Free Talk- Here it is, the concluding chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who read this story. It was so much fun to write. I haven't decided yet if I want to add an epilogue. I wanted to wait and see what other people think first, so please tell me if you think an epilogue would be fitting. I still have a lot of Eyeshield 21 story ideas in my head that fit into the same timeline as this one. If I write any more of them, I can only hope they will be as well-recieved as this one. Again, thank you thank you thank you! And please tell me what you think.

Bittersweet Symphony
By Miss Angel Maxwell


Chapter 12: Fathers


Blip. Blip. Blip. Blip.

The heart monitor chirped out a steady, droning rhythm and the glow behind the window shades changed color, yellow to orange to red to purple, before finally fading into night.

Meg had been sitting in the same rocking chair all day, only getting up to use the bathroom (which wasn't too often since she had lost any desire for food or drink). Without sunlight and without any disruption in the endlessly repeating sounds of equipment, it was hard for her to gauge how many hours of vigilance she'd already given to the tiny struggling life.

Mom had gone home to sleep long ago, but not before trying to convince her daughter to get some rest as well. "Just a quick nap, one or two hours, would do you so much good," she'd said.

But Meg was not going to leave the nursery, even for a few hours. If her baby's precarious health took a turn for the worse while she was asleep, she'd never forgive herself. Besides that, there was no way she could fall asleep with a brain full of cold fear.

Her eyes were dry and sore from being forced to stay open for so long, but she had to keep watching that teeny chest move to know he was still breathing.

The machines will let me know if anything goes wrong, her brain reminded. And there is a nurse in the room, keeping watch. I suppose it might be alright to just rest my eyeballs for a few minutes, so they won't shrivel up and fall out of their sockets.

The moist lids were soothing, but after a second they shot back open with an accompanying gasp. The monitor was still beeping the same cadence, the little ribcage still expanding and contracting. Her panic had been over nothing so she let her eyelids slowly ease shut again.

Sightless, her ears were acutely tuned to sound. Suddenly the silent space revealed itself, alive with soft and distant noises. Somebody was walking trough a hallway on the floor above. A car passed on the street, outside and far below. The nurse turned a page in her novel.

After some time (Meg had no idea how much), there were footfalls in the hall just outside, and another sound she couldn't identify, something between a squeak and a whir. They were coupled together and drawing nearer. The door to the nursery clicked gently open and the noises came inside and back to where she sat motionless.

She could feel the weight of shadow on her as they stopped right next to her and she opened one eye an unnoticeable sliver. All she caught a glimpse of were the spokes of a large wheel. The mystery noise was a wheelchair moving.

"I'm glad she's finally getting a little sleep. We'll have to be quiet so we don't wake her up."

Mom? She said she was going home for the night. She thinks I'm asleep…

Meg kept her body absolutely still, her eyes absolutely closed. This became even more difficult when she heard the other voice and her heart started to pump faster.

"Why did you bring me here?" Rui said, tired-sounding and suspicious.

"Because you needed to see him in person," Mom whispered. "Not just on a cell phone screen. So what do you think?"

"He's lot smaller than I expected. He's, uh… he's not in pain… is he?" His voice carried so much guilt when he asked, it was hard for Meg to keep her perfect composure while listening.

"No," said Mom. "I don't think so. But I imagine he's scared. Yesterday he was safe and warm, getting everything he needed through his belly button. And now he's trapped in a box, no idea what's going on as he fights with all his might just to stay alive."

Rui let out an anguished sigh. "I can't believe this happened to him. Little guy never did anything wrong, a total innocent. And Meg doesn't deserve any of the shit she's been through, either."

"Yeah, it's pretty fucked up." As weird as the f-word sounded coming from her mother's mouth, what came out next was even more shocking. "Habashira, did Meg ever talk to you about her father?"

Why would she talk about Dad? She hates the guy.

"Not a lot," Rui answered. "Just that he died of cancer when she was really little, and that she doesn't remember much about him. Except he liked American football."

Even with closed eyes, Meg could tell that Mom was smiling wistfully just by her intonation. "Her father loved American football, which, when he and I first met, was even less known in Japan than it is now. Looking back, it's amazing that our high school even had a team. But if it hadn't, Meg wouldn't exist in this world."

"Huh?" Rui's utterance expressed her own confusion as well.

"It was watching him on the field that made me fall for him," Mom explained. "Man, he was an amazing cornerback. I went to all the games just to see him play and I guess he saw me too, because we got married soon after graduating."

