Chapter Forty-Three: Back to Normal

"Good morning, honey."

I groaned at the thin beam of sunlight that had somehow found my eye. "Yeah, morning," I grunted as I sat up in spite of the protesting muscles in my abdomen and hips; apparently my body was still getting used to my new…married life. "Ouchies…"

"Awww…" she giggled sympathetically. "I'm sorry; is it my fault?"

"I wouldn't call it 'fault'…" I murmured as I worked on rubbing the sleep from my face. "I guess I'll just need a little longer to adjust than I thought."

She giggled again, and I felt the pleasant pressure of her lips against my cheek. "Well, I'll make sure that your lunch has plenty of protein."

"Just the usual is fine," I chuckled. "I'll end up looking like Goku if you give me too much more."

"No you won't," she said as she leaned over in front of me and draped her arms over my shoulders, giving me a very nice view of my bride's ample chest. "You'll look even better."

I chuckled and pulled her into my lap to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, love." I then reluctantly released her so she could get ready for school. "Oh, hey; has Kap-sorry, have your parents updated your information with the school?"

"Yup!" she chirped as she opened her dresser drawer to rummage around in it. "Hikarizaka High School now recognizes me as 'Okazaki Mika'."

"Are you going to be okay with that?" I asked as I rose from the bed and padded over to her. "Your classmates'll probably give you funny looks, won't they?"

"Probably!" she said, her tone never wavering. "But my friends will be there, and they know about my situation, so I'm sure they'll have my back. Besides…" She turned to wrap me in an embrace, which I easily returned. "…I don't care what my classmates think, anyway; I'm a happily married woman."

I felt my face heat up at her words, and I placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Thanks, Mika; it…feels really good to hear you say that."

"You're welcome!" She hopped up to give me a peck on the lips. "Now, we really need to get going or we'll both be late."

There was a knock at the door, startling both of us. "Daddy? Mika-senpai? Is everything okay?"

We both looked at the door, then to each other with a smile. "We're fine, Ushio," I replied. "Just give us a few minutes."

"Okay."

Mika and I quickly finished getting dressed, then headed to the washroom to prepare our faces for the day. Of course, I didn't think hers needed any work, but she was a woman, so…

One quick breakfast and lunch-prep later we all crowded around the front door, working on getting our shoes on. "Anything I need to keep in mind about my lunch?" I asked as I struggled with a shoe.

"Nothing needs to be refrigerated, if that's what you mean," Mika replied as she straightened, thankfully giving me a little more room; with Mika's and Ushio's return to school, we were really going to need to work on coordinating our schedules so we weren't potentially stepping on each others' toes. "Everything can be kept at room temperature this time."

I grunted in acknowledgment as my stupid shoes finally slipped on, and I straightened to find Ushio waiting for me next to Mika. "We ready, then?"

"Yup!" they chirped in unison.

I checked for my wallet and keys one last time as Mika opened the door, then we all headed out.

"If anyone gives you trouble about Mika for whatever reason, you let me know," I told Ushio for what was probably the umpteenth time as we headed in the direction of the school.

"Okay, Daddy," my very patient daughter replied. "I really don't think there'll be any trouble, but okay."

It wasn't long before we came to the point where we would have to part ways, me to the train station and them to school. "Have a good day, sweetie," I said, giving Ushio a kiss on the forehead.

"You too, Daddy," she replied. Then, she gave us a curious smile. "I'll go ahead a bit and wait for you, Mika-senpai."

It wasn't hard to pick up her meaning, and I felt my face heat up as Mika moved to stand before me. "I'm going to miss you today," she said shyly, twisting from side to side as she held her book bag behind her back.

"Thanks," I replied, warmed by her words; even though she and Ushio had been without me during the day for the last couple of weeks, it wasn't the same. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you again as well."

She stamped her foot at the same time a tear streamed down her cheek. "I am not going to start crying," she huffed. "This is stupid."

