Author's note: My 3rd Raphumi fic. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Aneko Yusagi's The Rising of the Shield Hero, or anything that is contained in the series.

In Aeon Lake Town Mall in Koshigaya in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, Naofumi, Raphtalia, and their 6 year old daughter, Rifana Iwatani are on a weekend shopping in one of the largest malls of Japan. They occasionally go out together on weekends as part of their quality time together, and that they also needed to buy new things, especially new clothes for their daughter.

They already visited various stores throughout the morning, and were about to visit a perfume store where Raphtalia occasionally likes checking them to buy later, and Naofumi wondered how his wife knows exactly what he likes without telling her, perhaps from her strange ability to read his mind that she still had many years after leaving Melromarc. They finally walked into a perfume store, and Raphtalia started trying each bottle.

"Papa, my legs are starting to hurt," Rifana tugged him.

Naofumi chuckled, "Tired? Here, I got you."

He lifted his daughter in his arms, and smiled at her.

"Dear, do you like this one?" Raphtalia asked, and had him take a whiff at the bottle.

"Mmm, smells great," Naofumi replied. 'Jeez, is she trying to pretend that she doesn't know?'

"Hmm, you're not thinking of anything rude, are you?" Raphtalia narrowed her eyes with a slight pout.

"O-of course not," Naofumi stuttered a bit.

Rifana giggled, "Momma is always scary when she reads Papa's mind."

"That's because Momma loves Papa very much," Raphtalia caressed Rifana's cheek while Naofumi blushed.

"We're done here, so let's start looking for new clothes for her," Raphtalia said.

"Yeah, we have about an hour and a half before we go to lunch," Naofumi replied while looking at his watch.

"Understood," Raphtalia agreed and wrapped her arms around Naofumi before they walked out of the store.

They eventually entered a large fashion store, and started shopping clothes for Rifana by checking various rotating racks in children's sections. Naofumi watched his wife pick clothes and try them on her before they both entered the dressing room. For Naofumi, Rifana always looked adorable regardless of which outfit Raphtalia tried on her, and it made him smile watching them enjoying their time together.

Once Raphtalia started paying at the cashier, Rifana ran to another set of clothes to examine a red and black shirt.

"Hm," Naofumi's eyes narrowed, remembering that Raphtalia used to wear the same colored clothes, and wondered if it is in their blood to like them.

"You want that one?" Naofumi knelt beside her.

"U-um..," Rifana quickly turned, and stuttered shyly. "I-it's OK, Papa. I think you bought enough for me today."

'Seriously...' Naofumi could imagine that if Rifana had her tail like her mother used to, he would have seen it wagging.

"Alright, then. You got it," Naofumi smiled.

"A-are you sure, Papa?" Rifana became flustered before she hesitantly handed it to her father.

"Of course, I am. I insist," Naofumi patted her head. "Plus, you've been a good girl."

Rifana beamed a smile. "Thank you very much!"

She hugged him, and then Naofumi carried her before paying for it at the cashier.

After they finished buying Rifana's new clothes, Naofumi and Raphtalia started shopping for their own. Raphtalia would blush on how cool he looked each time he tried his clothes on, and likewise, Naofumi complimented on Raphtalia's beauty each time before she bought them.

Right before they finished shopping, and head out for lunch, something caught Raphtalia's eye and quickly ran to the Men's section. She grabbed a white and green colored hoodie.

"Raphtalia, what are you doing?" Naofumi narrowed his eyes in amusement while carrying Rifana.

"Does this look good on me?" Raphtalia playfully grinned.

"Hm, I used to wear that same sweater a long time ago," Naofumi explained. "But, it does look good on you."

'Again, she read me?'

"Why won't you wear this again, then?" Raphtalia further asked.

"Eh..reasons," Naofumi murmured, looking to his side.

"But, it's a nice looking hoodie, Papa," Rifana encouraged. "Could you please wear it again?"

Naofumi groaned, "Fine, I'll buy it."

Raphtalia held on to the hoodie, and they went back to the cashier to buy it, but after they finally left the store.

Growl

"Papa…" Rifana looked down, feeling embarrassed.

Naofumi laughed.

"It's OK. If you're hungry, we all eat," He assured her.

"I'm starting to feel a little hungry, too," Raphtalia said.

"Alright, that settles it," Naofumi said.

"Time for lunch."

After several minutes, the family walked into a nearby ramen restaurant, and settled on a table. The three looked at their menus for a short while until a waiter approached them to take their orders.

"Good afternoon, sir. Are you ready to order?"

"Yeah, I would like to order a tonkotsu ramen, and..," Naofumi mischievously glanced at Raphtalia, and then turned back at the waiter.

"Two okosama lunches."

"Eh..?" Rifana tilted her head.

Raphtalia gasped.

"Naofumi!"

Raphtalia glared at her husband.

"Why would you order TWO kids' meals?!"

Naofumi laughed while waving his hands.

"Wait, I was just kidding! Do you know what today's date is?" Naofumi continued laughing.

"Um, today is April 1st?" Raphtalia answered.

"Happy April Fool's Day," Naofumi snickered.

"That's still not funny!" Raphtalia pouted.