"Did he still play after that?" Rui asked curiously. "I mean not many Japanese universities could have had American football back then."

"He never went to university anyways," Mom sighed. "With a baby on the way he couldn't afford it. But of course that didn't stop him. He organized a team of guys that he worked with and arranged games against other teams. He had a job, but football was his life." She paused. "Until he got sick."

"And you resented him for not being strong enough to beat cancer. At least… that's the impression I got from Meg."

Her mother's voice took on a remorseful pitch. "Yeah, that is how it must have seemed to her. After all, I never told her the truth about how he really died."

Wait, does this mean that Dad didn't really have cancer, or just that it wasn't what killed him?

Meg's heart got faster and louder, so much that she actually worried it might alert them to the fact that she was awake and listening with rapt anticipation.

"What do you mean?" Rui asked, seemingly for her sake.

"Meg's father was on the road to remission," said her mother. "The chemotherapy was working. But for some reason… because of the pain of his treatment, or because he knew he would be too weak to ever play football again… he saved up all the painkillers they gave him and took them all at once, killing himself."

Every nerve, every muscle in Meg's body was working at its limit to keep her absolutely motionless in light of this revelation. Dad… committed suicide? That means all these years…

"All these years I've been lying to my daughter," Mom continued with perfect timing. "I wanted to spare her the shame of having a father who'd committed suicide. But now I realize that I did more harm to her than good. My bitterness and resentment still came out, but she didn't understand why."

"If you ask me, Meg turned out pretty damn incredible despite your attitude."

An embarrassingly giddy thrill sparkled in her chest to hear that from Rui, but she didn't let it disrupt her imitated sleep. She didn't want to miss a single detail.

"She is incredible," Mom agreed. "I don't know how she grew up to be so strong-willed and fierce having me as a mother. But I'm proud of her. I just wish… I wish I hadn't pushed her away so much. And all because she reminded me of the man I'd loved more than anything in the world. I never forgave him for giving up, for abandoning his family. So I took it out on Meg."

Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry. Meg tightened her jaw to try to enforce the order her brain was giving, but it was difficult when she was just learning these things for the first time. Mom really did love Dad. She didn't think he was weak for dying of cancer, but because he refused to fight. How would that even make her feel? Maybe like her love wasn't enough to keep him in this world? This is all so… I had no idea.

There was a brief silence before Rui responded to what her mother had said. His words were slow and soft. "Mrs. Tsuyumine… Why are you telling me this? If you're trying to convince me to let her go back to you so you can mend your relationship, there's no need. I already told her that's what she should do… I mean, as long as you don't tell her to give that little guy away."

"Never," Mom said. "But that isn't why I brought you here and told you these things. No matter what I think of you, you are the love of my little girl's life and the father of my grandchild. Your life is precious to them, Habashira Rui, and therefore precious to me."

"I'm not going to kill myself," he quietly snorted.

"It's not enough to simply not kill yourself. You have to choose to live. Don't just go through the motions, but make your life count. And don't cast away those who love you like Meg's father did. Just look at your son in there. Every breath he takes is a miracle. He's using all the strength in his tiny body just for a shot at one more day."

"Look," Rui sighed. "Like I told Meg, the best thing I can do for him, and for her, is to not make their lives even more difficult. It doesn't mean I don't care about them… that I don't… you know… love them."

He said it. It was indirect and reluctant, but he said that he loved her and the baby. Suddenly the excitement drained like liquid from her body. Aw shit, I must have fallen asleep. Rui doesn't use that word, not for anything other than American football or his bike. Which means this is a dream, a bizarre, sound-only dream. None of these thing's I'm overhearing are even real.

Her mother spoke again. "If you love my daughter then quit making her cry." There was assertiveness (not bossiness) in her voice that Meg had never heard before. "If you really love her, stop breaking her heart."

"I'm not doing it on purpose," Rui growled, the wheelchair he sat in rattling slightly under his tensed body. "But I've already made up my mind on this. I'm not abandoning them. I'm setting them free. Isn't that what you want? Don't you want her to come home with you instead of me?"

Gah! Even in my dreams he's just a big stubborn dummy! But… he said that he loves me. Mom said she loved Dad. This is such a vivid dream… I don't want to wake up yet. Please, let me stay in this dream just… a little…

Her thoughts broke apart like drift ice and she never heard the rest of the conversation as her mind and her body were tugged into wakefulness.

