AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Text - Yuya's good conscience
Text - Yuya's bad conscience
"Text" - Yuya's neutral conscience
"Text" - Obviously, what the characters are saying, DUH!
Text - Kyo's positive conscience
Text - Kyo's oh-so-negative conscience
"Text" - Kyo's neutral conscience
Text - Other characters' thoughts (if any)
Oh yeah, don't forget... It's still the red kimono. -Smiles- Of course, Yuya has children; she still has to look motherly in the eyes of her descendants!
Chapter 3 – Hastened Time
It has been eight years since Yuya had her first child Kazuki. She now looks at her children who were playing with their Aunt Mahiro and Aunt Okuni in the grassy fields.
How many children does she have now? Five. Five children. Namely:
Kazuki, 8 years old male
Tatsumi and Natsumi (twins; Tatsumi came out first) 6 years old male & female
Hisashi, 5 years old male
Yanagi, 3 years old female
Her children bear the names of warriors and maidens, for Kyo named them all. Yuya wasn't given a chance to name even one of her child. Come to think of it, if she did, then she'll like that child better than anyone else.
Kazuki was reading a book to Yanagi, while Hisashi and Tatsumi were playing tag and Natsumi was listening to Okuni and Mahiro's stories which they all made up.
Look at them. Look at what you worked so hard for. Aren't they just adorable?
"They are." She absent-mindedly whispered.
All so handsome and beautiful... None of them was alike Kyo but most of them was more like you. Perhaps because you talked to them often, they only receive glares and 'Hnn...' from their father... But you, you gave them your all. Kazuki, responsible, loving, considerate and intelligent; Tatsumi, strategic, careful, contented and gifted by gab; Natsumi, cunning, eager, aware and kind; Hisashi, gentle, fun-loving, thoughtful and premeditated and there's Yanagi, although young she's excited to learn new things, high-spirited and inspired... You created wonderful beings.
"Kami-sama granted me my wishes. He heard me."
Yes, He did.
"Mommy!" Yanagi went to her mother who was seating peacefully under a tree.
Kazuki followed Yanagi to his mother and said, "Mother, Yanagi-chan was so stubborn! I told her not to touch the rose bush without asking help from you or Aunt Okuni or Aunt Mahiro."
"But Mommy! The rose looked pretty, especially the red one!" Yanagi said, smiling.
"There, there, Yanagi-chan. Your Onichan did tell you that even though the rose is pretty, still, it has little sharp things, right?" Yuya replied.
"But Mommy, I want to be the rose princess in Onichan's book! She found a rose and when she took it, the fairy told her to keep it because one day, a king will tell her that she is his daughter!" Yanagi answered.
"But she was wounded by the rose's thorns and she fainted, right? That's the only time when the king found her, right?" Yuya told her daughter.
"But! But!"
"No buts, Yanagi-chan. Did you get a wound?"
"Ahuh..." Yanagi said as she sobbed.
Kyo was watching everyone from his bedroom window and noticed Yuya.
Do you do that?
Who cares?
You do. There might come a day, Kyo, someday, you'll realize that she is important to you after all.
Whatever.
"Kazuki-kun, would you please get some water and bandages. The bandages are in the cupboard of the bathroom. Just get enough for this wound, okay?" Yuya said.
"Yes, Mother." Kazuki replied, as he got moving.
When he came back with a small basin of water, a hand towel and some bandages.
"Here, let me see." Yuya requested.
Yanagi opened her right palm and Yuya saw that her thumb, index and middle fingers were cut made by the thorns of the rose bush.
Yuya took Yanagi's hand and dipped it in the water. Yanagi was crying, "Mommy, it hurts!"
Kazuki placed an arm over his sister and comforted her; "Mommy's just taking the dirt off your wounds. If she didn't take them off, you'll get sick. Don't worry; your Onichan Kazuki has been through that, so did your Onichan Tatsumi and Onechan Natsumi and also your Onichan Hisashi. So, you'll get through it, too!"
Yuya smiled at what her firstborn said to her last child as she wiped Yanagi's hand. After all, it was true, that Kazuki, Tatsumi, Natsumi and Hisashi had cuts on their hands for different reasons and they've been through the healing process. And hopefully, Yanagi will, too.
Have you ever been affectionate?
"To Yuya."
No, not a fake one - real affection, like, for your children and your wife.
"Who needs it? I don't give a damn. As long as she's around to attend the needs of my descendants, I'm fine."
So... you're saying that she's nothing to you but a... prostitute?
"Close enough."
You didn't tell her that you leave the house because you kill?
"Why do I need to tell her anyway?"
Aside from her being your personal whore, why did you marry her? C'mon, there's gonna be something other than having descendants and using her flawless body for your own pleasure.
"Nothing else."
Are you sure?
"I... Don't know."
Kyo was still looking at the scenery through his window while his consciences bothered him.
"There!" Yuya cheered as she finished bandaging the hand of her daughter.
"Thanks Mommy!" Yanagi said as she hugged her mother and her brother.
"Let's go, Yanagi-chan! I'll read you another story!" Kazuki told Yanagi.
Yanagi nodded and they went off.
Yuya sighed and smiled.
"I'm looking forward to what they'll be in the future. Being such angels in a very young age."
But who knows? They may be angels now, rebels later.
Shut the hell up.
What I'm saying is true! Perhaps now, they still don't have their father's attitude but they might have the same killer instincts when they get older.
A tear rolled down Yuya's cheek. Then, she wiped it off with the back of her hand.
Look what you did!
Hey, hey. I was just joking!
There's no joking around now.
His crimson eyes were watching her emerald green eyes and noticed that tear.
With only one slightest cut in her mind, a million reflexes could be roaming around in a woman's mind, but the most effective one is her serial weapon – her tears.
What the hell are you saying?
Facts.
I say it's fiction.
"Shut up."
Yuya was looking at the skies, thinking of something else better than that – but she found none. Her married life is just half bad and half fantasy that became interim reality.
Author's notes: Sorry for the fast forward chapter. You see, the real deal is actually in this time span – the "it was after 8 years when Kazuki was born". So, how does the children look like anyway? I did made mention of handsome ones and beauties, right?
Kazuki ï (imagine Kazuki from Get Backers when he was a kid, just get rid of the long hair, then it's all right.)
Tatsumi ï (if you have Bushido Blade, that's a game, you have Tatsumi Takeshina there. Just imagine him in his childhood days.)
Natsumi ï (imagine Officer Natsumi from You're Under Arrest 2 if she was a kid)
Hisashi ï (imagine Sagara Sanosuke from Rurouni Kenshin if ever he was a kid.)
Yanagi ï (imagine Tenten from Naruto as a little kid here. Just remove the hair buns...)
So, yes, 3 of the kids are really excerpts from their series. But after all, this is fanfiction. Anything goes... Hope y'all like it!