Title: Album
Rating: K+
Chapter 6: Family Moment
X-X-X
The fifth page has a picture of Shizuru and Natsuki together on the couch, Kiyoran in Natsuki's lap. Natsuki couldn't remember when it was taken, but she guessed that Chisato had taken it during one of her visits with her puppies.
Natsuki glanced over at Shizuru as her love entered the living room, then looked again. "What's got you so happy?" she asked as she gazed at the smile on Shizuru's face.
"Kiyoran," Shizuru said simply. She sat down on the couch beside Natsuki, then leaned over and planted a kiss on her love's cheek. "I think he's learning to use the newspaper now when he needs to do his business. I found some of his pee on one of the paper's we'd put out for him. I wanted to go find him and give him a tre-Um, a 'you-know-what' for it, but I figured it would be too long afterward for him to associate it. It still got me in a good mood, though, to see that he's learning."
Natsuki grinned at this as well, though she was actually just as proud of Shizuru as of Kiyoran. Even though she'd bonded quite well with Kiyoran, Shizuru had still had a lot to learn about taking care of a dog. But just like Kiyoran, she was learning. Natsui leaned over and returned Shizuru's kiss with a kiss of her own to Shizuru's cheek. "Good for him. And good for you as well, Zuru."
Shizuru seemed a bit confused by this remark at first, but she didn't question it. Instead, she simply snuggled up with Natsuki and joined her love in watching television. Her arm reached around Natsuki, gently embracing her.
It wasn't long before Natsuki heard the sound of a soft whimper coming from near Shizuru's feet. "Ara?" Shizuru said, looking down to find that Kiyoran was pawing at the couch. He wasn't big enough yet to jump up on the couch, so Shizuru reached down to pick him up and help him join them. As soon as he was up on her lap, Kiyoran climbed up Shizuru's chest to try to reach her face and give it a couple kisses. Almost before he was done though, he hopped over to Natsuki's lap and did the same thing, his tail wagging wildly as he did so.
"It looks like Shizuru isn't the only one who's happy today," Natsuki mused, smiling at the puppy as she patted him. Kiyoran rubbed his head up into her hand for a minute before he settled down in her lap.
"Indeed," Shizuru said. "Correct me if I'm mistaken, but I do believe that's quite a wide smile on Natsuki's face."
Natsuki snorted. "If that's your attempt at a tease, you've lost your touch."
"Who says it's a tease?" Shizuru said. She snuggled up just a bit closer to Natsuki, and her hand slowly stroked up and down Natsuki's side. "I'm just happy to see you happy. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Hmph," Natsuki said. "Silly woman..." Natsuki let out a sigh. This was quite nice, even if she wasn't going to simply admit it out loud. They had the whole family here right now, and Natsuki really couldn't ask for more.
"...Natsuki?" Shizuru said after a while.
"Yeah?"
"I think... I want to stay like this."
Natsuki blinked, trying to process Shizuru's words. A blush slowly filled her cheeks as one possibility occurred to her. "Um, are you asking me to...?"
Shizuru chuckled, shaking her head. "It's not my place to ask," she said. "But when Natsuki does feel ready to ask, I want her to know what my answer will be."
Natsuki didn't reply to this. A minute later, she simply turned her head and planted a kiss on Shizuru's cheek. For some reason, her heart felt just a bit lighter now.
