Ritsu didn't really like babies all that much.

He didn't dislike them but he didn't really like them either. Little kids were ok, you could talk to them and stuff, but all babies ever did was cry scream and stuff like that. He hadn't ever watched a baby before, he was an only child, and he didn't have any baby cousins. He only had cousin Tobio and he could be a baby, especially when he messed up in volleyball, but he wasn't an actual baby. Ritsu…he didn't really have much of an interest in babies…

But he had to visit this one.

It wasn't a long walk to Madoka's house but Ritsu didn't see any reason why he had to let mom and dad know exactly where it was. The story went, the story that he and Teru were sticking to, was that he and Teru were playing in a tree when the earthquake happened and then Madoka's mom just happened to be coming out of her house and she fell down. Mom and dad didn't have to know what he and Teru were doing there. Either mom and dad were going to think that he was crazy with the whole esper thing or they believed him and then they all lived their lives in fear looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives. He….he didn't think that mom and dad could handle it, him having powers and the stuff with Claw…and stuff…

Mom and dad didn't need anything else to worry about.

"Now boys, I want you to be polite." Said Mom as she turned way too hard down Madoka's street. Ritsu could see the house now…but no new aura….but it was just a baby…..

"Yes Frau Kageyama, we'll make sure to be polite." Said Teru. He was laying it on thick. He knew how mom loved it when he called her that, she thought that it was cute or something. Moms like cute things…maybe she'd let them hang out with the baby for a while. Ritsu could pretend to like the baby, to be interested in it, for as long as it took. Once he knew for sure if the baby was an esper or not then he'd tell mom that he was tired or hungry or something and then dad would agree with him and then they'd all go home.

It was a good plan…and a hell of a lot better than Teru's had been.

"They're good boys, Hana, you don't have to worry about them…we have enough to worry about as it is." Said dad. He was doing that thing where he played with his hands. He was nervous about something…probably just dad stuff. Ritsu didn't have space in his head to worry about dad's stuff. He had a whole baby to worry about….

He really hoped that it wasn't an esper.

If the baby was an esper then he and Teru were going to have to do like in that Korean movie Teru was always trying to get him to watch. They were going to have to live in the family's basement…well they didn't have one since this was Japan and they got earthquakes and stuff. They could live in the family's closets or…or in their trees or….well it would come to Ritsu. The point was that they were going to have to watch the baby twenty four hours a day.

Madoka might have been a little kid but at least she could run away if she had to.

"Ichimaro, for the last time they aren't going to sue us." Said mom. She and dad were worried about that…Ritsu didn't know why. It wasn't like he and Teru were the ones responsible for the earthquake. No, even if mom and dad had known about their powers it wasn't like this could be pinned on them. They weren't anywhere near strong enough to move the earth's crust like that.

Someone else was, though, one person could make earthquakes that could be felt all the way from Tokyo.

"I know that's what they said but-" said dad

"I already talked to Reigen and he said that they don't have anyone to sue. The boys were just trying to help and…and anyway they're in elementary school. What would suing them even accomplish?" asked mom. Ritsu rolled his eyes. Adults worried about the dumbest things. So what if they had to pay the family money? Well might have. It wasn't like mom and dad couldn't always make more money. There were murders and kidnappers and evil organizations out there, not just Claw, but all the adults could worry about was money?

Ritsu hoped that when he grew up he'd be able to keep his priorities straight.

"I don't know….I'm just worried…but if Reigen says we're going to be ok then I'll just worry a little less." Said dad

"Don't worry at all. Reigen says that we're fine….but boys, next time something like this happens please don't try and carry anyone to the hospital. You call me or dad and emergency services." Said mom. She was looking at them through the rearview mirror. Teru sat up straighter and smiled. He was always doing that, trying to get mom and dad to think that he was the perfect kid or something. He did that to everyone, actually. Mom and dad, random workers in stores and stuff, other kids, all the girls he was trying to kiss and do stuff with. Ritsu rolled his eyes.

Really, Teru?

