Title: Fade to Black
Note: Well… now that I've officially freaked my parents out by visiting several sites with the title "How to raise a baby", I can do this chapter. XD Let's just say they were slightly suspicious. Ha. With good reason too I guess. I mean, I am only 16. Heh heh. It's all in good spirits of course… right.

kit[kat] – Thank you so much! I'm really glad you're enjoying the story.

Myka – I'm trying to be original and do everything you aren't expecting. XD Have you noticed that yet?

Mangababy - ::eyes get all big and sparkly:: I loved your review. XD I'm- confusing you? Ha! Nooooo way… LOL.

Jen-chan – I know, I love Nagi too, you just can't really tell. LOL. He's so adorable and… cute. Makes me happy… thusly, he'll make an appearance in this chapter.

Now then! Chapter 7! Ooooh, I have seven chapters! XD

"I cannot believe he talked me into this." Nagi muttered as he followed behind Yohji with the shopping cart.
"Oh lighten up some. Schuldich just didn't want anyone going out in public by themselves right now, which makes sense." Yohji stared at the list and then back up at the baby formula.
"He could have come." Nagi pointed out stubbornly. "I was trying to figure stuff out for you all."
"Geez Nagi, stop PMSing." The teen turned bright red at Yohji's comment before Yohji continued. "He didn't want to bring Clandestine out in public in case someone saw her and turned us in. And it wasn't like he could just leave her at home with Crawford." Nagi nodded in agreement. "Hey Naggles, which formula do you think we should pick up?"
"Don't call me that!" Nagi snapped irritably. "It's bad enough when Schuldich does!" Nagi fumed for a bit before looking at the shelf and reading a few of the packages. "Oh just get the middle priced stuff."
Pulling several packages off the shelf and stuffing them into the cart that Nagi was half pushing physically and half pushing mentally, Yohji read over the list again. "Only things left seem to be clothes and diapers." Yohji made a face at the last one, and Nagi couldn't help the small smile that tugged at his mouth.
"Shit happens." Nagi commented dryly, catching Yohji off guard. The elder looked over at Nagi for a moment, and then just started laughing.
"I guess you're right, come on, let's get this stuff and get out of here."

