A/N: So now you get to find out the official number of babies. Get ready! Please read, review, fave, and follow! Thanks for all the support, my wonderful followers and reviewers!
Disclaimer: I now own Utapri all days of the week that don't end in the letter y. Hey! Wait a second, all of them end in y!
"Let's see what we have here," she trailed off, moving the device around as she squinted at the monitor. Her face broke into a kind smile as she announced, "Congratulations, it looks like you will be having ten very healthy babies."
Haruka's golden eyes widened, her hands flying to her abdomen. "T-ten?" she stuttered. "I thought it was just going to be the seven. Ten?!"
Otoya and Cecil looked dumbstruck. Ren was at a loss for words for once, his mouth opening and closing, but no sound coming out. Natsuki looked surprised, but rather happy. Syo's cerulean eyes were wide in shock as he froze like the Tinman without oil. Masato simply tried to rationalize the new situation, "But if there are ten, that only increases the chances that we each have at least one child with her."
Tokiya nodded, looking thoughtful. He glanced down at Haruka's worried face, and his cold features melted into a smile. "May we see the screen, please?"
Dr. Hihara nodded at his request, turning the monitor for the family to see. "Sugoi!" Otoya cheered,"Look at how big they are getting! Arigato, Haru-chan!"
Masato looked at the screen, pleased by the progressive growth of the babies, and awed by the image on the screen before him. The screen was black and white, and it looked very crowded in her womb, but the guys smiled nevertheless. Ren looked closely at the little hands and feet, feeling himself becoming proud to be a future father.
Tokiya turned to the doctor once more. "Sensei, may we get some printed sonogram pictures?" The doctor smiled at Tokiya, nodding once more, she continued showing them the babies for another couple minutes before printing out several dozen copies.
Syo looked at all of the pictures. "Um, why did you print out so many? There are only eight of us," he questioned.
Dr. Hihara smiled before cryptically saying, "You'll understand soon enough. Take these with you on your trip to Fiji, and take good care of this young lady."
In less than and hour, the gang was sitting aboard Shining's luxurious private jet as Ringo waved goodbye to them, tears in his eyes, waving a handkerchief like the damsels in movies.
Haruka settled herself on one of the plush suede seats near the front, sinking into the soft cushioning. She could have fallen asleep right then, if it were not for Ren sitting down across from her.
"It's going to be a long flight, Little Lamb. If you want, we can make good use of the separate cabins. After all, I've always wanted to join the Mile High Club."
She couldn't see his facial expression very well, since he was backlit by the soft, golden glow of the reading lamp, but she could hear the smirk in his voice. "E-eh. W-well, maybe some day," she managed to splutter.
He chuckled at her dark blush. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but the offer stands." With that, Ren got up and sauntered over to pester poor Masato who was reading a book Tokiya had lent him.
Soon enough, they heard the pilot say, "We will be taking off shortly, please take your seats now. Our destination is sunny Fiji. Sit back and enjoy the flight, it's going to be a good ten hours."
Haruka looked at her lovers. Cecil had taken the seat Ren vacated, and beside him sat Otoya. Tokiya had settled in to the right of Haruka, his head leaning on the window. Across the aisle, Ren was sitting next to Masato while they discussed a business convention that was coming up shortly. Syo was next to the opposite window, his eyes glued to the screen of his tablet as he read the script for his next movie. Beside him, Natsuki was knitting intricate and beautiful little sweaters in a myriad of pastel colors.
As she looked over Tokiya's shoulder at the puffy white clouds, her thoughts drifted to fluffy sheep, and soon enough, she was asleep on his shoulder. Tokiya looked down at Haruka affectionately. He trailed his left hand gently down her cheek. Her beautiful pink hair tumbled down around her shoulders in a cascade of silk.
Eventually, Tokiya was also lulled into a state of torpid serenity, his long, blue eyelashes sweeping down as his sapphire eyes closed. When his breathing was even, and he was as deeply asleep as Haruka, his head rested atop hers, blue and pink mixing as the couple slept.
Cecil and Otoya had fallen asleep in the reclining seats. Their bodies were a tangle of limbs as both boys sprawled out all over the place. Natsuki had finished two little sweaters before he too had fallen asleep from boredom. Masato was still silently reading his borrowed book and Syo was still reading over his new script.