Meg awoke in a vast field of grass that was tattooed with evenly spaced white lines, a football field of course. In front of her, the offensive linemen were in formation with their backs to her, waiting for something.

"Tsuyumine, get your ass in gear!" one of them yelled, and looking at her shirt Meg saw a number on the chest.

Jeez, how could I forget that I'm the quarterback? I swear I am losing my nerves. Ugh! And since when have our uniforms been pink?

Now that she remembered her position, she took her place behind the center and barked out the count. "Blue! Forty-two! Set! Hut!"

The center hiked the ball into her poised hands, and to her utter shock, it wriggled! She looked down and saw that it wasn't a football that had been passed to her, but a tiny, football-sized baby.

"What the?" It wasn't just any baby. It was her baby, and he was in danger! Two players from the opposing team's defense had broken away and were hurtling towards her! "Crap! I'll have to make a pass." Her eyes scanned the field but none of her teammates were open. Hell, she couldn't even find any of her teammates.

"You're going down," one of the ambushers hissed gleefully. Meg recognized the voice and the whorishly painted face behind the cage.

"You two bitches?" she scoffed. "Haven't you taken enough of my abuse off the field?"

Ignoring her completely, the two girls lunged at once, and for some reason, perhaps all the bulky protective gear, they looked much larger and more threatening than they ever had before. With nowhere to run and nobody to pass to, Meg tucked the baby under one arm and pulled her wooden sword from behind her back.

"It may be against the rules, but I've got no other options." One fluid movement of her arm brought the blade crashing into both opponents and at the instant of contact, the two girls, as well as the sword, exploded into a shower of chocolate candies.

Behind the rain of sweets she suddenly caught sight of a pair of bloodthirsty eyes, bulging from beneath a domed helmet. That hateful, cold-blooded glare was unmistakably Habashira Yamori, but her body had been super-sized so she now bore a striking resemblance to a female version of the Dinosaurs' Gaou.

Damn! How'd that bitch get pumped so fast? She's gonna crush me!

But Yamori didn't burst forward to sack her, not yet. She was a tiger in the bushes, raising her hackles in preparation for the pounce, enjoying the look of terror on the face of her cornered prey.

A realization struck Meg like a sudden bolt of lightning. Rui is on my team! I have to pass him the ball… er, the baby… Her eyes desperately combed the field. Still, no trace of any teammates. Where the HELL are you, Rui?

Out of the corner of her eye, she glimpses a retreating fleck of white: the back of Rui's long jacket as he walked out of the football stadium.

"Wait!" Meg shouted at full volume. "Rui! Come back here!" At the same time, Yamori launched herself forward, powerful arms held stiffly in front for a swift take-down. But for some reason, everything shifted into super slow motion. The attacker seemed almost suspended in air.

Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The sound of a motorcycle cut through the stretched silence as a brilliantly restored Zephyr zoomed onto the field at normal speed and skidded to a stop next to Meg. It could only be one person.

She turned hopeful eyes towards the driver, but found herself looking, not at Rui, but at a face that had practically slipped from her memory. "Dad?" she uttered as he smiled warmly at her. "You… you aren't dead?"

"I'm here to help you," he said, extending his arms to her. "Give me the ball. Give me my grandson."

Meg did what he asked without hesitating, though she knew this went against the rules of American football. "Here, take him and get away as fast as you can."

Her dad nodded, tucked the baby against his side like a football, and sped away steering with just one hand. Meg turned to face her attacker, but Yamori had vanished. All of the players had. There wasn't even a football field anymore, just claustrophobic black all around her and a shrinking dot that was her father taking her baby far, far away on Rui's bike.

"Wait!" she screamed. "Come back, Dad! You can't have him! Give him back!"

With a violent shuddering gasp, Meg opened her eyes to the glow of morning spilling through the nursery window. Her heartbeat was galloping like a thoroughbred and her skin was sheathed in cold sweat.

"Oh sweet god," she sighed, closing her eyes while she pressed a palm to her wet forehead. "It was just a hellish dream." As her chest calmed, she opened eyes and her body immediately seized up again. Her son's incubator was empty.

"Where's my baby?" she shrieked, leaping to her feet. "My baby boy! He's gone! Someone help! Doctor? Nurse? Anyone!"

"Jeez. Do you have to be so damn noisy, woman? You'll wake him up."

She twisted immediately around to the source of the familiar voice. He was in a rocking chair in the nearest corner of the nursery, tilted so far back that his torso was almost horizontal. A blue flannel blanket was draped over his chest.

