Chapter Two
Three years later…
Atsuki had decided to leave home for a while and explore himself and the province for a while. He'd been traveling for three years…since Arisa had walked out. He'd been exploring the southern area of the continent when he reached a small demon village near a river. His stomach rumbling loudly he decided that it was about time to eat. He walked into the market and over to a fish monger's booth. He shouted to the man who was gutting salmon. "Hey! I need five fish please!" The man looked up at him with a sour expression. Atsuki was un-phased. "…what? I said please." After purchasing the fish, paying extra for the monger to cook it for him, he walked off into the village eating his breakfast. He licked his lips finishing his last fish. He walked past a woman who was busy working in a small garden outside of her house and tossed his discarded fish bone, not noticing her, the bones landing right in her garden. But she noticed. The woman glared at the bone before standing and picking it up. She turned to the one who'd thrown it and threw it back, the bone hitting him in the back of the head. "Hey! Don't drop your trash in my garden!!" Atsuki flinched as the bone hit him. Instinctively his hand reached back to rub the spot. "Ouch! Sorry...sheesh…" She glared at him. "Don't let it happen again…" Her voice dripping with contempt. "Whatever old lady..." She growled at the comment. "Old lady!? I am not old you baby back bitch!!" Atsuki froze at the woman's words. "Baby back bitch" had been one of Arisa's frequent insults…many times directed at him. "…Ari-chan?" She finally caught his scent. "…Atsuki?" "Y-yeah..." He slowly turned to face her. "What are you doing here..?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I was just walkin around for a bit...well, for the last three years…and I was hungry..." "It has been three years hasn't it…?" She looked away a slightly sad look on her face. "Mm hm..." Just then a small child ran towards them and pushed past Atsuki running into Arisa's arms. "Mommy!" Atsuki watched the child, his hurt evident in his eyes when he heard what the child exclaimed. "I...see you've been busy these past three years, huh? Well, I'm gonna go okay?" Arisa picked up the child and took a few steps closer to him. "Atsuki, wait…" He shook his head. "No...I'm sure your husband wouldn't want me here…around you…and your kid…" He turned and began to walk off. "Atsuki…" She followed him for a few steps before stopping. "He's yours…" Atsuki laughed loudly turning to her. "You can't be serious? You left me, remember? So how could I possibly have fathered that kid? I mean...I'm strong but I'm pretty damn sure my sperm can't travel this far." "You were the last one I was with before I left…I found out two weeks after I got here…" Atsuki's expression suddenly got serious. "Well...why didn't you come back to tell me?" "We didn't part of good terms and...and I wasn't sure if you would want to see me…or if you would even believe me…" He crossed his arms. "Why would I not believe you were carrying my child? You'd just as soon believe I was lying in someone else's bed than me believe you were pregnant, so why not tell me?" She sighed. "I don't know...I...I guess I was scared…" "Well…I don't think I can be a father to that kid." "And that's why I didn't tell you...I knew you wouldn't want to...I'm just gonna go now…" She turned from him and started walking towards the hut she'd been gardening in front of, the child looking at Atsuki over her shoulder, sucking on his small thumb. Atsuki's soft look turned to a glare. "Do you think I can just be a father now!? Three years Arisa! Three years!! You could have come to me right after he was born!" She stopped at the door, her hand on the mat that covered the opening. "It's okay…I never expected it from you anyway. I'm not asking you to do anything or be anything that you don't want to be…but, now you know…and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner…" She moved the mat to the side and went inside. Atsuki walked up to the makeshift door. "Is that all you can do!? Three years away from me with my only son and you think a sorry is going to take back the years you've been gone!? Do you know the hell I've been through without you!?!" He leaned his head on the wall beside the door and slammed his fist against it. "All you do is go behind closed doors…Can you honestly blame me for being angry? I have a child and you wait until now to tell me…" Arisa replied from inside the hut. "Atsuki...I said I was sorry…what more do you want? What more can I do?" "I missed three years...to experience everything with you. Walking, talking, cutting his first tooth…and even hearing daddy...three years I missed and can never have back…What you can do is make it not seem like you forgot to pick something up at the market...to me it sounds like 'oh yeah, while I walked away from you three years ago I forgot to tell you I was pregnant.'" "Atsuki…I didn't mean it like that..." "Well that's what the hell it sounds like to me!" "Atsuki, I said I was sorry! It's not like I'm asking you make a choice to be here, I just wanted you to know! Now that you know my conscious is now lighter, so if you want to go then by all means leave, I'm sure there's a woman with her legs wide open for you somewhere, I know you're dying to see her so leave!" Atsuki chuckled lightly, "I haven't been with anyone for three years..." he said this with his back facing her afraid she would see the hurt and pain her leaving so long ago would be present in his face. "I've tried to find someone else, but it never worked." He cleared his throat, "What is his name?" "Sai." "Did-did you tell him about me?" "Of course, no one else is his father I can assure you, he has so much of you in him...I saw that the moment he was born." Atsuki finally turned to face them both. "I'm sorry but this is a bit too much to take in...I need some time to think..." he walked off towards a river near Arisa's home. "A father...i just cant believe that I'm a father. But its been three years, how can I be sure that he's mine." He felt some one sitting near him, actually too close, he turned ever so slightly and seen Sai. "Oh, it's you...hi." the small child looked at him not replying. Atsuki looked at the boy's icy blue eyes that were just like his. So this is me miniaturized huh? "Your name is Sai right?" the boy nodded, "How old are you?" "Three." "Did your momma tell you about me?" Arisa who was standing behind a tree answered, "Yes I did as soon as I felt he would understand and know who his father is and yes it is you."