I chuckled as I stepped forward to take my bride in my arms, and I heard a slight thump as her bag fell to the ground. "At least I know how much I mean to you," I murmured as we held each other close. "Thank you." I then stepped away just enough to tilt her head up with a finger under her chin and leaned down to touch her lips with mine.

She shuddered and looped her arms behind my neck to deepen the kiss. It was nothing lewd or anything that would really shock anyone; just a loving couple sharing a tender kiss good-bye.

We reluctantly parted, and she picked up her bag again. "Have a great day at work, honey," she said in a trembling voice.

"Thank you," I said, still reeling from the intensity of our kiss. "Have a great day at school."

She opened her mouth to say more but snapped it shut with a shuddering sigh before turning and hurrying down the road to meet up with Ushio.

As I watched her scoot away I felt a smile spread across my face. "Thank you, Mika. For everything."

My morning went pretty smoothly for a Monday, and it wasn't long before I was breaking for lunch. I was in the process of admiring the enormous sandwich that my bride had put together for me when my cell phone rang. Noting the blue hair and lab coat on the screen, I smiled as I connected the call. "Good afternoon, Kotomi-chan; what can I do for you?"

"Good afternoon, Tomoya-san," my old friend greeted, surprising me with the substitute for the usual honorific. "I hope the day finds you well."

"It's getting there," I said while eyeing my sandwich longingly. "You doing okay?"

"I…am, thank you," she replied, and it was hard to miss the pause between her words. "I am calling to inform you that, in light of our conversation the other day, I have decided to utilize the services of Ashton-sensei with the goal of reconciling my past."

Fortunately I'd been at work for a few hours, so I was able to follow her this time. "Well, good for you. I have to admit that I'm surprised, though; I was worried that I'd hurt your feelings at the wedding."

"It…was not easy to hear," she admitted cautiously. "But when I evaluated the merits of your recommendation, I realized that I had been holding onto habits from childhood. I believe that I have seen positive changes in you as a result of your sessions with Ashton-sensei and believe that I could benefit from the same."

"Well, good for you," I repeated, unsure of what else to say.

"Gouda-ku-… That is, Gouda-san has asked to accompany me to support me in my efforts."

"Would he be attending the sessions with you?" I asked with a little bit of concern; I couldn't see Jeff letting someone like Gouda into the session. Not that I thought that Kotomi's admirer was a bad guy; it was just that he was still pretty new to my friend's life.

"No; he expressed a desire to accompany me to the church but would wait for me during my sessions."

"Ah. Got it." I waited, but she didn't say anything more. "Well, was there anything else? I don't mean to be rude, but I just broke for lunch and my stomach's protesting."

"Protesting?" A brief pause. "Oh! I believe I understand! I am keeping you from your meal."

"If you have more you need to talk to me about, I'm here for you," I said, deliberately remembering my promise to her back at the wedding. "If not, then I'd like to relax a bit before going back to crunching numbers. Congratulations on your decision, in any case."

"Thank you; it was not an easy decision, but I believe it was the right one. Thank you again for your candor and compassion; I do feel as though you and Mika-ch-…Mika-san care about me."

"That's because we do," I said reassuringly as my stomach growled.

"I am happy to hear that. Have a pleasant day, Tomoya-san."

"Thanks, you too."

We ended the call and I turned my hungry gaze on my sandwich.

"Friend of yours, Okazaki?" I looked and found my boss standing next to my desk with a friendly smile. "Oh, hey; go ahead and eat. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you're usually so serious here that it's a nice change to see you smiling."

"Ah, I see." I pondered his words as I finally took a bite of my sandwich. "Yeah, she's an old friend of mine, calling to tell me some good news."

"That's neat to hear," he remarked as he took the seat in front of my desk. "So much gloom-and-doom in the world these days."

"She's had a pretty rough life," I told him as I wiped my hands on my napkin, "but she just called to let me know that she'll be getting the help she needs."

"Good for her," he said, nodding approvingly. Then, he got back to his feet. "Well, like I said: I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but thanks for telling me about your friend's good news."

