Married Life

Chapter 29: Talks and Threats

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"So… when are you two going to have children?"

Ren visibly choked on his soup, while Kyouko patted his back gently, rather glad she was not chewing on anything when the question was asked. She looked up at the older woman, standing behind the counter, in consternation.

"Okami-san!" The older lady just gave them a gentle smile.

"It has been some time since you two got married. Children are naturally the next phase in your marriage." She cocked her head to one side, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Unless, you two have a…" She trailed off, staring pointedly at Ren. "Problem?"

His face turned redder than it already was from all the coughing. Kyouko turned an even deeper shade of red than his.

Ren cleared his throat. "I–"

A plate was set before him with a loud clatter, interrupting him. He looked up to see the Taisho give him a menacing glare. His eyes travelled downwards to the long knife clutched in the older man's hand.

"You were saying?" Okami-san persisted.

He looked uneasily at the blade and licked his lips. "Well, I… I don't have any… problems. We don't have any problems." He wilted on the inside, wondering how they went from a simple dinner at the Darumaya to discussing fertility issues. He shot a look at his wife, trying to communicate telepathically with her to help him out. Kyouko's head was down, a hand on her mouth, visibly trying to hold back her laughter. He nudged her.

"I-I think I have to go to the bathroom. E-Excuse me." A giggle escaped from her lips as she stood up and practically ran up the stairs before Ren could stop her.

Some help she was going to be.

Ren looked back at the older couple, looking as the Taisho sharpened his knife. The swishswishsound it was producing sounded ominous.

"Well, since you two have no problems, then why aren't you having kids?" The Okami was unrelenting. "Or…" She looked close to tears. "Do you two not want kids?"

Thwack! He jumped slightly, staring uneasily as the Taisho chopped the onion into two. The loud sound resonated in his ears, and he swallowed nervously. Funny how it was that facing down a group of hooligans was way better – and less scary – than looking at this middle-aged man.

"Er…" His attention was still on the blade, as the Taisho moved onto mincing the slab of meat on his chopping board, moving fast and efficiently. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" He pulled himself together, fixing an apologetic smile on his face.

"Do you two don't plan to have kids at all?"

"No! Of course not!" He willed Kyouko to hurry back down. No one came. "We're just… just taking our time. You know, with our jobs taking up a lot of time…"

Another loud chop caught his attention. The Taisho was now working on a carrot, chopping the vegetable into fine bits.

"We're… trying hard." Even though the Taisho was not looking at him, the menacing aura the older man was emitting was rather terrifying. "Yes. We're going to try hard now."

"Really?" The older woman smiled, a contented expression on her face. "That's wonderful!" She turned to her husband. "Aren't you glad to hear that, dear?"

The old man swung his knife down, neatly chopping the chicken into two. Ren gulped down his cup of tea, wincing slightly as the hot drink scalded his tongue. The Okami hummed under her breath, a smile on her face as she placed another platter of food in front of him.

"Well, Ren-san. Eat up. You must eat more to get your strength up!" There was a glimmer in her eyes.

Ren let out a quiet groan and shrank into his seat.


A/n: Eeps! All this hints of children!

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