"Rui?" she breathed.

"That's a better indoor voice. I know you love to scream, but this is a fucking nursery." The way he spoke sounded so much the same as he did before the accident, which was so much different from the way he spoke the past two days.

Meg approached with cautious little steps until she was close enough to see a teensy hand poking out from under the blue blanket. "You're holding him," she said softly.

Rui looked at her like she was a moron. "Well of course I'm not holding him, dummy. I no longer have arms, remember?"

"Of course I remember," she said, frowning even though her chest felt as light as if it were filled with helium. Then she asked with more nervousness, "Is it really okay for him to be out of his incubator?"

"Would I have him out of his box if it wasn't safe?" he replied, with just a hint of a smirk. "The doctor gave the okay. Apparently skin-to-skin contact a few hours a day is good for them, or something."

The way he acted indifferent to avoid looking like a sap was such a Rui response. It made Meg's insides feel warm. No matter how casual he acted, she could tell that he cared just by the way he looked at that little bundle of boy over his heart.

He's not feeling sorry for himself. He's not despairing. It's like a miracle… if I believed in them.

She knelt down next to the rocking chair and rested her head against his shoulder (being very careful not to put any pressure on his bandages, of course). The baby was blissfully asleep against his skin, little eyes closed, little hands curled into cozy fists.

Rui looked just as comfortable, as if he was sharing the peace in that tiny body through osmosis.

"You seem to be feeling better today," Meg commented. "Did they up your painkillers?"

"I don't think so," he said. "No, I'm just in a better mood I guess because I found something I can actually do for this guy. And believe it or not it was that frosty mom of yours who suggested it."

"My mom?" she puzzled.

"Yeah, I'm as shocked as you. But last night she woke me up and dragged my ass down here to see the little guy and to tell about this kind of therapy. Wallaby, or koala… it has some stupid animal name."

"Last night?" Just two words slipped from her mouth as dozens more flew through her brain.

Last night I had a dream that Mom and Rui were in here talking. But then I started dreaming for real… something about football, I think. So does that mean the stuff I overheard was real? I don't remember any animal-named therapy, but maybe it was after I fell asleep. So maybe the stuff about Dad… and Rui saying he loved me…

"You were snoozing like a grizzly bear in winter the whole time," he said. "Aw jeez, what are you crying about now?"

"Nothing, nothing," she said, sniffing back tears she didn't realize had started to flow. There would be plenty of time to ponder what she'd heard later. "So does this mean you're going to be sticking around with us?"

"I guess it does," he said, and then added more assertively, "Definitely."

"Even though it won't be easy?" Meg asked earnestly.

"Well," Rui answered thoughtfully. "Teaching him to play football with robotic arms, or whatever, might prove to be a challenge. And we probably will still need help from your mom and my brother. But you'll make it work somehow, crazy bitch that you are."

Meg laughed. "I'm your crazy bitch, Habashira Rui. I have been since the day I knocked you out of that tree in the park, and I will be until the day I die."

"Just don't ever crush my balls, okay?" he said.

"As long as you never threaten to leave again," she retorted. Then she leaned closer and pressed her mouth to his, the sweetest kiss yet by far. When it ended, they both looked down at their child. "Can you believe he's really ours?" she whispered.

"It's scary as shit," he admitted. His eyes scrutinized the infant's sleeping face. "I still can't decide…"

"Which one of us he looks like?"

"Offense or defense," Rui corrected, rolling his eyes as if the question were obvious. "But I guess it's too soon to tell. We should probably figure out a name for him first."

"KeKeKeKe!"

The cackle sent a shudder of dread up Meg's spine. She turned her head slowly around to find the demonically pointed shape of Hiruma Youichi. "How the hell did you get inside the intensive care nursery?" she groaned. "It's supposed to be family only. And is that a gun?"

"I told him not to bring it," a sweet voice insisted from behind him.

"Anezaki, you're here too?" Meg greeted as Mamori stepped out of Hiruma's shadow with an armful of flowers.

"Hello, Tsuyumine," she said cheerfully. "When I found out from Hiruma that you'd had the baby, I wanted to bring you some flowers and say congratulations."

Meg stood up and accepted the gift graciously. "Thank you, Anezaki." Her eyes turned back to Hiruma and narrowed down to slits. "That doesn't explain why you're here," she hissed. "And how did you know I'd had the baby?"