"You're welcome," I replied, surprised once again by his interest.

He started toward his office but turned to look back at me. "Oh, hey; everything still going well with the new wifey?"

"Honestly, it couldn't be better," I replied easily.

"That's great," he said, turning to face me fully. "Look, I know that life's shit on you quite a bit and, frankly, that's most of the reason why I've given you your weekends and all the time off that I have."

"Thanks, boss," I replied, warmed by his words.

His smile turned mischievous. "'Sides, you kick ass at your job; I'd hate to lose you to another company."

"Not happening," I chuckled. "You've been very good to me and Ushio."

"And now, your wife as well," he said with a wink before heading back to his office, waving over his shoulder. "Have a great lunch."

I sure did.

I was about halfway home from the train station when my phone rang, and I quickly found a spot to the side and out of everyone's way so I could answer it. "Hello, this is Okazaki."

"Good afternoon, Tomoya-san," Jeff greeted. "Have I caught you at a bad time?"

"Not really; I'm on my way home from work right now, though, so if you need much of my time I could call you later, if that's okay."

"No, this is brief."

"Go ahead, then."

"I wanted to thank you for the referral. I received a call from Ichinose-sensei this morning about setting up some counseling appointments, and she told me that you had recommended me."

"That's true, I did," I replied, stepping further to the side to let a couple pass. "She told me about it a few hours ago, in fact."

"She did, huh? Well, thank you. I normally don't divulge information of this nature, but she specifically gave me permission to tell you. I think she wanted me to tell you in case she couldn't, but it looks like that wasn't a problem after all."

"I'm just glad I could help. I hope things work out well for her."

"Agreed. Well, thank you for your time and, as I said, for the recommendation. I won't keep you any longer, so have a great day and God bless."

"You too, Jeff; take it easy." I ended the call and continued on my way home. As I walked I tried to compile everything I knew about Kotomi's situation; she was orphaned at a very young age, around eight or so. I vaguely remembered our friendship from around that time, though I could remember a couple of meetings with her in the library at Hikarizaka High; I must have not made the connection due to faded memories and my self-pitying mentality at the time. "So she must have gotten by on her amazing intellect all this time, but nobody cared enough to help her…her heart," I mused as the apartment building came into sight. I allowed my body to go on auto-pilot to unlock the door as I worked on filing my thoughts away for later. "I'm home…"

"Welcome home, Daddy," I heard Ushio's voice greet from further in.

"Thank you," I replied as I worked on swapping my footwear. "Is Mika home?"

"Not yet," she replied, her curtain of brown waving with the shake of her head. "I waited for her by the main gate, but she told me that her club needed her."

I'd forgotten that she was part of the Volleyball Club. "Did she say when she'd be home?"

Another shake of the head. "She said she'd call ahead when she leaves school."

"I see," I replied just as my phone rang. I looked at the screen then sent my daughter a smile as I connected the call. "Hey, beautiful."

"H-Hi, Tomoya." I must've surprised her with my greeting. "I'm calling to let you know I'm on my way home. Did Ushio tell you?"

"Just now, yeah."

"I'm sorry; if I'd thought of it I would've called or texted you earlier, but…"

The lengthy pause told me that she didn't know how to finish her thought so I tried to help out. "You're not used to this arrangement, plus you're getting used to school again after all the excitement?"

"That pretty much covers it!" she laughed. "Anyway, I'll hurry home to make dinner."

"There's no need to rush," I told her. "But is there anything that Ushio and I can do to help out?"

"Actually… If you could chop up the carrots and celery and fill the dinner pot with water, that'd help a lot."

"Consider it done, commander," I replied, sharing another smile with Ushio. "Anything else?"

"Nothing else comes to mind. I'll see you in about half an hour, honey. I love you."

