's at times, raised a solemn brow. "Tetsuki got your looks, didn't she?"
The teasing tone in his voice went unnoticed by the younger sibling, who narrowed her eyes in mild annoyance. "And Chihiro-nii-san got your personality, didn't he?" she shot back, walking into the house with waiting to see their reactions, Shintaro and Daiki trailing after her.
"Don't tease her too much Chihiro," Sorano warned with a giggle. "Remember that one time when you were in high school?" Of course he remembered, Tetsuki had hidden all his novels from him for a whole week. An entire week!
Tetsuki held the signature Kuroko deadpanned look on her face which only fueled his anger ever more. "You can't find your novels? That's strange... Books don't have any feet to run away nor do they have the ability to disappear." She tilted her head in an innocent like manner yet her eyes could cause natural disasters to occur at any moment. "This is almost like the time when all my free vanilla milkshake coupons went missing. Right, Chihiro-nii-san?"
His novels were found in a box on the roof of their school building where a family of birds had already begun nesting upon.
Shaking off the memory, Chihiro entered the house and into the living room. He set down Ryouta on the carpeted floor where he saw his father and grandmother sitting on the couch. "Obaa-san? What are you doing out of the hospital?"
Ayame gave a warm smile. "They allowed me to have a free day this month." Her eyes crinkled with joy when Ryouta crawled towards her, excited by her presence.
After the siblings settled down on the couch, Sorano called the meeting to order and cleared her throat in an obvious manner. "Alright! The Super Important Kuroko Family Meeting will now begin!" she announced dramatically. The three children clapped their hands in awe at their grandmother's proud authority. "Tetsuki," Sorano faced the younger bluenette, "you are the subject of today's meeting."
"Eh?" Tetsuki's hand paused its stroking on Shintaro's hair.
Her mother flashed a cunning smile. "Your father and I have decided to move out!"
"Move out?" The siblings repeated in sync. They looked to their father for confirmation and were given a firm nod of the head.
Hiroki stood from his seat to stand beside Sorano, facing their confused children. "Due to your grandmother's condition, she will be unable to leave the hospital for awhile. As a result, we've decided to live in her home where we will be both closer to her and able to keep the property."
"And that's where you come in," the older blue haired woman beamed. "Tetsuki, as a gift, your father and I will give you this house in return!" To emphasize, Sorano gestured the entire living room and all that connected by spreading her arms out wide.
A loud gasp echoed from Daiki's mouth, eyes sparkling like the starry night. "We're gonna live here? In this big house?!" Daiki looked to Tetsuki, to Sorano, and back to Tetsuki again. "Are we really gonna live here Kaa-chan?!" Sorano couldn't help but grin at the tanned toddler's energy.
The bluenette was speechless. Was she really returning to her childhood home after all these years? "Okaa-san..." Tetsuki's brow furrowed slightly with worry. "I don't know if I can afford to pay the mortgage."
"Tetsuki," Hiroki suddenly intervened. "You have to remember, you're a mother now. Shintaro, Daiki, and Ryouta are only going to keep growing from this point on, and your current living conditions will soon be unable to accommodate them."
Lost in her thoughts, Chihiro decided to speak up. "I can help," he offered. Tetsuki's blinked in surprise and knowing his little sister was ready to object, he quickly shut her down before she could get a syllable out. "My lease for my apartment is ending soon and you're gonna need help once those two start preschool."
"Demo..."
"Gifts are meant to be accepted," Ayame advised Tetsuki during her moment of hesitation. Taking her granddaughter's hand and placing it on her lap gently, the eldest Kuroko used her other hand to tuck a loose strand of hair behind Tetsuki's ear. "It's not only a gift for you, but for your children as well. Make many memories you can share and cherish for the years to come." Everyone in the room by then knew it was decided, Tetsuki especially.
Her grandmother always did have a way with words.
"Thank you for your help today, Murasakibara-san."
"... As long as you treat me with maibous then I guess this isn't that much of a hassle."
Just a few days after their family meeting, Sorano insisted on packing right away without a moment to lose. Her parents had come by earlier to drop off a moving truck and help sort things into groups so that no furniture got mixed up among the multiple sets of boxes. After work, Chihiro would bring food for Tetsuki and the kids, knowing she would have spent all day occupied with the move.
To her surprise, some friends had come over to help too. The only friend she had told the news of her move was Riko, who was only a few days away from returning from her honeymoon. Tetsuki assumed that was the origin of it all when Takao and Himuro showed up on her doorstep. Upon Himuro's arrival, he suggested the bluehead to ask the gigantic baker for help with the heavier loads and left Murasakibara's phone number.
And thus, Murasakibara relieved Tetsuki of the burden of dragging down an entire mattress, a dresser, and a couch down a flight of twelve floors. She was nothing less than impressed by his strength of a thousand men.
"Of course," Tetsuki promised. It was the least she could for all his hard work. "But are you sure it's okay to miss work?"
"We're not open on Sundays anyway," Murasakibara elaborated tiredly. The two adults sat beside each other on the vacant floor due to the absence of the kitchen table, their backs leaning against the wall, while the children napped in the empty bedroom. His long legs were crisscrossed while Tetsuki sat on the ends of her heels.
"That's good then," she said with a light voice though her expression didn't match. "I'm sorry to take up your time on your day off. The last thing I would want is for you to feel fatigued during work, Murasakibara-san."
Murasakibara gave the blue haired woman a once-over before deciding "Kuro-chin."
"Hai?"
"Can't you be less formal? You make me feel like a stranger." Murasakibara gave a visible pout of the lips meant for Tetsuki to see, in hopes to guilt trip her harmlessly.