"Geez you guys took forever." Schuldich griped as Yohji and Nagi finally brought in the last couple of bags from Yohji's car. "She's not a very patient baby you know."
"She must learn quickly from some people." Nagi responded without skipping a beat. Schuldich scowled at him and stuck out his tongue, but Nagi just scoffed at him and headed to his room to work.
"So how's she doing?" Not meaning to interrupt Schuldich's current fuming, but Yohji was slightly curious how Clandestine was doing. And of course how Schuldich was doing, but Yohji wouldn't say that out loud.
"She's been fussy, but I think once I get some food in her she'll be okay. Did you guys buy more clothes?" Schuldich was fumbling around with the package of baby formula. Yohji quickly reached over and took it from him, opening it easily and handing it back.
"Yeah, they should be on the kitchen counter." Stretching quickly, Yohji followed Schuldich into the kitchen. Schuldich was mixing the formula together, trying to read the label and directions while he held Clandestine. Sighing, Yohji quickly took the bottle from Schuldich.
"The thing to remember with baby formula is to not put the bottle in the microwave." Yohji gathered up a pot and a spoon as he explained it to Schuldich. "It might seem easier at first, but the microwave makes hot spots on the baby bottle." Schuldich watched as Yohji continued his work and kept explaining little things to him. "Baby diapers are convenient, but they're also rather expensive. You should probably try and go for the cloth diapers if at all possible. In the long run they'd be cheaper."
"How do you know all this?" Schuldich quickly interrupted, feeling slightly awkward at having Yohji explain baby necessities to him.
"I used to be a private investigator, so I had to know trivial things." Yohji glanced over his shoulder and smirked. "And Asuka and I used to talk about these things."
"Oh." Was the only response Schuldich could muster. He had never thought about it, but now that Yohji mentioned it, it did make sense. Schuldich glanced up as something warm touched his arm. He realized quickly that Yohji was nudging him with the warm bottle of baby formula. Schuldich quickly took it from him, and then looked back up at him. "You uh, wouldn't happen to know exactly how to do this would you?"
For a few seconds Yohji just stood there and blinked. But then he smiled warmly and gently took Clandestine from Schuldich's arms. Schuldich handed him the bottle after Yohji had her situated.
"See, you just do it like this. It's really not that hard." Yohji demonstrated how to feed the baby as Schuldich watched with uncertain concentration. After a moment Yohji took the bottle away from Clandestine and held her out to Schuldich. "Now you try."
Schuldich just stared at him for a moment. "I don't know, you're good at that and she seems to like you, maybe you should finish up."
"Nonsense, I'll show you how." Yohji all but forced Clandestine into Schuldich's arms then, shifting Schuldich's arms around a bit so she'd be more comfortable. "Now take the bottle, and just- see how easy that is?" Yohji grinned in triumph. "See, you aren't hopeless after all!"
"You better be glad I have a baby in my hands Kudoh." Schuldich snapped half heartedly. Yohji just grinned even more.
"So does this make you the mother?" Yohji couldn't help it, he just had to ask. Schuldich actually considered it for a bit, and then looked extremely distressed.
"Hey Kudoh, what if the baby has a mother?" Schuldich looked down at Clandestine as she sucked happily at the bottle. There was a long silence as Yohji thought it over.
"I uh, guess I never thought about that."
"What if the guys that dropped her off on the porch had just taken her out of some lady's stroller in the park?" A pang of guilt seemed to grip Schuldich's heart at the thought. "What if-"
"Knock it off, you're upsetting her." Yohji snapped suddenly. Schuldich immediately dropped it, noticing that Clandestine was looking slightly unhappy. Yet the thought drifted in the back of his mind, eating away at his conscience. "Besides," Yohji continued, hoping to cheer Schuldich back up. "If they did take her from some mom, that lady obviously wasn't paying enough attention to her, and you seem to make up for that motherly figure." Yohji teased lightly, noticing how Clandestine was playing with Schuldich's hair again. "She sure likes your hair."
"She likes the color."
"You haven't been in her mind have you?" Yohji sounded down right disgusted at this thought.
"No, but you can just tell. She keeps watching all the bright things in each room I take her into." Schuldich glanced up at Yohji quickly. "I would never delve into an infant's mind unless necessary. Don't consider me so low class."
"Sorry, I just kind of jumped to conclusions." Yohji actually sounded sorry, so Schuldich dropped the subject. Yohji watched as Schuldich rocked Clandestine, humming a faint melody under his breath as he sauntered over to the sliding back door. "What are you doing?" Yohji quickly asked as Schuldich slid the door open with his elbow. Schuldich looked up and smirked at him.
"I'm going outside."
"You can't take her outside yet." Yohji quickly protested, only to receive an exasperated stare from Schuldich.
"Kudoh, it's dark outside, and she needs some fresh air." Schuldich was frowning as he stepped outside. "Do me a favor and close the door behind me." With that said, Schuldich turned his back and disappeared into the darkness out side. Without thinking about what he was doing, Yohji quickly following, closing the door behind him.