Ren would never admit it to a living soul, but he loathed airplanes. His mother, Renge, had died in a plane crash when he was a small child, and ever since, Ren had been uneasy in the air. Now when the plane hit a patch of turbulence, Ren's heart skipped a beat. It took all of his dignity to suppress a cry of fear and surprise that bubbled up in his throat.
Deciding it better to be embarrassed in private, Ren stood abruptly and walked to one of the back cabins of the plane. Once there, he curled up on the small bed that was attached to the wall. God forbid anyone should find him in such a position of helplessness.
After a particularly rough patch of air, Ren was practically shaking. Suddenly, his head jolted up when he heard the curtain that separated the cabins being moved. Standing there, lit from behind as though she was an angel, was Haruka. She looked at him shyly.
He stared up at her in surprise, too scared to use one of his usual pick-up lines. "What are you doing back here, Lady?" he willed his voice not to quaver, but it did anyway. Haruka pretended not to notice as she drew closer to him.
"I woke up when we hit the turbulence, and I noticed you weren't in the main cabin."
Not wanting to appear weak, Ren mustered up some of his usual bravado. "So you came looking for me? Did you decide to join the Mile High Club after all?"
Haruka smiled at him gently before saying, "I just wanted to make sure you were alright." She sat down on the edge of the bed, tilting her head to the side slightly as she scanned his face.
"Honestly, I am not alright." Ren had no idea what drove him to admit that, but he was glad that he did. "I actually hate planes. My mother died in a plane crash when I was six."
Haruka took his shaking hand between her soft palms. "It's alright to be afraid sometimes. I don't expect you to always be strong, everyone has something that they don't feel comfortable talking about."
"Thank you, Little Lamb," he chuckled in self-pity at the end of the sentence. "I wanted to be the strong one, the untouchable one, but it looks like you have discovered my weakness."
"Being strong often means admitting that you aren't perfect. I love you no matter what, R-Ren." She blushed and stuttered when he pulled her into his arms, holding her close to his chest.
After a minute, pulled her onto his lap, hugging her tightly from behind as he buried his face in her hair. He inhaled the sweet fragrance of raspberries. She blushed again, but rather than moving away, she gently placed her hand atop his as they rested on her stomach.
They sat that way for a while until they were jolted from their peace by a sudden movement. This time, it didn't come from the plane, it came from the babies kicking. Ren looked at Haruka in surprise. His hands trailed over her abdomen as he felt the babies stir.
Haruka giggled sweetly as he wore an astonished look. "Lady! This is amazing." His hands continued roaming her stomach gently. With each successive kick, his fear diminished and his grin grew wider. "Is this the first time they have kicked?"
Haruka smiled. "It's not the first time really, but it is certainly the most active they have been so far. You see, they're telling their Papa that it's going to be okay. Isn't that right guys?" Haruka asked her stomach. In response, they got another kick that made both parents laugh.
They stayed like that for a while until both fell asleep. Haruka was still sitting in Ren's arms when Masato came in to tell them they were landing soon. He had gently shaken Ren's shoulder and then left so Ren could wake Haruka himself.
By the time they finally touched down on the landing strip leading to Shining's villa, Syo had read through his script and Natsuki had knitted five more sweaters. Just next to the plane, a black limousine waited to chauffeur them the half mile to the villa.
The impressive building loomed in the distance. It's cream-colored walls rose up out of the island like a giant fortress. After they had been shuttled up to the front driveway, Cecil helped Haruka out of the car and up the steps with the others following behind.
Waiting by the front door was none other than Shining accompanied by Ringo, Hyuuga, and QUARTET NIGHT.
"Oi! What are you guys doing here? I thought that you said we would be alone with Haruka. And how did you get here before us?" Syo asked Ringo pointedly.
Shining began by saying, "We only just arrived ourselves. Don't worry, we are only here for a week. But before all of that, I have a surprise for you."
"How we got here is not important. And I actually only said you would be alone with her on the way down to Fiji. But since everyone is here now, let's head inside, shall we?" Ringo waved his hand nonchalantly. His face was mostly hidden by a large, floppy hat with a cerulean bow that matched his summer dress and complemented his eyes.
The STARISH guys looked a bit disappointed, but they still entered the building behind Shining and the others.