"We found her an ambulance." Said Ritsu. He looked Teru right in the eye when he said that. Ritsu's plan had been to carry her to the hospital and stay with her while she had her baby. He wasn't going to look or anything like that, even he had his limits, but he had to be there in case the baby was born with an aura. If the baby was an esper then Claw would come and steal it and then there wouldn't have been anything that anyone could do.

Little kids like Madoka could at least run away….babies couldn't do anything at all.

"Like I originally wanted to." Said Teru

"There wasn't enough time." Said Ritsu. Teru knew that there wasn't enough time. The earthquake would have been the perfect time to act, well Ritsu knew that if he was in charge of Claw he would have used the earthquake as cover, with all the confusion and panic and the weird red aura hanging around it would have been the prefect time to do some kidnapping.

"There was plenty of time. I looked it up. It can take days for a baby to be born." Said Teru

"We didn't have time to wait around for days and days, she was having a baby." Said Ritsu

"I know, I was there...I saw…" said Teru. His aura got bright and he shuddered. Ritsu rolled his eyes. He wondered if mom and dad had been telling the truth when they said that his eyes could wind up getting stuck like that. Well it would have been Teru's fault. He was so ridiculous sometimes. Sure all the blood and…whatever else there had been….was really gross but it wasn't like any had gotten on them. Sometimes Teru was more worried about being clean than he was about the important things in life…like their mission.

How in the hell were they supposed to take down Claw, eventually, and protect all the espers they could find if Teru was scared of getting a little dirty just because a pregnant lady was bleeding all over the place.

"Well then-" said Ritsu

"Aww, you two sound like an old married couple." Said dad. He said that sometimes. Well he used to say it about Ritsu and Tsubomi but now he said it about him and Teru…and he didn't want to be an old married couple with Teru. He spent two hours a night sometimes in the tub, he took up the entire room with his clothes and stuff, and he only played FIFA. Also he couldn't keep his mind on the mission. Ritsu needed someone who had their priorities straight….

He wondered how Sho was doing.

The earthquake had come from Tokyo, that was what the news had said anyway. Sho was staying in Tokyo. He had said so and the esper subreddit confirmed it. The head of Claw was in Tokyo, someone had said, and he was cleaning up the underworld. Lots of yakuza members had gone missing…something big was coming….

Maybe the earthquake had been a cover for…for something….he needed to think more about this…but later, when he could think.

"Speaking of…boys, I know you two care about each other a lot…and that's alright! Dad and I…well not everyone in the world is as nice as dad and I. As…as progressive. Some people can be…old fashioned….in some ways….and some people, especially people with small children, might not be alright with-" said mom. Ritsu loved his mom, he really did, but he didn't love it when she got like this. When she worried about him. He didn't care who knew that he was gay. He was who he was and he had more important things to worry about than what people thought of him. He was Kageyama Ritsu, he was eleven years old, and he was gay. If someone had a problem with that then he didn't care.

He didn't know why him being gay was so important to people. There were people getting kidnapped and brainwashed and even killed but, no, him being gay was something worth worrying about.

"Is dad wearing the rainbow shirt again?" asked Ritsu. He knew what mom was talking about but he didn't want to go into it. Better to get her and dad talking. He didn't care if dad wore the rainbow shirt but mom did. Parents were so weird…people were so weird.

"He'd better not be." Said mom

"What? I'm being supportive. I love my son and I want the world to know that I love him and always will no matter what….not that it's a bad thing! You being-" said dad

"ANYWAY, boys, listen….you can hold hands and cuddle to your heart's content at home, ok? But for right now maybe just…pretend that you're just friends." Said mom. Ritsu…was not going to yell at his mom…even though part of him wanted to yell 'I don't care what other people think' over and over again until he turned blue and passed out. He knew better, though, he knew to use his words. Mom and dad…he didn't get them…but they didn't get him either….so it was even. He wondered…well sometimes he wondered…if Shigeko would have gotten him.

That was a thing that big sisters did, right? They got you?