"Love you, too," I said while trying to ignore a smirk from across the kotatsu. "See you in a bit." I ended the call and faked a glare at my still-smirking daughter. "Not a word, young lady."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Daddy," she giggled. "What did she say? About dinner, I mean?" I conveyed Mika's words, and we headed to the kitchen to 'pre-prepare', as Ushio called it. "Did she say how big to cut the vegetables?" she asked as she rummaged around in the fridge.

"Come to think of it, no she didn't," I grunted. "She didn't tell you what we're having?"

I heard a light smack and looked over to find Ushio with the palm of her hand on her forehead. "Yes. Yes, she did." She pulled out the vegetable bags and placed them next to our cutting board. "I swear; sometimes I think I'm an airhead."

I chuckled as I reached over to gently ruffle her hair before setting about the serious task of filling a pot with water. "How was your first day back?"

"It was okay," she replied; she sounded a little evasive, though.

"Just okay?" I asked, using a tone that would tell her that I knew exactly what she was doing.

"She…I…" My daughter huffed before vigorously chopping a poor carrot. "It's nothing bad, really; some of my friends teased me about Mika-senpai being my mother-in-law."

"Stepmother," I corrected gently. "In-laws are your spouse's family."

"Oh. Right." She giggled. "Maybe that's why they were teasing me; I kept using the wrong word."

"Kids can be pretty unforgiving," I chuckled sympathetically. "But were they happy for you?"

"Yes and no," she replied ambiguously. "No, that's not true; they were happy for me, but Kumiko wasn't."

"Kumiko? Why wouldn't she be…?" I trailed off as I remembered the red hair associated with that name, and I lightly blushed at the memory of her confession to me what seemed like so long ago. "Yeah…I suppose I…could…you know, understand."

"Yeah…" she giggled.

My heart went out to my young admirer as we finished up our part of the meal prep. We then parted to our rooms, me to read and Ushio to work on her schoolwork, and it wasn't long before I could hear a faint rattling at the door. I knew Mika had a key from back when she started prepping meals for me, but I also knew how stubborn the door could be so I headed out of my-our room and headed down the hall to give her a hand. "Welcome home," I greeted as I swung the door open to reveal my bride. "How was…"

What caused me to pause was the sight of my wife in her volleyball uniform. "Hi, honey!" she greeted as she crossed the doorway and started to take off her shoes. "I'm sorry, but we got some new members over the summer, and the coach asked me to give them their orientation." She struggled briefly with a shoe. "I'll get changed and clean up and get started on dinner."

"You could have changed before coming home," I suggested. "It's getting pretty cold out there, right?"

"I know," she replied simply as she slid into her indoor shoes and started toward the living room, "but I wanted to get home as quickly as I could."

"Well, I can under…stand…" I trailed off again; this time I was consciously aware of my brain trying to shut down at the sight of my wife's shorts-clad bottom. "I-I appreciate that; thank you."

"Be back in a flash," she called over her shoulder as she headed down the hall to our room, and I actually had to resist the urge to follow her; I knew that if I did, dinner would be very late.

I heard Ushio greet her senpai as I settled down at my spot at the kotatsu and buried my face in my hands; while I didn't mind being turned on by the sight of my wife, I was a little concerned about how much sex we'd been having since our wedding. I understood that it was normal for newlyweds to 'bond' rather frequently early on, but I couldn't remember going at it like this with Nagisa… I cringed and mentally slapped myself for the comparison.

A few minutes later Mika crossed through the living room and entered the kitchen, and I noticed that she had changed into a purple top and a black skirt that covered her to about halfway down her calves. "Thank you for your help," she called from the kitchen. "This'll take about fifteen minutes off my prep time."

I got to my feet to join her. "I'm glad we could help. Is there anything more I could do?"

She took a deep breath, and when she spoke I noticed her voice trembled. "Well yeah, but I need to make dinner right now."

The tint to her cheeks clued me in to what she wanted me to…help her with. "Listen, Mika…" I wasn't sure how to broach the subject. "Could we talk later? I hate to bring something up right before bed, but something's been kinda bothering me."

She paused in her prep to look up at me with worried eyes. "What's wrong? Have I hurt you somehow?"

