Two chapters back to back? I guess so. (Car was in the shop so I was at school the entire day with nothing to do!)

Anyways, thanks for everyone's support! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

On a side note, I'd like to do a little refresher on Natsuru's parents and kids images:

Kotoko - Imagine Natsume with her hair down, parted on both sides, and hair that went all the way to her knees. Add a calm motherly feel to her expression and eyes. (And a slightly smaller bust)

Serizawa - Rugged gentleman with a 9 o' clock shadow. Long blue hair that is slicked back with an always serious expression.

Ayame - Remember their daughter in the anime? Same one except with straighter hair.

Takashi - Shorter blue hair with eyes like his father.

I realize that a good writer can paint a good picture with words alone. But since I haven't really talked about the family a whole lot, I wanted to refresh everyone's imagination.

Chapter 7 - Meet the Family

Was this a good idea or a bad idea? The thought crossed Natsume's head many times and is still buzzing around in her thoughts. She and Natsuru were walking down the snow covered street, nearing the house.

"I'm a little nervous," confessed Natsuru. He crossed his arms and tucked his chin into his scarf. "I mean, my memories of them are bits and pieces. I don't even know what to say when I meet them."

"How about, 'I'm back'?" chuckled Natsume.

"Yeah, I guess I should start with that huh?" he scratched the back of his head. He was still very nervous yet very excited. After all these years he would finally be able to come to face his real parents. Though he felt something was amiss. He knew he had lost his memories and that made it much harder for him as he trekked those steps down the street, nearing his parents. His head was in disarray, but he noticed that Natsume had been more quiet than she usually was this entire time.

"Hey, you went out with Haru tonight right?" he asked. "Did something happen?"

She didn't reply. Natsume looked down, curling her neck into her scarf as she let out a pathetic chuckle. "He was a very good friend. But I guess he wanted a little more than just friendship, and I wasn't sure that I wanted the same."

Natsuru knew that Haru liked Natsume, but didn't say anything about it. In a way, he felt relieved, happy almost, that things turned out this way. But at the same time, he didn't like seeing her like this; troubled or depressed. "Well, if you didn't feel the same way for him, then there's nothing you could do about it, right? It's better to be honest about yourself rather than lie to hide it."

"I guess you're right," she said. "You're definitely right." She reached for his hand, gripping her gloved fingers around his. "After all, I belong to you." She looked up at him with a large smile. The light from the post above them bounced off the white snow, illuminating the two and making her look all the more beautiful with that large smile of hers.

"S-Stop," he stuttered. His face taking on the shade of red. "Do you like teasing me?"

"Who said I was teasing?"

"I don't see how you were girlfriend," he joked.

She giggled and gave him a good shove. Natsuru's foot caught on to a hard lump of snow on the ground. He fell face first into the snow and floundered in the white fluff before spitting the snow out of his mouth. Natsume bursted into laughter at the sight of his ungraceful fall and face covered in snow. "Very funny," he huffed as he stood up. He brushed the snow off his clothes, laughing along with Natsume. "Are we close?" he asked.

"We're here." She pointed to the house in front of them, there was a plate on the wall next to the gate that read 'Senou'.

Natsuru seemed to be in awe of the house. It was bigger than an average house and much more than he had expected. He walked near the wall up to the plate that had his family name on it. He brushed it gently as if the sign was some holy grail he had been searching for all these years.

Natsume opened the gate with Natsuru following behind her. They stepped onto the porch, Natsuru now more nervous than ever. Seeing his uneasiness, Natsume held his arm. She looked to him with a smile and said, "Don't be scared."

He nodded and watched as she opened the door, twisting the lock with the key and pushing the door forward. "Welcome home," she said.

They slipped off their shoes and walked into the living room. Kotoko was in the kitchen washing the dishes. "Mom, I have someone I want you to see," said Natsume.

"Ah who could it be-" She cut herself off as her eyes fell upon Natsuru. Her eyes widened, "Natsuru?" she said slowly.

"Y-Yes?" he scratched his head.

Kotoko slowly made her way over to him. She grabbed his hands and held them tight. She wasn't sure if what she was seeing was real or not. She reached for his face and cupped her hands around his cheeks, turning his head side to side. They locked eyes for a moment, the confused son and the overjoyed mother. Tears of joy ran down her cheek as she pulled him down to embrace him. "My baby! My baby boy! I can't believe it, my baby boy has come back to me!"

