Aruiteku Together Forever – Chapter Twenty-One
Kaname sat on the couch, several real estate booklets, newspapers, and a laptop strewn about on her lap, the couch, and the coffee table, phone in one hand and pen in another. Sousuke watched her from the doorway, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, a soft smile on his face. It had been only three days since he had returned and she was already deep in the house hunt. Every so often she would show him something, but mostly she was making phone calls and setting up appointments without asking his opinion first. That was fine with him, he was mostly concerned with location and the landscape, not the house itself which was really all that was shown in the pictures. He had to make sure their home was in a defensible location after all and he could always fix up the house to suit their needs as long as they had the land.
When they had been talking about it at the very beginning, he had very nearly received the first harisen lashing in a long time when he suggested they call the local police stations to find out what the crime rates were like in the areas they chose, as well as the delinquency ratings in the nearby schools. Shunya had rescued him by stating that those were, in fact, good things to find out when moving and that he himself had made such phone calls. It was a very close call though, and as he stood there watching her he noticed she had the harisen within arm's reach. He shook his head as he mused to himself, wondering if he was getting 'otaku' again or if she was just being hormonal. That musing would stay to himself however, as he had learned that much in his time with Kaname.
"Sousuke, I know you're standing there, make yourself useful and get over here already," she spoke tersely to him. He rushed to obey, nearly tripping over his own feet when he righting himself, forgetting he had crossed his legs at the ankle while standing there. Kaname turned from the booklet in her hand and raised an eyebrow at his clumsiness, "You aren't turning into Tessa, are you?"
"Negative," mentally he cursed himself for reverting to the military terminology, especially when Kaname's hand twitched over the harisen, "I was just lost in thought when you called to me so I stumbled."
She stared at him for several long moments and he broke into a sweat under her scrutiny though he had no real reason to. It was not as though he was hiding anything, and he had spoken the truth, so why did she still make him afraid? She had that effect on him, he supposed, and that would likely never change. Exposure to Kaname did not weaken the effects of her glares and outbursts, if anything it made them more potent. Finally, she made a noise indicating her acceptance of his explanation, and then she turned back to her booklet. "Go get me tea and something to eat. I don't care what so long as it has chocolate in it."
"Aff-ah, yes Kaname, what kind of tea?"
"I don't care, something that will go well with whatever you pick for me to eat," she muttered, barely paying him any mind as she flipped through the pages thoughtfully. Getting the hint, Sousuke left her to her self-enforced task to rummage through the kitchen for something she would want to eat. Going through the cabinets, the fridge, the freezer, he frowned when he came up empty handed. He would be making a trip, of that there were no doubts. It was just a matter of how Kaname would send him off. Given her current temperament, he took a moment to steel himself and prepare his body for the abuse it was about to receive.
He walked back out and stood beside her, "There's nothing with chocolate here. I put on a pot of water for tea. Did you want me to make the tea then go out or take the kettle off the stove and wait until I get back?"
Kaname looked up at him with a glare, tame for her though which looked good for him. She tapped her pen against her cheek and then sighed, "Make me tea then go. I'll take oolong."
"Understood," he took another moment to fortify himself before leaning in to give her a kiss, hoping for a favorable reaction. It wasn't violent, but she did push him away and he tried not to sigh.
"I'm busy, Sousuke, not right now."
Sousuke just nodded in acceptance, "All right, Kaname. Is there anything specific you want while I'm out?"
"I'll think about it," she muttered, clearly intent on finishing what she was doing first. Giving up, Sousuke left to prepare the things for her tea. He was grateful for the water needing several more minutes to boil, else he would have had to go out too soon and interrupt her again. She was certainly not forgiving of interruptions at the moment, even when he was just trying to do his best by her. Finally, it finished, and he set the tea to steep and then went through the cabinets again, trying to find if there was anything he could give her with the tea to hold her until he returned with what she wanted.