If she had been there in the car with mom and dad would she have told them to lay off of him, to stop pretending to be ok with him being who he was when they so clearly weren't? Or would she have just said the same thing, that he needed to be careful and stuff. He really didn't know…and he had no way of knowing….

So he needed to focus on the things he did know…like how mom and dad were being really ridiculous right now.

"I'm not-" said Ritsu. He knew when to hold Teru's hand and when not to. He didn't get much out of holding Teru's hand. Sure he was cute but Ritsu already had a boyfriend….not that anyone could know about that. That was the only reason that Ritsu held Teru hand and sit way too close to him and stuff, so mom and dad could see and then not question why Ritsu hung out with Teru pretty much all the time.

He hoped that Sho didn't consider completely and totally necessary hand holding to be a kind of cheating.

"Sure thing! We can totally do that ….right Ritsu, we can totally do that?" said Teru. Ritsu shrugged. Teru didn't get it and he never would…and Ritsu didn't have time to explain it to him. The fate of the world rested on him. He was pretty much the only one taking this seriously and he couldn't afford to get distracted by anything…even his own parents.

"…maybe don't tell them that they can cuddle…" whispered dad

"It's cute, Ichi, and it's not like it's going to go anywhere." Whispered mom

"They won't be kids forever, Hana." Whispered dad. Ritsu decided to let them get on with their whispering. He sat back in his seat and crossed his arms. He didn't even say anything when mom and dad passed the house…for the mission, of course. If he told mom and dad that he knew exactly which house it was, that he had been there enough times to not only recognize it but to be able to know where there would be parking, then they would have started asking questions that he couldn't answer…well he could lie…

But then he would have had lies to remember.

He tried to stick as close to the truth as he could when it came to mom and dad. They weren't bad parents and they didn't deserve to have their only kid lying to them all the time. When Claw was finished, when he and Teru took it down, then he'd tell them everything….but not now. Now he was eleven and mom and dad didn't even trust him enough to let him stay home alone overnight let alone to save the world. He'd tell them the truth later and hopefully they accepted it a lot better than they accepted…a lot of things about him…

Mom and dad didn't miss the house a second time.

They even found a good spot right under the apple tree. It was fine, it had lost a lot of apples since the earthquake but he and Teru would still be able to hide in it just fine….thought he wasn't sure what he was going to do in the wintertime…maybe hide in the snow? If there even was snow this year...enough to hide in….there probably would be. Yeah. He and Teru would spend winter break in the snow outside of this house making sure that nobody stole the baby and Madoka, too.

Well they would if Teru ever stopped being ridiculous.

He jumped over the spot on the sidewalk where the baby had almost been born. There was a big brown spot where all the blood and stuff had been. It was dry, now, Teru didn't have to be so over dramatic. Ritsu stepped right in it and made a point to let Teru see what he was doing. Teru, of course, made that same face he made every time he got grossed out. His aura pushed against Ritsu's, Ritsu's pushed back…

They weren't joined by any new auras.

There was one aura he recognized, the green one. Madoka's. Still as little as ever…he wished that her parents had been espers. If they had been espers then he could have just told them what was happening and that they had to keep their own kids safe since Ritsu wasn't actually happy about having to spend his winter break buried in the snow with Teru. They weren't espers, though, most espers never had kids. He spent a lot of time on esper forums, he'd asked a lot of people, and most of them were the only espers in their families and they didn't intend to have kids of their own.

Most espers were pretty weird, actually.

From what Ritsu could tell most of these guys, and it was all guys, couldn't have gotten girlfriends even if they'd been rich movie stars or idols or whatever. They were just…weird…like kids but worse. Like little kids…or just plain weirdoes. Most espers were guys, too, and he got the feeling that there would have been more esper kids if there had been more girl espers. Girls loved babies. When he and Tsubomi had been little she'd always carried at least one baby doll with her and made him pretend that she was the mom and he was the dad. Girls were so weird about babies...well girls in general were weird…so maybe a girl esper would have been really weird.