"What's wrong Kotoko, what's with the yelling?" said Serizawa as he turned into the living room.

"Look! Look at who it is!" she said through her tears.

Serizawa squinted at Natsuru, walking up to him as he stared him down. "Who…who is this?"

At this point, Natsume joined Kotoko in her tears. "It's your son!" she said.

"…Natsuru? Is this real?" he sounded dumbfounded. He slowly approached him and yanked him into his muscular arms almost crushing him in his hug. "It is! It's my Natsuru!" he shouted.

"So you don't remember a lot about us, do you?" asked Kotoko.

Natsuru shook his head. "I'm sorry, I do not."

The four were gathered around the living room. Natsume had explained his situation to them.

"That's unfortunate," said Serizawa. "But the most important thing is that you're back." He gripped Natsuru's shoulder. "You have no idea how happy we are to see you again."

"That's right," said Kotoko. "Oh my look at you now, you've grown so big!"

Natsuru chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head. Although they were his parents, he feels like he doesn't know them. Nevertheless, he could tell that they were his parents, and he took comfort in that. "Well I'm glad to be back," he said.

"Ah right," said Kotoko. "The other two are sleeping right now, should I go get them?" she asked.

"Let's wait for tomorrow morning, Natsuru's probably really tired by now," said Natsume.

The other two? Natsuru wondered what she meant by that. Were there more relatives that he didn't know about? It was getting rather late as well, maybe he should head home soon. "Thank you for your hospitality, I should excuse myself for now," he said.

"Where do you think you're going?" barked Serizawa.

Natsuru jumped from his loud and rugged voice.

"This is your home, so you'll be staying here from now on," said Serizawa. "And don't worry about your apartment debt and moving your belongings, we'll take care of everything."

"Oh no, I'm already overstaying my welcome," said Natsuru.

"Natsuru," said Kotoko. "We're your family. You can rely on us a bit more you know," she smiled.

Natsuru saw that there was no point in getting out of it. "I understand, thank you very much!" he said.

"We raised such a proper son, didn't we?" asked Kotoko to Serizawa. "But you don't have to be so proper with us, it makes it feel like we're strangers."

Serizawa nodded.

In a way, they were almost strangers to Natsuru, but he could feel the unseen bonds between parents and children.

"Now go take a bath and go straight to sleep, it's not good to stay up all night," said Kotoko.

Natsuru lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. All of this happened so fast, it was a lot for him to take in. He chuckled to himself. Ever since he arrived to this city, a lot of unexpected things happened to him rather quickly. The mattress was so much softer than those he would sleep on. He could feel his muscles relaxing as he lay there, sighing in satisfaction. But he wondered why the bed was so big.

There was a nightstand on the other side of the bed. He moved over to look at the picture frames that sat on top of the nightstand. He looked at the one with him and Natsume smiling. 'We looked so happy in this picture' he thought. That smile of hers always put him in a trance every time he saw it. Out of all the guys out there, she picked him.

He smiled to himself as he set the picture back down and picked up the one next to it. It was one of Natsume and his parents. But he spotted two children in the picture. 'Who are the-'

His thought was interrupted as he heard the door to the bedroom open up. Natsume stepped in and waved at him, "Hello~"

Natsuru quickly set the picture back down and turned to face her. He saw skin, lots of skin, beautiful white skin. He felt his heart race as he instinctively ran his eyes up and down her figure. He spotted her pure white underwear as well as her bare midsection and a tank top that seemed to be bulging out. Her hands were busy tying her hair into a ponytail, which was pulling her shirt further up, exposing more of her curvy body.

"W-W-What are you doing here?!" Natsuru spat out as he buried himself in the covers. "And what are you wearing?!" Rather, what wasn't she wearing?

"What are you talking about? This is my room and I'm wearing my pajamas!"

"Your room!? Where's my room?!"

"Ah, it hasn't been cleaned properly and we moved everything out of it, so you'll be staying with me!"

Not that Natsuru minded staying in the same room as Natsume, it was just that he didn't expect her to, none less in her undergarments. But she seemed to be quite happy about it. He felt the bed shake and assumed that she had just sat down on the edge. "I don't think I should sleep with you!"

"Oh…I didn't realize you were the uncomfortable around me," she said.

Ouch. Natsuru wasn't the most tactful person, but he realized that he could have easily said something else, anything else. He got out from the covers and sat up in the bed. "That's not what I meant. I was just surprised was all." He glanced over at her back which lay slumped over the edge of the bed. She was a temptress no matter what she did whether Natsume realized it or not. Natsuru swallowed. "It's just…It's just that I'm not used to being with someone as *cough* pretty as you. It makes me a little uneasy."