"No, not at all," I replied with a vigorous shake of my head. "I guess I'm not sure that we're on the same page when it comes to…something."

It looked like she was trying to glean the subject from my expression but failed. "O-…Okay, Tomoya; we can talk later."

Dinner was prepped and set on the kotatsu, and the three of us settled down to eat. "Itadakimasu."

"So, how was your first day back?" I asked as Mika took my plate.

My two favorite girls looked at each other as though to say 'You first'. "Go ahead, Ushio," Mika finally declared. "I'm taking care of your dad right now, so I can wait."

In light of our earlier conversation, I felt a little awkward as Ushio directed her smile toward me. "It was pretty good; I got to see all my friends again, and…" She pushed her lips to one side as she thought. "…I guess it's nice being back on a routine again. This summer was kinda crazy."

"It was different than the usual, wasn't it?" I said with an expression of understanding.

"Yeah…"

I glanced over at my wife, who ducked her head with a grin, before looking back to my daughter. "Did anyone give you any trouble about Mika?"

"Nothing other than the 'mother-in-law' mix-up, but that could just be because it's our first day back," she replied.

"'Mother-in-law'?" Mika asked with a puzzled expression.

"I'll explain later," I promised.

"Besides, we're two grades apart," Ushio continued, "so it's not likely that anyone would know both of us."

"True," I grunted as I accepted my plate from my wife. "Thank you, Mika."

"You're welcome."

"Well, if anyone gives you trouble, let a teacher know as well as me," I told my daughter.

"Yes, Daddy," she giggled, and I knew exactly why; we'd had similar conversations many times before. Maybe I was just being overprotective. "So, how was your first day back, Mika-senpai?"

"The day itself was normal," she replied as she filled her plate. "Of course, everyone was surprised to hear my new last name and had to ask about it."

"I'll bet," I said sympathetically. "Nobody gave you any trouble, though?"

"I got teased a bit, but that's hardly surprising," she said; then, her expression turned sheepish. "I…had a few admirers who demanded that I show proof of the name change."

I felt a sudden bout of jealousy but stifled it.

"Admirers?" Ushio piped in. "You mean, like boys who like you?"

"Yeah," my wife replied while glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. "But they don't matter; my eyes are for Tomoya and Tomoya only."

"I don't think she meant anything like that, Mika," I interjected while shoving down more jealousy. "I never thought of you as having admirers, but with as beautiful as you are I really shouldn't be surprised."

Her face flushed molten, which I thoroughly enjoyed. "Th-Thank you."

Ushio giggled, presumably at her stepmother's discomfort, before her expression turned more serious. "Speaking of admirers; have you heard anything from Ichinose-sensei?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I talked to her earlier today," I replied, remembering my earlier conversation with my childhood friend. "She's going to be seeing Pastor Jeff for counseling."

"Oh, how wonderful!" Mika exclaimed, quickly placing her chopsticks down to clap excitedly. "She always seemed so…reserved, so I'm glad that she's reached out for help."

"Has she decided whether she's going to marry Gouda-san or not?" Ushio asked.

"Not that I'm aware of," I said. "She did tell me that he would be escorting her to and from her sessions, though. Whether that's a good sign or not…" I shrugged. "…I have no idea."

"Well, at least she'll be getting the help she needs," Ushio said before taking another bite.

I grunted my agreement, and the three of us focused on the delicious dinner for a while.

"Um, Daddy?" Ushio said, sounding apologetic for some reason. "Have…you looked into getting internet for my computer yet?"

Crud. "Sorry sweetie, I haven't. I didn't mean to forget; I guess it got lost in all the excitement."

"That's okay; I understand."

I leaned back to grab a pen and notepad off a nearby table. "I'll make a note of it and try to look into it during one of my lunch breaks this week."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"You have a computer?" Mika asked, sounding surprised; she hadn't been in Ushio's room yet?

"Ichinose-sensei gave me one a while ago," Ushio explained. "She gave it to me to use for school."