He'd ask Sho next time he saw him…if he ever saw him again.

Sho had a lot going on. Ritsu hadn't been able to get much out of him, and he hadn't really been trying to anyway, but from what he knew Sho had a brand new secret baby sister to deal with and his dad was a cheater who dumped his mom and his big sister was kind of bossy and treated him like a baby. He had a lot of family stuff going on and also…well maybe Ritsu should have asked more about the Claw stuff. Maybe Teru was right and he wasn't as devoted to the mission as he thought he was. Maybe he had let love cloud his judgement….

Actually, yeah. He knew he had.

Ritsu's judgement had been clouded but…but it wasn't like Teru wasn't in love with the enemy too. Well he said, claimed, that he had made out with the vice president of Claw who was also a kid their age and the daughter of the President. Yeah, sure, that had totally happened. Sure he got her name right, Sho's big sister was name Shigeko, but that was common knowledge. Her name was Suzuki Shigeko, she liked blue, and if you saw someone walking around with a blue ribbon on then they were one of her followers. Anyone who'd spent more than a second on the Claw subreddit knew that. If Teru was telling the truth, and that was a pretty big 'if' then he was just as guilty of letting love and kissing cloud his judgement as Ritsu was.

But at least Ritsu acknowledged it so there!

He had let his love of Sho cloud his judgement…and his judgement hadn't gotten any clearer. He knew that he should have been focusing on the baby, figuring out if it was an esper or not, but now all he could think about was Sho. His hair…the way he smiled…how excited he got when he talked about stuff he cared about….the way his hands looked when he drew…the drawing he'd left for Ritsu on his desk….the way he smelled….stupid hormones…stupid special time in his life…why did he have to become a man? He was just fine with being a boy…stupid…nature….or whatever. He needed to stop thinking about Sho…he was seeing Sho everywhere….

The mom sort of looked like him.

She had answered the door with her kids behind her. She had grey circles under her eyes and she looked annoyed…like how Sho looked in the morning. He'd had to get up really early to get the first train home even though they'd been up all night. He'd looked a lot like that lady….actually they had the same sort of eyes. Not the same color but the same shape. He looked kind of like the little boy, too, but not Madoka…so he wasn't completely out of his mind….

Yet.

"Take off your shoes, apple stealers!" shouted the little boy. He pointed to the genkan, too, just in case he was the only person in the world who knew not to wear shoes in the house.

"Juro, be nice to our guests…sorry about him. The kids…well there's been a big change in their lives and they're still adjusting." Said Hirai-san

"Mari isn't that big, mom, she's little." Said Juro. He held his hands barely a few centimeters apart. Ritsu doubted that the baby was really that small. He'd googled what a baby that size was supposed to look like. They were about the size of a bag of sugar…they were tiny….so tiny….and so much could happen to them…so much….

"She screams like she's big though…so shut up and don't wake her! If you wake her then…then I'll make sure that you never wake up ever again!" said Madoka. Ritsu rolled his eyes. He doubted that she could take him even when she grew up. Her aura got bright…but that wasn't saying much…still. Ritsu should have said something….but there were so many people around…and he wasn't even supposed to know this kid….

He just took his shoes off.

"Thank you so much for having us, and so soon after the baby." Said mom. She used that voice she used when she wanted someone to like her. That voice where she was all 'everything is so great and you're so great' and stuff. Mom's kissing up voice was a lot like Teru's kissing up voice…maybe that was why they got along so well.

"Well I figured that it was better to have you over sooner rather than later." Said Hirai-san

"But you didn't have to have us by so soon. I remember how it was after Shi-after Ritsu was born. I couldn't even get up to take myself to the kitchen to make a cup of tea…but then again Ritsu wasn't a cessarian. How are you healing? Was it a keyhole incision or-" said mom

"Where's the baby?" asked Ritsu. He didn't have time to listen to all of this baby talk. He knew that he was being rude but he didn't care. He couldn't sense the baby but he knew that it must have been there. It could have been a normal person or it could have been so little that it's aura was barely there, like Madoka's. Ritsu had to know…and Teru had to get that look off of his face. What? Ritsu hadn't been that rude.

