Chapter 5

Dinner that day at the Tsukimori residence was not very lively. Kaoru and Sei were already exhausted from their long excursion with their grandparents, and coming home to a new nanny and their father was certainly not helping. Tsukimori was no use, either. He just stared at his plate as he ate, occasionally giving short replies to the questions his parents asked him. The job of maintaining the already awkward non-silence was left to Tsukimori's parents and Hino.

"It's such a small world, isn't it, Hino-san? Of all the people who could take care of our Kaoru and Sei, who would've thought that you would end up getting the job?" Hamai Misa said cheerfully.

"Yes," Hino replied. "I was really quite surprised when I heard my music professor mention it to me."

"Oh, you study music now?" Len's father asked, interested.

Hino's eyes suddenly widened. Her classes at the university! How could she continue to attend them while she was taking care of Tsukimori-kun's kids?

As though she had read Hino's mind, Misa smiled reassuringly and said, "Don't worry, we'll give you your evenings off for your classes. They aren't every day, anyway, right?"

Hino sighed with relief and said, "No, I only have to go on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and each take up only around 2-3 hours."

"That's good, then," Tsukimori's father said. "You'd be able to keep an eye on the kids in the mornings, then go off to the university and be back in time to get them ready for bed. In the meantime, Kaoru and Sei can spend time with their father." He gave his son a meaningful look.

Tsukimori, though, acted as though he had not heard. This didn't escape Hino, and she frowned.

After dinner, Kaho led the children up to their room for a while. In their nursery, she tried to get them to warm up a little.

"Hi, Kaoru, Sei!" she said cheerfully. "My name is Hino Kahoko. I'm gonna be your new nanny. You two can call me Hino-san, or Kaho, if you'd like. That's what my friends call me."

Kaoru looked up at her, a bit suspicious. "Why did ojii-san and oba-san act like they knew you?"

"That's 'cause your dad and I studied at the same school, Seiso Academy. We participated in the same music contest, though I was just a gen-ed student and your father was a music student."

Sei, who had, until then, been quiet, brightened at this. "You can play music?"

He ignored the not-so-stealthy glances and tugs his older sister had been giving him. Obviously, Kaoru didn't quite trust Hino yet.

"Yes, I play the violin," Hino smiled at them. "You know, it was your father who inspired me to start playing. See, at first, I was really reluctant about joining, because I didn't know a thing about playing music!"

Sei, and even Kaoru, was listening attentively now, and Hino continued to tell them about how Tsukimori's Ave Maria had drawn her to his practice room's open window, and how he had been incredibly grouchy upon seeing her. Sei giggled at her imitation of Tsukimori's reaction when he saw her standing by the window.

Soon, it was time for bed, and there was a lot of yawning as Kaho helped them brush their teeth and got them both out of their playclothes and into their pajamas.

"Good night, Kaho-san," Sei yawned loudly as he snuggled into his bed, a tattered hotdog-shaped pillow clutched tightly between his tiny hands.

"Good night, Hino-san," Kaoru said a bit formally as she climbed up onto her bed herself, refusing help from Hino. She turned her back on her new nanny and burrowed tightly underneath her lavender-colored blankets.

Hino smiled as she closed the lights in their nursery, leaving a small, beautifully made cottage-shaped nightlight glowing in a corner. It had been a good first night, all in all, she thought. Kaoru was a bit wary, but that was normal. She'd warm up to me sooner or later.

As she was about to leave, though, this nightlight caught her eye, and she went back inside to look at it more closely. How beautiful, Hino thought, taking it carefully in her hands and twisted it slowly around, looking at every detail. Upon closer inspection, this cottage was actually a beautiful gazebo, a white, dome-shaped structure with French doors.

The tiny, frosted glass windows emitted soft, amber-yellow lights that came from inside. The exterior of the gazebo was covered in honeysuckle, crawling around the walls of the lamp. Here and there tiny white flowers made of ceramic dotted the crawling leaves. Hino peered inside the doors of the gazebo and gave a small, surprised gasp. There was a solitary couple dancing inside, in the center of the, incredibly, ornately tiled floor of the miniature building. The woman had flowing straight yellow hair, while the man had blue hair, a few messy strands of which fell over his eyes. The man looked incredibly like Len, while the woman was probably—

"My wife," a voice came from behind Hino. Startled, she whirled around, being sure to place the nightlight carefully back where she'd gotten it.

The voice was Tsukimori's. "Michiko got the idea from one of her favorite movies, The Sound of Music." He said shortly, in a hollow voice that echoed loneliness. "Those had been the wedding favors we handed out."

"I-it's beautiful," Hino said softly, standing up to look at Tsukimori. He was leaning on the frame of the nursery door, and had changed out of his polo from that afternoon into a loose, worn sweatshirt, probably what he wore to sleep.

"How were they?" Len asked abruptly, nodding over at his sleeping children.

"They were great," Hino smiled at him, then frowned. "They seemed to be really eager to hear stories about you, though." They were both out in the hallway now, leaving the nursery so that the children wouldn't wake up.

"Is that wrong?" he asked, as they made their way down the hall.

"No…it's just…Tsukimori-kun—" she whirled to face him. "Do you spend time with them at all?"

Len was taken aback at this. For a while, his startled face reflected his emotions exactly, then rearranged themselves back to their cool expression. "Of course I do. They are my children."

"It doesn't seem like it," she stubbornly said.

Len sighed. "Hino-san, I would appreciate it if you'd not poke your head in matters that don't concern you. It's been a long day, so you and I should just go to bed. Good night."

There were some words that, when said, are like iron doors that can close conversations just like that. Len's 'good night' was one of those.

Back in her room, Hino fumed.

"Poke your head in matters that don't concern you!" he says! I'm their nanny! Those kids damn well concern me!

She sighed and plopped down on her bed. I'm not giving up, she thought.

Tsukimori Len is going to be SO screwed.