"Tah!"

Ryoko pats her dad's left hand.

Shou chuckled.

"So, these ones?" He couldn't help but to smirk as he slightly wiggled the tiny red socks he was holding.

Ryoko kicked happily in response.

"Great choice, my little fairy." The young duelist coos as he carefully puts the socks on his daughter's little feet. Not long afterwards, he cradles her in his arms and walks towards the door.

"Well! Are you ready for nap time?"

The blue haired baby whined and waved her tiny hands, now curled in fists.

"Aw, don't be like that, honey." Shou whispered lovingly at his daughter. "We can always play later, but for now, you just need some sleep."

"Daaaa!" She whined again, this time grabbing her father's ponytail and pulling it in an act of desperation.

"Ow! Come on, honey!" Shou winced and tried to weaken Ryoko's grip on his hair. "It's just a nap!"

"Eee!" She whined again in protest.

Shou held Ryoko's hand after he managed to break her grasp on his hair, he looked at her with pleading eyes, basically begging her to listen to him.

"Please, my little fairy?" He begs. "You are supposed to take naps like Ako and Yukio."

Waaah!" Ryoko whines again in protest.

Shou notices how tears start forming in her eyes.

So, the blue haired duelist takes a deep breath.

"Alright, you win. Forget nap time, I guess." He exhaled. "But next time I want to see you sleeping, okay?"

"Tah!"

A shriek of excitement left the baby's mouth as she raised her little hand once again.

Shou rolled his eyes.

He seriously didn't understand how or why Ryoko had come out so hyperactive. Why is it that she is so against napping? None of his attempts could get her to even close her eyes for a second. Where did she even get all that energy and strength from?

"I know babies can be a bit too active when they are overly-stimulated, but this is ridiculous." He mumbled as he walked through the hallway.

As he makes it to the living room, he can't help but giggle.

"You know, honey?" He looks at the baby girl.

"Buh?" Ryoko chirps, looking up at her father.

It makes Shou giggle once again.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you got all of this energy from-"

"Oh come on, are you going to blame me for that too?!" A voice suddenly asked with a chuckle. "Wasn't blaming Yukio's bottomless stomach on me enough?"

Shou smiled at the sight of Juudai, Ryoko beamed and tried to reach for him, then whined as her father started to walk them both to the couch.

"Well, your energy is so contagious that she might have absorbed it like a sponge." Shou smirks as he sits down. "Isn't that right, honey?"

"Tah!" Ryoko ignored him. She was still trying to wiggle her way into Juudai's arms.

"I don't think I should remind you that she was already refusing to nap when I first got here. But I'm going to do it anyway." Juudai fell into the couch, he let out an exaggerated sigh. "I don't appreciate becoming your scapegoat, babe."

Shou laughed under his breath.

"I'm just messing with you. I was gonna say that she might have actually stolen some of Ako's and Yukio's energy when they were on the womb." He said while staring at his boyfriend as he picked the little girl in his arms. "She couldn't have possibly gotten it from you. I mean, yeah, you are… Energetic. But you are nowhere near this bad. Everyone knows you like your sleep."

"Well, good." Juudai smirks. "Glad we have that clear."

"Awoo!" Ryoko giggled as she banged her fists on Juudai's chest.

"Uh oh, looks like someone wants your attention." Shou smiled as he allowed his body to relax. He ended up cuddling next to Juudai and nuzzling on his warmth.

Juudai chuckled and wrapped both arms around the baby.

"Is that so?" He cooed. "I'm pretty sure it's just been like twenty minutes since you last saw me."

"Uwa!" She cheered and grabbed both sides of Juudai's face.

"You are right! It's still too long! Isn't it, monkey?!" He giggled and then winked at Shou when he heard his soft laughter.

"Tah!" The little girl shrieked with joy when she heard that nickname.

Another happy shriek came out when Juudai slowly laid on his back while raising Ryoko over him. The young duelist ended up laying his head on top of Shou's lap while holding the baby up in the air.

"You like that, monkey?" He asked with a teasing voice.

She wiggled and giggled in response.

"Well, that's good because, guess what?" He paused until he received a sound as a pretend answer. "I don't know how to bring you back down!"

"Eee!" The girl with blue hair cheered.

"You won't be laughing so much when she throws up on you again." Shou teases as he places a hand over Juudai's hair.

"How dare you?!" He gasped dramatically as he moved Ryoko in a manner that made her squeal in glee.

Shou shook his head and laughed under his breath.

"She wouldn't do that because that's for babies and she is a big kid now! Isn't that right, monkey- Huh?" Juudai blinked and his eyes suddenly rolled upwards.

"Uwa?" Ryoko tilted her head.

Oddly enough, Juudai didn't react to Ryoko's calling.

Shou blinks, unsure of what could be wrong.

"Juudai?" Shou called him. "Are you okay?"

It seems that something had surprised the young brunette, because his eyes went wide for a moment and then seemed to be left speechless.

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine." Juudai brought his arms back and after securing the baby in his arms, he sat up. "It was just Yubel."

"Yubel? Something happened to them?" Shou asked, showing concern for his boyfriend's spirit.

What could be wrong?

Did Ryoko make Yubel feel anxious again?

"N-no, they are fine, but… They kinda wanted me to ask you something." Juudai suddenly became a bit bashful.

"Um, okay?" Shou blinks in confusion.

What would Yubel ask from him?

It's not like he was upset about it, just confused. Juudai has been staying for a while and it seemed that, during that time, Yubel had decided to avoid him and the kids altogether .