"You know I have my sources," he answered with a wicked grin. "As for why I'm here, I just thought I would come to collect the payment for my taxi service."

"What the hell is he talking about, Meg?" Rui asked nervously.

Hiruma sauntered over to Rui's rocking chair and looked down with mock adoration. "Well isn't this the most precious fucking thing I've ever seen," he cooed. "The Fucking Chameleon lost his arms but he can still snuggle wiff his widdle baby. I've gotta take a picture of this."

As the camera flashed, Rui stuck out his long tongue rudely. "If I had hands I'd be giving you the finger with both of 'em. Now what is this payment you're after?"

"What? You mean the Fucking Yankii didn't tell you?" Hiruma asked, pretending to sound surprised. "I'm the one responsible for getting her to the hospital the night of your accident. In return, she gave me authority to name the child that was then residing in her belly."

Rui's face contorted into a horrified gape aimed at Meg. "You told Hiruma he could name our baby?"

She squirmed gracelessly. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," she tried to justify. "Besides I didn't think he'd actually follow through with it."

"I always follow through with what I say I'm going to do," said Hiruma. "Now I've thought about this…" He paused and pulled a folded piece of paper and a pen from his back pocket.

"Wait, what is that?" Meg asked, eyes locked on the document he was now unfolding.

"It's that little speck's birth certificate," he said gleefully. "If it's not official, the name I choose won't stick. As I was about to say, I've thought about this. And I decided that since one of you is a reptile and one of you is violent, only one name will do."

Meg felt all her organs cringe in unison as she watched that pen furiously scrawling.

"Fucking Crocodile!" Hiruma declared, proudly brandishing the certificate.

Immediately, Meg snatched it from his hand and read out loud what he had written. "Habashira Wani." After a few cleansing blinks she looked at it again. "Wow… That's actually kind of cute." She held the paper in front of Rui for him to read.

"It is a good name," he uttered, clearly stunned. "It isn't cruel or derisive or even profane. What are you trying to pull?"

The accused's pointy ears drooped slightly and his lips covered up his sharp teeth, another feigned expression. "Can't I just be a decent guy every once and a while?"

Meg and Rui both looked at him skeptically and then at each other, silently agreeing that Hiruma could not pull off innocence no matter how hard he might try. There was simply no hiding that thick streak of sadism. Together they turned their eyes back on him.

"Alright, alright," Hiruma said, letting his depraved grin return. "The Fucking Old Man said not to screw the kid over, and since he technically provided the service I couldn't argue. But payment for the other thing…" His eyes lit up in the most horrible way.

"What other thing?" a shrill voice cut in. In under a second, Mamori was right in front of him, hands on her hips as she scowled severely.

He made a disinterested face and grunted. "This doesn't concern you, Fucking Manager."

Mamori didn't budge. In fact she leaned in even more threateningly. The pair sustained their stare-off for a long minute until Hiruma's posture sagged.

"I'll drop the subject for now," he grumbled. "But only because I want more time to think of the right price for such a huge favor." He set one hand on the top of Rui's head and messed up his hair like he was petting a shaggy dog. "Enjoy your family time, Fucking Chameleon, Fucking Yankii. But eventually payment will come due."

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Rui spat.

"You will," Hiruma answered, smiling. "You will. Now let's get going, Fucking Manager. We have to make sure the Fucking Shrimp and the others are keeping up with their summer training."

Before following him out of the nursery, Mamori gave Meg the sort of hug that sisters might share and then an apologetic bow. "I'm so sorry for his atrocious behavior." She said. "I certainly didn't mean for this visit to cause trouble for you. Your baby is very precious, Tsuyumine. I hope you'll let me come visit once he's strong enough to go home."

Meg smiled gently and nodded. "You bet, Mamori." For the first time in her life, she had a girl friend she could call by first name. "I'll talk to you later."

"Right," Mamori agreed. Then she dashed out after Hiruma.

Rui, who had been trying to blow the tousled strands of hair off his face, stopped when he and Meg were alone again. "That was an odd encounter," he said.

"Very," she agreed, brushing the truant hair back for him with her fingers.

The peace and quiet only lasted a moment, however, before another visitor found their little corner. But at least this one actually was family.

Tokage seemed even more enthusiastic than usual, a proud new uncle. "Hey Little Bro! Little Meg! Very Little Nephew!"

"Wani," Meg happily chimed in. "He has a name now."