Tetsuki thought on the question. They have known each other for a considerable amount of time, plus he went out of his way to spend his day lifting heavy weights for her sake. "Gomen, Murasakibara-kun."
He wasn't sure what he expected to be called, but the purple haired man couldn't help the smile that pulled at his mouth. The bubbly feeling in his stomach at the thought of becoming closer to Tetsuki brought a blush to his cheeks, a pure sight that when unnoticed by the bluenette.
"Are you okay Murasakibara-kun?" She brought a hand to cover his forehead, the gesture only triggering the flush on his cheeks to rush up to his ears and down to his neck. In a state of panic, Murasakibara abruptly maneuvered his entire body so that the side of his head landed on Tetsuki's open lap and his heated face turned away from Tetsuki's full view. "M-Murasakibara-kun!" She tried to pry his body off of her but the purplehead held his weight.
"I'm going to nap!" was all he announced as he shut his eyes closed, forcing himself to sleep. It didn't take long for him to lose consciousness soon after.
This feels wrong, Tetsuki thought, her redheaded boyfriend on her mind. She didn't see the baker as more than a reliable friend so this couldn't be considered cheating, right? He did go through all that trouble of lifting today... He's almost like a bear. Impulsively, she brushed the long strands of purple from his face.
"Okaa-san," Shintaro called drowsily. He stood at the open bedroom door, struggling to hold his cranky baby brother in his arms. "I think he wants you." Seeing as she was immobile, the mother called over the greenhead to bring Ryouta to her. The golden haired baby surprised her when he decided to muster all his strength to wiggle out of her grasp and crawl onto Murasakibara's chest, welcoming sleep once again after settling his head down on the broad chest. A yawn escaped from Shintaro's mouth.
She smiled and patted the space beside her for Shintaro to lay against her side while her arm warped behind his waist, holding him close to her. It didn't take long for Daiki to come tumbling out of the bedroom and plopping his head onto the free space of her leg. Although the weight left her numb by the second, Tetsuki couldn't help but think the sleeping bundle were under her protection.
With that thought in mind, Tetsuki allowed sleep to consume her. It was hours later that she would experience the most unforgiving leg cramp in her entire existence.
"Oops, sorry." Due to their height differences, Kagami's chest bumped into Tetsuki back where he positioned himself to cover her eyes with his hands.
"I know you are much taller than me, but please be considerate to the little people."
The redhead let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry about that..." As he continued to lead her down the hallway, their steps came to a halt. "Alright, we're here!"
Tetsuki touched the hand that concealed her vision. "Can I look now?" she asked, attempting to move the limbs away only to have it press into her face with minimal force.
"N-Not yet!" Kagami used one hand to cover both her eyes while he used his other to fish for the single key in his pocket. Sliding it into the doorknob, he led Tetsuki inside hurriedly. Taking a deep breath, he brought her to the center of the room and removed his hand from her vision. "Surprise!"
It took a few moments to adjust her eyesight but it was clear where he had taken her. "Taiga... How did you..?"
He scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin pulling at his lips. "I was able to end the lease in my old apartment. And I know how you wanted a bigger place for when we have kids, so I got this place just for that." At the bluenette's silence, Kagami assumed his plan had backfired. "But if you don't like it we can keep looking! It's not like this is the only apartment out there so I'm sure once I save enough we can—" The next thing the tiger knew, he was tackled to the ground by the small woman with arms hugging him tightly around the neck.
"Thank you," Tetsuki whispered into the crook of his neck. "Thank you for starting a life with me."
Flushed to the bone, Kagami let out a cough. He brought her body closer to his with an arm at her waist. "No problem," he mumbled, embarrassed. When Tetsuki hugged him tighter, he reciprocated wholeheartedly. "This is just temporary. Once we have enough, we can buy a house of our own. But for now, let's make a ton of memories here. Just the two of us."
Tetsuki lifted Ryouta from the ground and held him close, her eyes cast in a different time. Blue eyes glanced over the empty apartment, a place once sacred to her now left they way she visit saw it. Everything was packed away and all that was left was to turn in the key.
A few moments passed when Chihiro came through the door. "I filled out the rest of the paperwork," he informed her. "I'll go get the truck ready."
"I'll be down soon." With that, the gray haired man left as fast as he arrived.
She knew better than to linger but wanted to give the apartment a proper goodbye. With Ryouta in tow, she stepped onto the balcony and overlooked the city. The infant would occasionally point at birds that flew by and look at the blue haired woman as if to share his discovery. Once she deemed it time, Tetsuki starred at the balcony through the open door.
"Thank you for everything, Taiga," she said to the missing entity. "Sayonara." Closing the balcony door behind her, Tetsuki made way to the front door to put on her shoes.
Giving the apartment one last glance, she gave Ryouta a smile. "Say, 'bye-bye,'" the bluenette encouraged the infant.
"Bye-bye!" Ryouta shouted enthusiastically, his hand clenching open and closed in his wave.
Tetsuki didn't look back after exiting out of the threshold. Her time with Taiga was one chapter of her life that she would never forget, but now it was time for her to start anew. Although it will take time, she vowed to devote herself to search for happiness. Whether it be with her relationship with Akashi or with her children, Tetsuki would embrace the change with arms wide open.
A/N: SORRY FOR THE WAIT! My procrastination was no joke even though I had almost most of this chapter written, but I was able to pull through and land the finishing touches. On a sadder note, I will be busy this upcoming week and the following week I will be starting school again. I'm trying my best to stay optimistic about updating because for sure, writing this story will be an escape from all the stress.
I really wanted to get this chapter in before then so I'm glad I was able to upload it in time. Thank you all for the continued support and patience. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review!