"Wow, that's neat…" Mika breathed. "Tomoya, could I help you with your research? I have my cell phone, so I could help."

"You're not allowed to use your phone at school, are you?" I asked; last I knew, cell phones weren't allowed in schools, but Hikarizaka's policy could have changed.

"Oh, you're right," she huffed. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

"Don't worry about it," I said trying to reassure her. "Wait, aren't you still on your parents' plan? We need to get you switched, don't we?"

"Dad was hoping that you wouldn't think of that," she giggled. "He and Mom wanted to help out, even if it's just a little."

"Well, I would have caught it eventually," I grumbled, a little irked at my good friend. "I'll have to talk to him about straightening this…" I trailed off as the beast called 'finances' reared its ugly head. "Anyway, it's not right for this family to mooch off your parents."

"O-Okay…"

"S-Speaking of Ichinose-sensei..." Ushio sounded like she was desperately trying o change the subject. "How did things go when you visited her house?"

"Huh?" It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. "Oh, right; you're referring to when you stayed over at your grandparents' for the day, right?"

"I didn't tell her about it because I didn't think it was my place to," Mika told me.

"Thanks." I sighed heavily as I scratched a sudden itch on the top of my head. "I'm not sure how to begin… You know that her expertise is in String Theory, right?" At my daughter's nod I continued. "Well, she's somehow able to contact other dimensions or timelines or something like that." At her astonished gasp I nodded. "Yeah. You remember our date a while ago, right?" I asked, then flinched as I realized I'd just mentioned it in front of my wife, though I pressed on. "Well, she showed me a couple of gizmos: one that'd let her see into other timelines and another that she was still working on that would let her somehow travel to those timelines."

"Amazing…" Ushio breathed.

"If I remember correctly, she was using her viewer and somehow found a group of people who were in the wrong timeline," I continued, feeling a little out of my element. "She then used her transporter-thingy to bring them to our world."

"Were they nice people?" My daughter was wide-eyed at this point.

"From what I could tell, yeah," I replied. "They said they used to be gang members and the like, but their Kotomi – the Kotomi from their timeline, I mean – gave them something better to do. Gave them a purpose, I guess you could say."

"That's really neat…" she said happily. "What were they like?"

My eyes narrowed as I tried to remember the quartet plus children. "Well, I definitely remember Tada-no, sorry; that's your brother," I said, patting Mika's knee. "The leader, for lack of a better term, was Takeshi." I looked over at my wife. "You know, I just realized that I never did learn their last names. Oh, well… Anyway, there was Takeshi with his wife…"

"Kohaku-san," Mika supplied, to my relief.

"Right, thank you; his wife Kohaku. And then there was Takeo and his wife Mayonaka. They didn't talk much, but they seemed like basically good people."

"And the children!" Mika gushed. "They were so cute!"

"How old were they?" Ushio asked, leaning forward with an eager expression. "What were their names?"

"I didn't find out their exact ages but I know the youngest was a toddler named-"

"Youhei…" I unintentionally interrupted, burying my face in my hands and giggled in spite of myself. "A detective…"

"What's so funny, daddy?"

I raised what must have been a look of amused disbelief to her gaze. "The kid that Mika's talking about is named after their 'version' of my old delinquent buddy back in high school. Apparently he's a cop in their reality." I sighed as my eyes lost focus. "Thinking back, that guy was so good at soccer; it's a shame he let his ego ruin his chances." I blinked as an odd thought came to mind. "Hey, if there are other realities…"

"…maybe there's one where he is a professional soccer player," Mika said, completing my thought. "Hey, Tomoya: do you think Sunohara-san could become a professional with Uncle Jeff's help?"

"At thirty-six?" I narrowed my eyes as I considered the possibility. "I…dunno. I've heard of older players, but they've usually been in the sport for years already. To come in at almost forty years old…" I shrugged my shoulders. "I guess all I can say is that if he tries, I hope he succeeds."

"Me, too," Ushio chimed in.