The entryway was a massive two-story room with a floor of speckled marble in various off-white tones. Above, a large crystal chandelier acted as the focal point of the room and deep velvety-red walls rose high above their heads. Otoya craned his neck as he looked up at the steeped ceiling that was covered in impressive white moldings that displayed various musical symbols and scenes. Treble clefs formed flowers while half-notes became the figures of musicians. Instruments could be seen if one carefully analyzed the formation of whole notes.
Otoya was jolted from his amazement by the sound of Shining clearing his throat uncomfortably. The massive man had his back turned to the group that trailed behind him."Before we move into the next room, I have something I would like to admit," Shining stated, turning around to face Haruka and STARISH.
He motioned the others to continue on ahead before he slowly removed his ever-present sunglasses. Behind the shades were strikingly familiar eyes. They were same deep red eyes as Otoya's. "When I was younger, I had a son with my composer. After she died in a plane crash when he was a baby, I went into a spiral of depression. That was the end of my singing career, but also my fathering career." Shining looked down, ashamed of himself before he continued on, "I put my son in an orphanage because I thought that I could not be a parent alone. I kept an eye on him always, contributing to the orphanage and made sure he was taken care of, but I never approached my son. He grew up, sadly, as an orphan because I stupidly chose to abandon him in my grief, and I thought he would hate me if I went to him later."
Here he looked up at the group briefly. Most of the guys looked lost, but Haruka, Cecil, Tokiya, and Otoya looked like they had an idea of where this was going. Otoya looked at Shining, the mirrored vermillion orbs communicating silently.
"Mister Ittoki is actually my son and heir." Shining looked at his son, continuing to explain, "Your surname is your mother's. She was quite a woman. Very headstrong, but so kind. I wish she could be here with us now. I am so sorry for not raising you, for letting my grief cloud my judgement, and for leaving you as an orphan. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I just thought you should know. You are not alone, you never have been."
When Shining finished his confession, he suddenly seemed to have found something very interesting in the specks of marble on the floor. His scarlet eyes were glued to the little spots as he refused to meet Otoya's gaze.
Otoya, for his part, was processing the information rather well. He looked at the older man whose shoulders were curved downward, as if in a frown, and his eyes softened further at the sight of his father. "It's alright. I forgive you. I understand what you did now, and I'm glad to know that I have a living parent. Now at least I know that my parents didn't give me up because they didn't love me. I'm just happy to have a family." Otoya walked over to Shining, pulling his father into a tight hug. "I-it's nice to meet you, Dad."
Shining looked very relieved and happy as he pulled his son in for a tighter hug. "I'm so sorry I ever let you go. I missed out on so much and I wasn't there for you. I should have been a better father, but I am never letting go again," he whispered in an uncharacteristically soft voice.
"But you're here now and that's all that matters." The rest of STARISH looked at the reunited family happily. Ren's lips twisted in a slightly bitter smile since his own parents were long gone.
When the father and son finally separated, Shining began to lead the way to the rest of the house. Once again, his reflective white sunglasses hid his expression, but the arm around Otoya's shoulders was enough to tell them that the secretive man had not completely walled himself off again.
Once the group had finally passed through the foyer and into the main area of the house, Natsuki noted the impressive double staircases that curled around the outer edges of the new room. To the left was a massive kitchen that extended straight down as far as Ren could see. Ahead of them, Tokiya filed away in his memory the enormous library that piqued his interest. To the right was a massive sitting room full of couches, but it wasn't the silk curtains that framed the bay windows, nor the plush leather couches that claimed their attention. It was not even the twelve-foot wide flat-screen that caught their attention. No, it was the two dozen or so people that occupied the couches that made STARISH freeze in the carved oak doorway, and one particular woman caught Shining off guard.
The woman was beautiful with rich auburn red hair and striking teal green eyes. Her skin was a light tan that glowed like the sun, and a smile graced her noble features. All of the above would make her attractive, but Shining just stared at her in shock. His mouth opened and closed like a fish without water as he looked at her fair features.
Cecil flashed a broad grin as he embraced the woman. "Hi, Mom."
A/N: Those of you who have played the games probably know what is happening next. Please note that I haven't played the games, but I did some research on them. Thanks for reading and please remember to REVIEW! Thanks guys!