Which is understandable considering the incident from last month.

Honestly, he cannot believe that Ryoko scared Yubel so badly, they had decided to stay in the shadows for two weeks straight!

"They...Uh...Um… Yubel wants to… You know…" Juudai cleared his throat and tried to avoid blushing more. "They want to hold Ryoko."

Shou blinked.

"Oh…"

He… Really wasn't expecting that.

It's not like he hated the idea, he was just shocked. After what happened when Ryoko scared Yubel away, he thought the spirit wouldn't want anything to do with his kids again.

And Shou was okay with that, of course he wasn't going to force them to get close if they weren't comfortable. He had thought of some ways to get the kids to leave Yubel alone in the future to avoid any problems.

So, it took him by surprise that Yubel had asked if they could hold his daughter out of nowhere.

Well, maybe not out of nowhere.

Maybe Yubel has been thinking about this for a while.

"I-"

"Y-you don't have to worry about their claws!" Juudai giggled nervously. "Yubel doesn't want to be materialized, they will just possess me a little!.. W-well, not a little, you know what I mean, right?"

Shou couldn't stop his lips from curling up into a smile as he nodded.

"But they… They kinda need to know if you are okay with it." Juudai mumbled as he scratched his cheek with embarrassment.

Shou startles him with a giggle.

"Of course I'm okay with it." He started to blush as Juudai beamed at his answer.

"Great!"

After giving his boyfriend the brightest of smiles, Juudai closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them, he suddenly showed the glowing, heterochromatic, eyes Shou was not so familiar with, but was still happy to see.

"Hi, Yubel." Shou tried to look as relaxed as he could, but he was still pretty obviously nervous.

The spirit inhabiting Juudai's body looked at him, then looked away. It didn't seem to be a gesture of indifference, it looked as if Yubel was just as nervous as him.

"Eee!"

Yubel quickly felt the baby girl squirming in Juudai's arms and froze up. They seemed tense, but after swallowing hard they gathered enough courage to look down.

And saw that a pair of big, innocent, eyes were staring back at them.

Yubel blinked, they made a very short lived sound, as if they wanted to say something but they couldn't just find the words.

"Uwa?" Ryoko called them again, this time she tried to reach Juudai's face.

Shou observed as Yubel slightly lifted the baby closer to what she wanted to touch.

He tried to suppress his laughter the second they gasped. Apparently they weren't expecting Ryoko to grab Juudai's nose and give it a squeeze.

"Tah!" The little girl giggled and squeezed it again.

"Yes," Yubel spoke in a deadly serious tone. "You caught it."

Shou gave up in trying to not laugh, but quickly clammed up as Yubel turned their gaze to him again.

"Sorry." He held a hand as he apologized. "I just… That was cute."

After a couple of seconds, Yubel's eyes soften and they go back to look at Ryoko.

"I suppose she is… Cute." They nod. "She...Reminds me of Juudai...When he was smaller."

Shou blinks, he isn't sure of what to answer after that statement.

Then Yubel looks at him again and he feels nervous.

"What… Uh… What was Juudai like? You know, back then." He humbles, trying to not stare at Yubel that much.

Yeah, maybe not the best way to start a conversation with the demon spirit possessing his boyfriend. However, Shou always keeps in mind that he and Yubel do have something in common.

And that's how much they care about Juudai.

"... Happy." They answer, still looking at Ryoko. "Much like your little one, Juudai would smile and laugh all the time. His weird sounds of happiness were like music to me."

Shou notices something has changed in Yubel's expression. It's like a mixture of sadness and fondness.

"He liked stories." Yubel now turns to look at Shou. "He had these small books with pictures and would read them out loud. Then he would use his toys to make them act out those stories."

"Yeah." Shou laughs under his breath. "He told me he loved comic books and action figures just as much as he loved dueling."

"He liked making pictures too." Yubel nods. "He would spend hours on the floor with just his crayons and pieces of paper… I remember he used to stick out his tongue when he concentrated too hard in one picture."

After saying that, Yubel suddenly blinks and looks at Shou. His eyes go wide for a second, unsure of what to do or say.

"I… I think it's nice that you two have those memories." Shou giggles nervously.

Yubel lets out a hum, looking confused.

"I wasn't-" They clear their throat.-"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare at you."

"Huh, then wha-"-

"I was staring at Juudai." They explained. "He had said something."

Shou blinks again.

Oh...That's true.

He always forgets Juudai's spirit just floats around whenever Yubel possesses him, he's probably sitting next to him or something.

"And he is sitting on top of your lap." Yubel points out, then looks at him once more.

Yup, leave it to Juudai to sit on top of Shou's lap when he can actually float.

"That's fine." He laughed a bit nervously. "He is not heavy, so I don't mind!"

Yubel nodded and went back to look at Ryoko.

They couldn't avoid smiling as she rubbed her tiny hand against their cheek.

"Uwa!" The little girl babbles excitedly.

It was supposed to last for a short time, but they had decided to mimic this gesture and rub Juudai's finger against Ryoko's cheek.

The smile came back after she made a cheery noise.

Shou giggled, but refused to say anything that would ruin the scene.

He wanted to apologize for last time's incident.

He wanted to ask more questions about their memories with Juudai.

However…

Shou decided to relax and just enjoy the scene.

And of course, to let Yubel enjoy themselves too. He couldn't help but to feel happy to see them starting to get along with one of his kids.

There was something beautiful about a demonic spirit starting to get along with a ten month old infant.