Chapter 35
The baby was Azusa's. In Yui's mind, the baby would always be Azusa's despite who he biologically belonged to either way. She kept telling herself that after Ruki had left her alone in the kitchen with the snoozing infant in her arms and a mind plagued by intrusive thoughts. The eyes she had gazed into before with the utmost amount of overwhelming love was something she was now dreading looking into as the baby slept soundly, for she knew she recognized those eyes from somewhere else the moment she stared into them in the child's first breaths.
The kitchen door opened slowly with a haunting creek followed by the hard footsteps of Kou's boots against the hardwood floor. "You look rather beautiful drenched in someone else's blood for once," he said teasingly. A grin spread across his innocent face as he placed a hand on Yui's forehead and ruffled her blonde bangs away from her face, "Have you thought of a name yet?" The girl remained quiet which only fueled Kou's amusement. "No? Well, you could always just name him after me, his true daddy!" Finally Yui opened her mouth to protest but was suddenly cut off by Kou covering her lips with the palm of his hand as he chuckled away and hissed through his teeth, "I'm joking. Keep quiet or you'll wake him." And with those last words, the blond vampire brought the girl into his arms and hugged both her and her son.
Yui was pleasantly surprised to see that her bedroom had returned to it's previous state and looked just as nice as it had the day she had come to the Mukami manner. "Did you do this, Kou-kun?" She said. The odd pairing sat side by side on the edge of the bed and Kou laughed aloud, "Me? No way. Ruki cleaned up." Suddenly she wasn't seeing it as a pleasant surprise but rather a sickening reminder. Desperate to avoid talk of Ruki any further, she quickly chirped, "I can't believe this." Referring to the sleeping baby in her arms, Yui lowered her voice and said, "We don't have a crib. No clothes, no toys, no nothing." Now that she had a chance to put some thought into it, she realized just as the others already had that the baby had arrived dangerously early yet seemed healthy as a horse. It was something she didn't bother to try to understand, for his entire existence was a mystery at this point. Kou let out a small "pssh" sound from his plump lips and said as he rose to his feet to leave, "Don't worry about that now. Close your eyes and sleep." To both her own and his surprise, Yui quickly snatched Kou by the wrist with her free hand and clung onto the sleeve of his shirt. He turned his head and looked down at her through his blond shaggy bangs, his eyes questioning and wide with innocence. Yui didn't look back at him but instead hung her head down. "Don't worry?" she said in a small voice, "how can I not worry? How will I know everything is going to be okay?" This was much more than just the baby supplies and even Kou could see that. A gentle smile spread across his cheeks and his eyes had become warmer, a look of compassion swimming within them that had never been there before. "Don't worry, M-Neko Chan," he said firmly, "we will make sure that everything is going to be okay. For both you and the nameless little monster."
She gently stroked her index finger across the slit of his plump lips, which he instinctively took into his mouth and began to suck. The feel of his tiny fangs pricked against her skin but Yui didn't mind, for he was just as precious now as the moment she had first laid her eyes on him. Even covered in her blood, in the blood of some unknown victim, he was as beautiful as ever. "Only Adam and Eve could have made something so special," she actually said aloud. She never referred to herself in such a way but something has just possessed her to say it; she was surprised at herself but the words had caused a light to go off within her. "You deserve a name just as special."
When she entered the dining room, the boys fell quiet and immediately met the eyes of the little one in her hands. His eyes were so vibrantly blue that Azusa couldn't look away. Yui's eyes immediately fell upon what was sitting at the very head of the table: an infant's highchair. Sitting beside it was Kou, who was grinning ear to ear. "Adam and Eve," Yui said gently. It was something that hadn't been mentioned past her and Azusa for a long time, it made all of the brother's ears perk up though none of them would visibly show their interest. "I thought it was silly at first. A vampire calling himself by the name of a biblical figure," she continued on with a warm smile, "but now I see. The bible isn't reserved just for the mortals in the world. Which is why I've decided..." She exhaled deeply and finally, everyone was staring at her. She looked down at the baby in her arms, who was no longer snoozing but now was gazing right back up at her with his deep innocent eyes. "Noah. His name is Noah."
Both Kou and Yuma burst out into a fit of laughter, the bigger of the two even going as far as to bang his fists onto the table. Not even their amusement could disrupt her happiness, for all she needed to do was look into the eyes of Noah and then her beloved Azusa, who was smiling only slightly but enough to tell her he approved. His tired eyes were warm, a warmness that Ruki could never have but she had seen in both Azusa and Noah. The baby was Azusa's, she told herself. Noah could only belong Adam and Eve, and Azusa was more of an Adam than Ruki could ever be.