"She's in the living room with dad…but don't touch her pacifier. She hates that." Said Madoka

"Ritsu! Be polite!" said mom. She beat Teru to it. Ritsu shrugged.

"Sorry." said Ritsu

"Don't touch her nose, either, even if she has boogers…and give us back the apples you took, too, before you go and see my baby sister. She needs those apples. She needs them to live." Said Juro

"Babies don't eat apples. They'd choke and die if they did." Said Ritsu. Mom made a weird noise. Maybe he shouldn't have said that…even though he had no idea what had been so bad about that. Babies couldn't have solid food or else they'd choke and die. That was the first rule about having a baby. It wasn't like he had cursed or anything….

And it wasn't like he needed Teru to cover his mouth like that or anything either.

"I'm so sorry about him, ma'am, so sorry." said Teru

"Boys, come on now. Stop….kidding around…and get your shoes off." Said dad. He was giving Ritsu a look…what? It wasn't like they were doing anything…adults were so weird.

"You two…thank you for saving me." Said Hirai-san with a sigh as Ritsu kicked his shoes off in the genkan. Teru glared at him and faced his shoes the right way. He was probably as pissed off as this lady was…what was everyone so mad at him for? Well he kind of got what Hirai-san was so mad about…he did kind of stalk her and her kids….but it was for a good reason! One that she didn't know about yet but….but she would. Once Ritsu took Claw then he'd tell her that espers were real and that her kid was one and her baby might have been too…

Later, though, not now. Now he had to follow Teru's lead and be polite.

"You're welcome, it was our pleasure…now can we please see your baby?" asked Ritsu. There. That had been polite…right? Yeah, that had been polite enough. He had to do what he came here to do. Every second he wasted was one second where Claw could have had the upper hand. That poor baby…Ritsu didn't know if he would have been able to save it if something happened…like if it got kidnapped…

If she got kidnapped.

It was a girl baby. Either that or this family didn't know that pink was for girls. She was in a pink baby pajamas thing and she had a pink hat that said her name on it. Mari. Huh. That was a nice name…and that was a nice baby. She had really little hands and little fingernails….and her head was shiny….she was kind of cute. Babies were…well they were kind of cute….maybe. This one was. He took a step forward.

Dad put his hand on Ritsu's shoulder.

"Ritsu, that's not….that not our baby." Said dad. His voice was kind of…strained….there. Ritsu didn't get why. That was just a baby and, obviously, unless someone was going to feed her an apple she wasn't going to die…not unless she got sick or something like Shigeko had.

"It's ok, he can come closer…but whatever you do don't touch her pacifier. She hates that." Said the dad. Ritsu nodded and got closer. She was asleep…so if she had an aura it might have been hiding it. Ritsu had been through enough sleepovers with Teru to know that sometimes when an esper went to sleep their auras disappeared….so maybe if he woke the baby up….he got closer….

She smelled good.

Babies smelled good. He got close…closer…the top of her head smelled good. Mom was talking to the mom now…and she sounded sad….even though they weren't talking about anything sad. This was a good thing….this was a baby and she would grow up to be a kid and then an adult…but maybe not an esper…she didn't have an aura…

Good. She would be safe.

She was red but that wasn't her aura, just her skin. She was so little…he was glad that he didn't have to protect her. He didn't know if he could have. She was tiny…her arms and legs were bent…the internet had said that babies her age couldn't even hold their own heads up either. Ritsu…he didn't know how he would have kept her safe…but he didn't have to. She wasn't an esper. She would be safe and…and maybe she'd grow up….of course she would….she….Ritsu didn't know what he was even thinking. She was going to be fine…she wouldn't end up being a picture on an alter….no. She was fine…she was a baby and….and….

And Ritsu liked her…even though she was tiny and fragile…at least she wasn't an esper. At least she'd be safe…unless she got sick.