"D-Dad…! Oh shi- Dad!"

"Hiroki, calm down! You're going to drop-!"

Splat.

"Hiroki!"

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry!"

"If you had just calmed down, this never would have happened. Stop being so jittery, it's not going to hu-"

"That won't hurt me? That big thing? I could burn my hand off!"

"Calm down!"

"Shut up! I'm thirty years old, not twelve!"

"Then act like it! Try again!"

"Wouldn't it just be easier to do it with some sort of utensil?"

"God damnit, Hiroki! You're hopeless! How the hell have you been living alone for this long?"

"It's called 'Takeout', 'T.V. Dinners', and 'Easy Mac', Dad. Because we don't live in the fucking sixties anymore!"

"Watch your mouth, you- YOU'RE GOING TO DROP IT!"

Splat.

"Fuuuuck!"

"Hiroki, Fuyumi's going to take after your bad language if you don't cut that out."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Oh, wow, real mature, son. You wanna get smacked?"

Tomoko watched from behind the archway of the kitchen as her two most precious boys bickered and smacked at each other. They were more like best friends than father and son, with the way that they fought half-heartedly all the time and hit each other like they were rowdy teenagers. Tomoko, however, found it quite amusing, and she zoomed in on Hiroki's face a little with the camera in her hand.

"March eighteenth, 2012. Masa-darling attempting to teach Hiro-chan how to cook: day three. Not much progress, Nowaki-chan, but with enough practice, Hiro-chan could probably make you some delicious meals that don't concern eggs."

Hiroki whirled around to face the archway, eyes ablaze.

"Mom! I thought I told you not to video tape me!" he barked lividly, dropping into what vaguely resembled an offensive position. In his clenched fist was a ladle, which was dripping with miso soup.

"Hiroki, focus!" Masanori barked. His mustache was still crusty with the remnants of the last failed meal. Hiroki grumbled and turned back to the stove, reaching behind him to adjust the strings of his apron. He reached over to attempt to toss the sautéed vegetables in one of the pans, but only managed to send several carrots flying into the wall behind the stove.

"Oh my Gaaaaaawd," Hiroki whined, throwing his head back and stomping his feet. "Dad, this is so stupid."

"Stop complaining!"

"Dad…"

Tomoko giggled to herself.

"Turn off the camera, Mom!"

As much as Hiroki loved his parents and found comfort in confiding with them, he simply hadn't been able to relax. Not having been in contact with Nowaki at all for the past four days had left Hiroki a jittery, irritable mess. Even Fuyumi seemed to sense Hiroki's distress, and she had become cranky over the past several days as well.

Being Hiroki's parents, of course Tomoko and Masanori had also picked up on Hiroki's irritation as of late, and they tried their best to avoid him during his private time with Fuyumi. They mistakenly thought that they were the cause for the angst, and one day, while Hiroki was feeding Fuyumi on the couch-

"Hiro-chan, I think me and Masanori will be going," Tomoko said with a sad smile. Hiroki, who had been staring absentmindedly at the coffee table, snapped his gaze up and furrowed his eyebrows at his mother.

"Why?" he asked frantically. He moved to stand up, but Tomoko stopped him with a sweep of her hand.

"You are a wonderful, wonderful parent, Hiro-chan. I'm proud to say that you've grown up, baby. Since Nowaki-chan will be coming home soon, we're going to get out of your hair so you can get ready for his arrival."

Hiroki shook his head and frowned up at his mother.

"Mom… you two don't have to go," he said sadly.

"It's okay, honey. We've already booked our flight back to Japan- it leaves later this afternoon. It's been so nice staying with you."

Hiroki was so stricken by surprise at his parents' sudden decision to leave, and he could only sit back and watch later that day as his parents gathered up their things and filed out the door. Tomoko and Masanori were very affectionate in their goodbyes, of course, with hugs and kisses and caresses galore.

But when they were gone, Hiroki only felt empty.

Bouncing a whimpering Fuyumi, Hiroki sighed and trudged back into the depths of his house. Right now, he needed Nowaki more than ever, but as he cradled Fuyumi in one arm and felt his phone in his pocket with his free hand, he felt no signs of a vibration.

Hiroki went back to his living room and sat down, his eyes creasing in emotion. Even though he had Fuyumi, he felt so alone. He, of course, could talk to Fuyumi, but he didn't want to trouble her with his problems. She was just a little baby- she didn't need him confiding his distresses with her.

"Nnn," Fuyumi whined, fisting her papa's shirt in a little fist and tugging lightly. Hiroki looked down at her and frowned.

"Grandma and Grandpa had to go home, sweetie," Hiroki said. Fuyumi obviously didn't understand what her papa had just said, but in response to Hiroki's watery eyes, her whimpers became more cry-like. Within moments she was wailing in Hiroki's arms, her eyes squeezed shut and her face reddened. Hiroki pacified her gently, but didn't hush her. He let her cry it out, and as she cried, he wept softly, too.

It was March twenty-six already, and Nowaki would be in Sweden in less than a month, his date of graduation being the twenty-third of April. Hiroki had lived through the impossible: going on without his physical, emotional, and mental support for three months.

But now, as he rocked his baby and placated her with damp, salty kisses, he didn't think he could go on another minute.


Hiroki's eyes snapped open and he lolled his head on his pillow to face his alarm clock.