"Anyway, where were we?" I asked, trying to remember the topic.

"The youngest was Takeo-san's and Mayonaka-san's toddler named Youhei," Mika explained, jogging my memory, "and the older two – Takeshi-san's and Kohaku-san's children – were Sumire and Yuuma. They looked like they were about…six?" She looked over to me, presumably for confirmation.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," I replied as I tried to call up their faces from my memories.

"Oh, wow…." Ushio breathed. "They must have been adorable."

"Totally!" Mika replied, sounding more like a high-schooler than usual. "They were really well-behaved, too; we all played quietly while your dad talked with Kotomi-san's guests."

"That's good."

"Anyway, Kotomi-chan asked us over to make sure that they'd be safe to send back to their reality," I continued, remembering roughly where I'd left off. "While Kyou and Jeff and I talked with Takeshi and his group, Mika watched their kids."

"Has she sent them back yet?" Ushio asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "I didn't think to ask her about it earlier."

Apparently there weren't any more questions about Kotomi's strange visitors, and we ate the rest of our meal in relative quiet. I did catch Mika glancing at me every so often, and I felt awkward as I remembered when I'd be trying to talk with her about later.

We finished our meal and worked on clearing the table, and the women set about cleaning the dishes as I worked on tidying up the living room.

"Is it okay if go ahead and take my bath first?" Ushio asked as we lounged around the living room, watching TV.

"I don't mind," I replied, then looked to Mika for her answer.

"Go right ahead," she said with a sideways glance at me. "Enjoy yourself." After Ushio had left the room she directed her full attention on me. "Could we talk about what you mentioned earlier?"

I sighed; I hadn't quite put all of my thoughts together, but… "Sure, now's a good time. Listen, I don't know how this is going to sound, but… We've been having a lot of sex since we got married, and I'm just wondering if you think we have to do it that much. I mean, do you really enjoy it that much?"

She ducked her head, but I could still see the beginning of a pretty severe blush. "I don't think we need to do it that much. I remember you saying at Ushio's party that men like sex because it helps you to feel connected…" She looked away, apparently unable to meet my gaze. "I guess I feel the same way."

I blinked in surprise. "I…never knew…" I'd never heard of women liking sex for that reason. Nagisa and I had never had sex very often, partly because I didn't want her to feel pressured into it, but maybe she'd been wanting it as much as I had…? I licked my lips. "I'm sorry, but I thought you were pushing yourself to…well…take care of me."

"Well…that's…part of it," she admitted, turning to look me in the eye in spite of the fierce blush that had taken over her face. "I had to push myself our first time, but after that…?" She averted her gaze again. "This may not make sense, but I like the feeling of you inside me; it's like I can hug you with my arms as well as my…my…"

The way she trailed off told me what she wanted to say, and I understood her difficulties in continuing. I touched a finger to her chin to tilt her gaze back to mine. "You're something else, you know that?" I chuckled before touching my lips to hers. "Thanks for being so honest with me, love; I'm honored that you would open up, make yourself vulnerable like this."

She giggled lightly, and a tear trickled down with the blink of her eyes. "I just love you so much that sometimes my chest hurts, and it just seems like that's the only way I can express my love to you."

I felt myself fall into mute shock as I gazed into her earnest expression; how could anyone love someone like me so…so deeply? She was young, sure, but that youth made her feelings more…honest, less tainted by the troubles of the world when compared to those of someone like myself. "Thank you, Mika," I said, allowing the pressure behind my eyes to spill onto my cheek. "I'm humbled by your…by your love."

She hiccupped as she drew her sleeve across her eyes. "I'd…really like to be close to you tonight, but I'll understand if you need some time to think about this."

I looked down into her open and honest expression and could see the love and affection – toward me! – in her eyes, and realized that I didn't need any damn time at all, and I smiled as I picked her up, princess-style, and as I carried her down the hall I tapped on the washroom door with my foot to tell Ushio that Mika and I were going to spend some quality time together.

A lot of quality time.