He waited for a response but was disheartened at Natsume's silence. Was it something he said, again?

She quickly reached for the lamp next to her, shutting it with haste. She quickly threw open the covers and slipped under them, lying with her back facing Natsuru. "Okay goodnight!" she said quickly. She could feel her face begin to warm up from Natsuru's comment. It was a rare thing for her to be complimented by him, so it was kind of a big deal for her.

Natsuru was left confused. It seemed like it worked, she did look a little embarrassed. He let out a sigh as he got comfortable under the sheets and laid on his back staring at the ceiling. The thought had crossed his mind many times, but it really was too good to be true that he ended up like this. Sleeping in a big house in a warm bed with an almost naked woman. "Is this real?" he asked out loud.

It was pitch black in the room, but he heard the sheets rustle with a voice that followed. "I was just wondering that myself," said Natsume.

Natsuru yawned loudly as he stretched his limbs out on the bed. It's been a while since he's had such a good night's rest. He looked around the room, Natsume had probably already gotten up. He walked over to the mirror and fixed his hair, trying to look as presentable as possible before going downstairs. Satisfied, he made for the door and proceeded down the stairs into the living room. "Good morning…Mom," he said with slight hesitation.

"Good morning Natsurus!" she said cheerfully. "Sit down sit down! Breakfast is almost ready."

"Thank you very much." He took a seat at the dining table. There were several plates set up already with chopsticks and a bowl of rice. "Where's uhh, Dad?" asked Natsuru.

"He's already out. He usually leaves very early in the morning and gets back around night time," said Kotoko.

"I see. Is there anything I could help you with?"

"No no, just sit down and relax my dear."

"Good morning Natsuru," he heard a voice say from behind.

"Good morning," he said as he stood up to greet Natsume. She was wearing a pair of spankies and a white long-sleeved shirt that covered her upper body, with the sleeves reaching out to her fingertips. A flash of blue immediately caught his eye as he noticed two children slowly emerging behind Natsume. Their resemblance was uncanny. One of them was holding onto her hand while the other was attached to Natsume's leg. Natsuru stared at them. Their big blue eyes reflecting his own image. He wasn't sure how to react, so he looked to Natsume with his mouth agape.

She smiled at him. She could already see the confusion on his face and disbelief shown from his demeanor. Nevertheless, she had to let him know. They needed a fatherly figure in their lives. "Natsuru, this is your son, Takashi and your daughter, Ayame," she said as she put her arms around them. "…Our children."

These kids looked familiar to Natsuru. Then, he remembered seeing them in the picture in Natsume's room. His eyes darted between the two and Natsume. He was at a loss of words. He didn't even know what to say to his parents when he meant them, let alone his kids. They looked cautiously at him as he tried to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Takashi and Ayame was it?" he looked down at them. "I never would have thought I'd have such beautiful children," he chuckled. He got on his knees. "I'm sorry I haven't been around for you two or your mom. But I'm here now, and I hope you can see me as your Dad."

The two little ones looked up at Natsume. "It's okay," she said softly. "Go on." She nudged the two of them forward towards Natsuru. They exchanged looks with Natsuru trying to maintain his smile as best he could. It was then that Ayame, the more shy out of the two, approached Natsuru and slowly put her arms around him. He was surprised. Her tiny little arms trying their best to envelop Natsuru's adult body. He hugged her back as a tear came to his eye. Soon after, he felt another pair of arms wrap around him. He pulled Takashi in as the three of them shared a moment together.

Natsuru felt overjoyed. These two were his own flesh and blood. And they accepted him, regardless of the time they never shared together. It was a fulfilling moment for him. Sure he was a little scared about the things to come, but he has a family now, and he was responsible whether he liked it or not.

"How come you didn't mention it sooner?" asked Kotoko.

"Well, I was afraid it might've been too much to handle," said Natsume. She glanced at Natsuru who was now playing with Takashi and Ayame. It brought a smile to her face to see them meeting their father for the first time. "But I guess everything turned out alright."

Kotoko wrapped her arms around Natsume and gripped her tight. "Oh honey, I'm so proud of you. Just look at what you've accomplished," she said.

Natsume laughed. "It wasn't easy, but it was all worth it." She had a foreboding feeling that things were about to get really interesting around this house.