4:53 AM

Groaning, Hiroki sat up and rubbed his eyes. He listened closely to the sound around him curiously. Usually, Fuyumi would've woke him up for her early, early morning feeding.

But now, all was silent as Hiroki's eyes drifted towards Fuyumi's crib, where she was resting soundly. He squinted, stooping his head to see past the white wooden bars. Noticing that Fuyumi's pacifier had dropped out of her mouth, Hiroki yawned, slipped out of bed, and trudge over to his baby's crib.

"Honey," he cooed through sleep-hungry, watery eyes. He smacked his lips down at Fuyumi, who didn't respond to his soft call. Hiroki sighed and reached down into the crib to grab the dropped pacifier. Making sure if didn't have any dirt or hair on it, Hiroki gently prodded Fuyumi's lips with it.

He furrowed his eyebrows, however, as her lips didn't part for him to insert her pacifier.

"Fuyumi?" he asked softly. He reached up to touch Fuyumi's forehead.

…and snatched it away in horror.

"Fuyumi? Fuyumi!" Hiroki hissed, raising his voice. He gripped the handlebars of the crib for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a moment's thought, he reached into the crib and lifted Fuyumi out of it. He screamed, however, and quickly set Fuyumi back down.

She had been cold.

And she had been stiff as a board.

"Oh my God," Hiroki rasped, unable to look in the crib. He stared with widened eyes at the floor and clutched at the sides of his head in disbelief. "Oh my God, oh my God!"

Hiroki couldn't understand much of what happened next. All he knew was that he was shrieking Fuyumi's name in the purest of agonies- grabbing fast to her crib's handlebars and shaking almost violently.

His tears felt just as cold as Fuyumi had been, and though his sobs were loud and shrill, Fuyumi did not stir. Every parents' horror, every reason for utmost caution. It was here, lying dead in Hiroki's bedroom.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Hiroki's eyes flew open and he jerked violently in shock. He panted hard for a few moments before the tears began, gushing forth from his eyes. Tearing his blankets from his body, he rocketed out of bed and scrambled to Fuyumi's crib, nearly stumbling and falling as he went. Without really thinking, he reached into Fuyumi's crib and patted her cheek, but with the sheer terror coursing through his body, his 'pat' was actually a medium-intensity slap, and Fuyumi's eyes shot open. Her pacifier dropped out of her mouth as she began to scream, reaching up to rub the spot her papa had slapped her.

Hiroki, meanwhile, blubbered desperately as he reached into Fuyumi's crib and picked her up. He held her against him tightly, stumbling back towards his bed and sitting down on the edge.

"Oh, God," Hiroki chanted in incoherent moans. When he had calmed down enough to actually see straight, he reached over the bed to grab his phone from the bedside table. Flipping it open, he shakily dialed Nowaki's number.

He picked up on the second ring.

"Hiro-san?"

"Nowaki…" Hiroki sobbed, clutching the phone tightly in his clenched fist.

"Hiro-san? Are you crying? What happened?" Nowaki asked rapidly, his voice laced with concern.

"I-I-I had a nightmare… F-F-F-Fuyumi d-d-died," Hiroki wailed incoherently, doubling over and nearly suffocating Fuyumi with the weight of his body.

"It's okay, Hiro-san. You're going to be alright. It was just a nightmare."

"St-Stay with me, p-please. It's almost m-morning, I'm not going to be able t-to get back to sl-sleep. I can't b-be alone," Hiroki begged desperately, trembling. There was a long silence on the other line.

"Hiro-san, I'm at work right now… I'm not even on my break. I'm sor-"

"Please!" Hiroki cried, collapsing into fresh sobs.

"Shit…" Nowaki cursed quietly on the other line. Without warning, there was a click, and Hiroki got the dialing tone.

"Nowaki? Nowaki!" Hiroki sobbed. When there was no answer, he pulled the phone away from his ear and dialed Nowaki's number again. He didn't even get to one ring before a robotic female voice began telling him that the phone line was busy. Hiroki blubbered, dialing Nowaki's number again and again to no avail.

On the sixth time that he tried to call, there was a tremendous crash from the entrance hall, followed by the slamming of a door. Hiroki looked over his shoulder just as pounding footsteps thundered throughout the house.

"Kamijou!"

A second later, Miyagi burst into Hiroki's bedroom, his hair in disarray and his body only dressed in a pair of black sweatpants and soggy, muddy slippers. Hiroki stared at him for a moment before fresh tears started running down his face.

"I-" he began. The phone clutched in his hand slid out and plopped onto the bed. Miyagi walked quickly around to Hiroki's side of the bed. He freed Fuyumi, who was whimpering because of the tightness of her papa's hold. Hiroki sat on the bed and held his head in his hands and breathed hard as Miyagi went to Fuyumi's crib and gently laid her down in it. Miyagi didn't say a word, and instead went back to Hiroki. Hiroki didn't have the strength in him to be surprised as Miyagi eased him down onto the bed and flopped down beside him. His body heat warmed Hiroki up, placating his soft sobs.

"Kamijou, everything is okay," Miyagi whispered. "Fuyumi's perfectly safe."

Hiroki nodded dazedly, too deep in his stupor to wonder how Miyagi had known to come to his house. He did, however, have a sneaking suspicion that Nowaki had called Miyagi- effectively shaking Hiroki off of his back.

Hiroki's heart clenched.