Kazuto woke to the sound of knocking on the door. He lay still, feeling Asuna's head still resting on his chest. He yawned, trying to ignore the noise.
He was soon startled awake by his phone. This time he didn't bother checking the name. Instead, he sleepily pressed the green button and raised the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Kazuto, where are you?" Midori asked with concern. "You told me to meet you at the hotel, and I've been out here for the last five minutes or so. What is going on?"

"We're in here." He confirmed. "I just got up. Give me a second."He ended the call and lightly tossed the phone down on the mattress.

"Sorry, Asuna." He said quietly, carefully shifting the young girl onto the pillow. He slid out of bed, fixing the blanket around the sleeping teen.
Then he crossed the short distance to the door, pulling it open. Kazuto prepared himself for the conversation to follow.

"Before you say anything-" He began, only to have his mother wrap her arms around him.

"Mom-"

"What's going on? You come home late and rush back out again. You don't come home... no calls. We've been worried sick! Then I find out you dragged Asuna into-"

"Kazuto didn't drag me into anything, Mrs. Kirigaya." Asuna interjected. She sat up on the bed. "This is my fault. I called him and asked if he'd come over. He was just doing what he always does. He was protecting me." She admitted. Midori turned her attention to Asuna, releasing her son.

"From what? Are you two in some kind of trouble? Do your parents even know where you are?"

"Things are kind of hard to explain. All of this, Kazuto working so hard, it's because of me. I'm sorry."

"I told you, you have nothing to apologize for."The boy replied. He returned to her side, wrapping his arms around her.

"Talk to me," Midori demanded, taking a seat in front of the teens, folding her arms over her chest.

"We might as well tell her, Kazuto."Asuna suggested softly.

"Yeah. I don't think we have a choice."

"Your choice is you can tell me, or I drag you both out of here, we take Asuna home, and you don't leave the house for the next month except to go to school and work," Midori replied. Asuna tightened her grip on Kazuto at the mention of going back, instantly beginning to sob.

"She can't go home. Her mother doesn't want her there. Even if she hadn't told her that, I'm not sending her back. I made a promise." Concerned bt the reaction, Midori uncrossed her arms, leaning forward to put a comforting hand on Asuna.

"Asuna, can you tell me what happened?"

"My mother and I got into an argument last night. She told me if I left, I could never come home. After the things she said, I don't want to be there anyway." She reached into her pocket, pulling out what appeared to be a folded piece of paper. She drew in a breath. She offered it to the confused woman.

The teens watched her unfold the object. Midori rested her head in her hand.

"Kazuto, you should've-"

"I know. I should've known better, and I should've been responsible. I'm doing everything I can to make a good life for Asuna and the baby. They're more important to me than my own life. We were waiting to say anything because we were worried about what would happen. Asuna's mother wanted her to have an abortion today. That's why she left. We talked about what we wanted to do on the day of her appointment. That was something she wasn't willing to do, and I'm not going to ask her to. We decided together that we wanted to be a family. I'm gonna make it work." Kazuto said. Midori stood up with the picture in her hand, taking a few steps away from her son. She stood in silence.

"I know you're disappointed that I did this. I wasn't thinking. We didn't plan it, but it happened. This is where we are now. I didn't mean to be-"

"It was my idea, keeping the baby. I was the one who-"

"Asuna, it's kind of you to try to stand up for my son, but Kazuto has his own brain, and he's capable of thinking for himself. You're both equally responsible for the situation you're in." Midori said at last. "What I'm most disappointed in, Kazuto is that you felt like you couldn't come to me. I've always told you and Suguha that you can talk to us about anything. Being a parent at any age is hard. Sometimes you can't do it on your own, and everyone needs a little help. That's what parents are there for." She returned to them, hugging them both.

"Kazuto, I'm proud of you for stepping up. But you have to know that you can't keep secrets from your family like this. We'll work something out. Asuna, sweetie, you'll come and stay with us. I won't have you out there without a place to go. I want you to grab whatever you brought with you. We'll start back and get you settled in.

"All I have with me is my phone, the picture, and a little bit of money." Asuna replied.

"We were going to go out later and get some things for her," Kazuto explained. Midori nodded.

"Well, let's work on that then. I'll need to get a few things from the store anyway. I'm guessing neither of you has had anything to eat today?" The teens shook their heads.

"We just got up when you were knocking. We didn't have a chance. It was a rough night for both of us."

"I bet it was. Come on, you two. We'll stop and get something on the way. I'll talk to your father when we get to the house." She handed the picture back to the girl, taking notice of the ring on her finger.

"That's lovely, where did you get it?" Asuna blushed.

"Kazuto gave it to me." She answered. Midori raised an eyebrow, turning to her son.

"Did he?"

"Yeah. I did."

"So it's that serious? Marriage is a big step."

"Yeah, it is. It has been for a long time." Kazuto smirked. "I know it's a big responsibility, but it's not like it's our first time. I tried it out, and it's pretty amazing. As long as you're with the right person. " Asuna couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Midori's face. The teens gathered up their belongings and started toward the door.

"What do you mean, it's not your first time, Kazuto?"

"Nothing." The boy teased, opening the door, they started down the long corridor toward the elevators.

"Kazuto Kirigaya, you have a whole lot of explaining to do. I suggest you get to it!" Asuna leaned into the boy as they walked.

"Are you really not going to explain that to your mom?" Asuna giggled.

"I'll tell her when we get to the car. I've never heard her freak out like that before. It's kinda funny. Let's take our time checking out."