'Quite a strange, but lively family they are,' The waiter faintly smiled at the two bickering while their child bewilderedly watched, and it is even more pleasantly strange that his customer's wife is likely a foreigner who seemingly came from a western country, which are quite rare in Japan. Add to it that she is incredibly attractive and surprisingly very fluent in Japanese, without even having an accent, and wondered how his customer found such a woman. He has to finish taking their orders soon, or his manager will scold him.

"Ahem."

Naofumi and Raphtalia turned.

"Sir, may I take your order, please?" The waiter asked again.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that," Naofumi chuckled. "I would like to order a tonkotsu ramen, onomichi ramen-"

"Hmph!" Raphtalia snorted, and crossed her arms, looking away.

"And an okosama lunch, please," Naofumi ordered.

"Will that be it, sir?" The waiter asked.

"That's it," Naofumi finalized his order.

"Very well, sir. In 15 minutes," The waiter closed his pocket notebook before he slightly bowed, and left.

Naofumi sighed, "I guess I'll go to the restroom for a bit, so I'll be back shortly."

"Fine," Raphtalia murmured, still pouting.

Naofumi stood up, and walked to the men's restroom. After Naofumi is no longer in sight, Raphtalia sighed.

"I can't believe your father, sometimes," Raphtalia murmured.

"Papa likes making weird jokes," Rifana commented.

Raphtalia giggled.

"Right? But that's just the way he is..." Raphtalia sighed again.

The truth is, Raphtalia knew where her husband's joke came from. It was a long time ago in Melromarc when Naofumi used to treat her like a child due to her age, and even though he eventually stopped treating her like it and eventually started their relationship during their struggle against the waves, he could not completely get over it. Much to her dismay, it only turned from actual to casual jokes, which Raphtalia still could not fully accept. How can she properly explain to their child about their past together, who grew up in a world that is oblivious of the existence of other worlds?

After several minutes, Naofumi finally came back from his restroom break, and sat beside Raphtalia.

"Did I miss anything?" Naofumi asked.

"Nothing. We're still waiting for our order," Raphtalia plainly replied.

"Papa, why do you like teasing Momma?" Rifana curiously asked.

The couple laughed before Naofumi replied, "Because Momma is fun to tease."

"Mmph..," Raphtalia pouted again, and swatted Naofumi's arm.

"Ow."

"Here they are."

Two waiters arrived, and passed the two bowls to Naofumi and Raphtalia, and then a kid's meal to Rifana.

"Please enjoy your meal," The waiters clasped their hands together, and bowed.

"Thank you," Naofumi and Raphtalia thanked them in response.

"Itadakimasu," The three of them said together.

Naofumi snapped his chopstick in two, and Raphtalia picked up her soup spoon to start taking a few sips from her bowl, but after a few sips, she noticed something. There is a small flag on Rifana's plate, but it is unusually plain white because most kid's meals she saw from other families had small Japanese flags. Raphtalia began smiling, remembering that her master back then, who is now her husband, randomly picked up a mini flag from her kid's meal, and marked it with a red sauce before setting it back on her plate.

"Mr. Naofumi...Let's survive, no matter what!"

"Of course."

"Here, a kid's lunch isn't complete with this."

Raphtalia never forgot how much that meant for her when Naofumi did that many years ago, which she now understood that he was actually thinking about the flag of his country, Japan. It reminded her of the time she found a new purpose to live again, and to regain what she lost, including her beloved Lurolona Village. It is because of him that she is alive today, now happily married to him, and raising their child together. Raphtalia would wake up every morning, and always felt thankful to him for giving her a second chance at life, which eventually turned into a life that she never expected to have.

Raphtalia could almost cry, but unfortunately, being in a public area is not a place for her to become too sentimental, so she closed her eyes to hold a few tears back for a few moments before she opened them.

"Rifana, may I borrow your flag for a bit?" Raphtalia softly asked.

"Sure, Momma," Rifana gladly agreed.

Raphtalia carefully picked up the flag from her plate, and dipped her little finger on a red sauce. Then she marked the small flag with her finger, and stuck it back on Rifana's plate.

"There, our wonderful child's lunch isn't complete with this," Raphtalia smiled.

She was not aware that Naofumi has been quietly watching the moment beside her, and was smiling, knowing that she remembered that time so well.

"What is that flag called?" Naofumi calmly asked.

"It's the Hinomaru," Rifana gleefully answered. "The Flag of the Rising Sun."

"Very good," Naofumi complimented.

Then the young couple smiled at each other, remembering that time they started bonding many years ago in Melromarc, and how they survived together to achieve the great life that they have now.

End Note: I'm really dying to write my post canon story about my OC, but the LNs are still too far from being finished and I still need a few important answers from it before I can even start and I want to stay solidly faithful to canon. I do think the LNs are more than halfway done before it ends, though, but it's not all bad as that will give me more time to develop Rifana Iwatani's character and my planned fic. I still actively try to think of more ideas of the story, and I already started writing scenes in my notes, so I won't forget them. I also write mini scenes then and there for practice, and even practiced writing an action scene by writing a so-called mini chapter(+4K words, lol) story when Raphtalia and Rifana will spar against each other with wooden swords, and they had their own cards to play against each other, because Rifana's swordsmanship will be almost completely different from her mother's. Anyway, thanks for reading this, and please leave a review, if you feel like it.