...Part 36: Suna Akimoto...
"Why did you do that?" Mitsukai and Krad both demanded – which very nearly made me laugh.
"It's cold," I said simply. "And not only that, but if Itanami gets sidetracked and starts going after Mitsukai again, I don't want Dark to be too embarrassed to jump up to stop her." It seemed reasonable to me.
Neither one of them said anything.
"Itanami... stop it," I heard Dark's voice. When I looked around Krad to see what was up, the two of them were kissing again. Thoughtfully, it almost reminded me of Krad and myself when we had first fallen in love.
That made me feel so corny – and old. I felt old.
"Hey Krad," I wondered, tilting my head as I watched them – as long as Itanami was preoccupied with Dark, she wouldn't come after Mitsukai, so the immediate danger was stalled – "Do you ever feel old?"
"What?"
"Do you ever feel like your age is sort of catching up to you...?" I asked, just out of curiosity.
Krad sighed. "Not really, no... I guess I can't really feel 'old' because I have an eternity to live, yet."
I pondered that for a moment. "I guess that makes sense."
"You should take Mitsukai and go home," he said. "It's getting late, and there's really no way to predict when Itanami will get out of control again."
"Hey, I can –" Mitsukai started.
He was cut off by Krad. "– Take care of yourself? Yeah, I've heard that excuse before," Krad told him, then glanced at me. "The last time somebody said that, they got shot. Now go home. Protect your mother for me." He smirked.
Mitsukai glared back at him. "If I protect her, it will be for myself, not you." And with that, he stalked off toward home. "Come on," he called back to me.
I gave Krad a humorous smile. "You know, you're pretty good at that."
"What? Reverse psychology?" He looked mildly puzzled.
I shook my head and gave him a quick kiss – he hadn't changed much since I was fifteen; he always wanted it to last longer than it did. "You're good at being Mitsukai's father, Krad," I said softly, touching our noses together affectionately. "You could've stayed."
He stroked my face lightly with his fingers. "If I could relive the years I left behind, I would do it differently, believe me."
"I do." I breathed a short laugh. "And I would be a lighter sleeper."
Krad laughed a bit with me before kissing me again. "You should go."
"Yeah..." I sighed. "See you later."
"I love you," he whispered.
I smiled at him before going. I knew that was all he needed from me. Just that simple smile said everything.