"I thought you were afraid of the dark." Schuldich smirked as Yohji walked over and sat down next to him on the rocking bench. Yohji just chuckled and shook his head.
"I just didn't want anything to happen to you two. I'd feel guilty." The snort from Schuldich proved to Yohji that the lie hadn't passed, but Yohji didn't care. He settled back in the slightly rocking bench, smiling down at Clandestine, who Schuldich was basically clinging too like an over protective mother. The thought made Yohji chuckle.
"What are you laughing about?"
"Well," Yohji leaned closer to poke Clandestine in the stomach, and the little girl made a sound that could have passed for a giggle. "I was just thinking how you reminded me of an overprotective mother. Actually, I was wondering who that would make the father."
Schuldich opened his mouth to automatically respond with "Crawford, duh", but quickly stopped halfway. It was clear Crawford wanted absolutely nothing to do with the baby. Frowning, Schuldich turned back to rocking Clandestine.
Noticing the sudden mood shift, Yohji tried another way to lighten the atmosphere. "Now don't make her sad Mama Schu-"
"Kudoh I swear if you call me that again I'll at least make an attempt to kill you." Schuldich growled, not at all pleased at the nickname.
"Oh really?" Yohji replied dully, almost threatened. Smirking, and leaned against Schuldich's shoulder and watched Clandestine. "Then how about Schu mama, instead of 'yo mama'?"
"Yotan, that was the lamest joke I've ever heard." Schuldich didn't even crack a smile; it just wasn't worth the effort.
"Yeah, but it made Clandestine happy." Yohji pointed out at the smiling girl, allowing the nickname to slip.
"She's happy because of the fireflies. It's why I brought her out here." For some odd reason, the fact that Yohji still had his head on Schuldich's shoulder didn't really bother him. It should have due to Nagi's warning, but it didn't. Nothing really seemed to matter. He had Clandestine, someone else that he knew would take care of her if something was to happen to him, and it just felt so right. Besides, his current situation with Crawford was on a slight hiatus until the whole baby issue cleared itself up.
Yohji murmured something, and Schuldich snapped out of his happy phase long enough to realize he had fallen asleep on him. Smiling slightly, Schuldich quickly shook his shoulder with his free arm. "Yohji, come on, let's go to bed."
"Mm-hm." Yohji rubbed his eye sleepily, slowly getting to his feet. He smiled down at Schuldich, and then offered a hand. Schuldich shook his head, his face back to the usually half smirk it seemed accustom to as he got up and headed inside after Yohji.
"Do you mind if she stays in the living room with you? I doubt Crawford would be fond of me interrupting his sleep because I need to put her to bed." Schuldich frowned, but Yohji shrugged.
"No problem on my part. You can sleep on the other sofa if you want." Yohji offered, although not too sure why. Schuldich looked at the sofa for a moment before nodding.
"Sure. I just don't want to stray far from her the first few nights." Schuldich quickly covered for himself. He wasn't too sure why he was agreeing to this, but he figured he must have a good reason. He just didn't know what it was yet. Yohji shrugged and started lying out his blankets and such, separating them into two piles as Schuldich settled Clandestine in the crib Crawford had so kindly bought earlier that night. He was still getting her all settled and covered when Yohji started turning off the lights, making sure to leave the nightlight in the hall on so that enough light filtered in that Schuldich could still see what he was doing, but it wouldn't bother them. Yohji grabbed his blankets, reclined the sofa, and snuggled into the seat. It wasn't comfortable. At all. Schuldich would probably sit on it for about five minutes before retreating to his room to sleep on the bed. In a way, Yohji was jealous.
Finally managing to get Clandestine tucked in for the night, Schuldich grabbed his sheets and headed to the other sofa. He pulled the covers over himself and buried himself against the seat cushion, but it wasn't comfortable. He tossed for a few more minutes, cursing lightly under his breath. Finally he just sighed and sat up.
"Kudoh, if I were you, I'd be throwing a fit." Schuldich snapped across the room, obviously not pleased with the sorry state of the sofa.
"It's not worth it really." Yohji muttered, obviously half asleep. "This sofa's more comfortable if you care to join me." Yohji yawned halfway through, and Schuldich had to wonder if he heard the other assassin correctly.
"Is it?" Schuldich prodded, seriously curious.
"Yep." Yohji replied simply. After a brief pause, Schuldich gathered his sheets around himself and flopped down next to Yohji. Strangely, it did feel more comfortable. Or maybe it was the sheer presence of someone next to him. It didn't really matter though. Schuldich buried himself against the seat cushion again, and this time, amazingly enough, he fell asleep.

== TBC (reassuring, I know) ==

Well… that was weird. No mom, I'm not pregnant. XD ANYWAY review, and I'm sorry I can't get the chapters out sooner, driver's ed is… well… let's say I can't drive so it's horrible. Vv; I almost hit a trailer one day, a car another, the curb today- yeah, I'm getting better. Sigh.
PS. Couldn't get this chapter formated how I liked it. Gr. Bare with me.