"Little Wani, eh?" Tokage said adoringly. "Not a bad name. Ah! But I didn't just come to see him. Rui, you won't believe what's happened in the last two days." He pulled out a newspaper that was tucked under his arm and handed it to Meg.

Curious, she looked at the article that had been circled in red marker. "Oh my god," she said. "Rui, your mother was arrested on charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering."

"What?" Rui gasped.

"Yeah," she confirmed as she skimmed the story. "She could spend decades in prison, and she's definitely going to see a sharp decline in wealth and prestige."

"That woman is finally getting what she deserves. It's a deus ex machina!" Tokage proclaimed.

"No," Meg sighed. "It's a Hiruma ex machina."

"I don't even want to think about how much this is going to cost," Rui groaned.


The following spring…


In a coincidence befitting one of those shojo comics she so loathed, Meg's high school graduation ceremony coincided perfectly with the peak bloom of Tokyo's cherry blossoms. It made for an event that was as disgustingly pink as it was sentimental.

But when the diplomas had been passed out and the all pomp and circumstance was done with, Meg found herself unexpectedly more upbeat than cynical. She even smiled when Mamori surprised her with a hug from behind.

"Well, we did it," Meg told her.

"Yep," Mamori chirped. "Not only did you survive the rest of your senior year at Deimon, but you finished in the top ten for the entire school."

"Still below you," Meg reminded. "But it was definitely fun to shock everyone who wasn't expecting much from the notorious teen mother who got expelled from Zokugaku. And the way people stared at you when they saw you hanging out with me was priceless. But I guess you're used to weird looks, since you're dating Hiruma."

Mamori's face turned a shade that made the cherry blossoms look pale by comparison. "He's not my boyfriend," she informed, with a bit less fight than she used to put up. "But I should probably go and find him to make sure he's not blowing something up in celebration. I'll see you later. Give Wani a big hug from me."

"Can do," she said. As her closest friend vanished into the crowd of young graduates, her mother appeared out of it. "Mom!" she called, running to greet her.

"Congratulations, honey," Mom said, beaming proudly.

"Thanks," Meg said. But her attention was already completely stolen by the chubby little boy in her mom's arms. "There's my sweet little Wanikichi," she cooed as she picked up her baby and hugged him to her chest.

Wani gurgled delightedly to be back with his mommy. He was just perfect, roly-poly and full of life, with no evidence at all of the six weeks he had to spend in the intensive care nursery. By now he had a full head of black fluff and his eyes were a beautiful olive green.

Just as Meg was admiring those green eyes, the guy he'd inherited them from stepped into her field of vision. He was trying not to stand out, staying under the shade of the trees, but the white Zokugaku jacket with its limp, empty sleeves was hard not to notice. A few Deimon graduates exchanged furtive whispers as they passed him.

Meg walked over, her smile growing wider and wider with each step that brought her closer to him. "Hey Rui," she said. "No more having to endure being at separate schools."

"I can't believe you chose Deimon," he said, rolling his eyes playfully. "Traitor."

She shifted Wani to her hip so that one of her arms was freed to hook around Rui's waist and pull him close. "I can't believe your mother managed to get me expelled before her arrest. But at least her sentence is going to last a lot longer than mine did."

"Yep," said Rui. "Wani will be a grown man by the time she gets out, which is good because I wouldn't want that woman to have any opportunity to poison him."

"As opposed to my mom who just spoils him rotten," Meg said wryly. "Who would have thought the thing that would finally thaw out her cold, cold heart would be the grandson she hadn't even wanted?"

Rui shrugged. "I can't say I blame her. He's pretty damn lovable, I think." He bent down low and kissed his son's downy head. Then he looked at Meg, his eyes containing all the affection he was too macho to say with words. "So did you still want to come with me? Wouldn't you rather start the celebration early?"

"Of course we're coming with you," she said. "If you ask me, getting fitted for top-of-the-line new arms is more cause for celebration than a stupid high school graduation."

"Well then we'd better get going," he told her.

"Right." She nodded and pulled a cloth harness from her school bag. Once Wani was safely secured to her back, Rui knelt down and she climbed on his, latching her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his hips.

"You ready?"

"Always," she answered in his ear. "You'll always be my ride, Habashira Rui."

"Damn I love you," he chuckled.

As she rode away on Rui's back, ignoring the gawks and hushed comments from the students around them, Meg was sure that she heard Hiruma's voice yelling, "You still owe me, Fucking Yankii!"

But she wasn't worried. It was just Hiruma after all.

The End