Not finding anything that seemed a suitable substitute for chocolate, he brought the prepared tea out to Kaname, pouring a cup and leaving the kettle nearby. He glanced down at the notebook she was scribbling in and was pleased to see it was a shopping list for him. He kept his mouth shut, then, not wanting to stop her when she was doing something to make his job a little easier, especially since she was apt to snap at him and send him off without a clue. If she did that, he would be doomed no matter what he did, since it would be inevitable for him to miss something she wanted or pick out something she was not in the mood for or did not even like. Finished, she tore the paper out of the notebook and shoved it in his face, "Here. Get these and whatever you see that you think I might want."
"All right," being bold, he decided to try for another kiss. She turned into it this time and let him taste her for just a moment before gently pushing him back. She shooed him off, telling him she wanted her snacks so he better hurry. Once more catching the hint, he hurried off, shouting from the door that he would be back soon enough. Kaname shouted off her reply then sat back, letting the cushion of the couch envelop her as much as it would. She closed her eyes and took the moment to clear her mind. Sousuke was doting enough, sure, but she was almost feeling suffocated with how much he hovered over her. She knew it wasn't fair to be thinking that, as it was all she had wanted before, but she found she was on edge and every little thing was bothering her.
Shaking her head to clear it, she smacked her cheeks, "Snap out of it girl," she muttered to herself. She was determined not to become bitchy from her pregnancy hormones, but considering she, admittedly, had a natural tendency towards bitchiness, she seemed to be losing that battle. She was trying though. She had really wanted to smack Sousuke with the harisen when he had slipped into military mode earlier, but she managed to stop herself. That was testament to her efforts, was it not?
Drawing herself up, Kaname reached over to grab the book she was flipping through earlier, starting back up her search. She was trying not to add too many houses to her list, and was crossing a bunch off when she found ones she preferred, but it was still taking an inordinate amount of time to go through everything. If she had known house shopping was so difficult she would have told Sousuke to do it all from the beginning! Now, though, she was involved, and like hell if she would give up in the middle of it. With a big yawn, she stretched, taking care of which muscles she pulled, and then settled back in. She grabbed her tea and sipped gingerly, not wanting to scald her tongue. At least she had managed to teach Sousuke how to brew a proper cup of tea over the past two years.
She considered even the most minor of successes with Sousuke to be the fruits of a laborious war.
Finally at ease once more, she set down her cup and went back to work, and by the time Sousuke had returned they had several more appointments. She was trying to keep those to a minimum, really only making phone calls to see the places that immediately caught her eye and that checked out all right when she looked them up on the internet. She knew how to do her research and cross-referencing, she thought with a self-satisfied grin. Once everything had been put away in the kitchen, Sousuke came back out, "What would you like, Kaname?"
Kaname set aside everything, making it into a neat stack on the coffee table and then stood, stretching her arms over her head thoughtfully. "I don't know, I'll look," she decided. He nodded and stepped aside so she could pass by him. He did not move from his spot at the threshold, instead finding contentment in watching her move around. It took all of his self-restraint to not walk over to her at that moment and wrap her up in his arms like he wanted so desperately to do. He had grown almost reliant on his contact with her, and her frequent rebuttals lately had him feeling frustrated. He knew to accept it as it came, and he figured it would pass, but it was still rough on him as well. Kaname finally came up with something she wanted to eat, and took it to the kitchen table with a happy smile. Sousuke shook his head near imperceptibly when he noticed it was something that had been there the whole time, not something with chocolate after all.
He went back into the living room to retrieve the tea she had left behind, setting the cup in front of her and refilling it from the pot. She thanked him in between bites, bringing the cup to her lips to wash down her snack. Sousuke took a seat near her and rested his head on a hand, watching her eating so enthusiastically. Finally, she finished, and stopped mid-rise when she noticed he was staring at her, "What?"
"You're beautiful," he spoke softly and without thinking, just saying the thing that had been top most in his mind. She blushed at the words as he did not say them often, and laughed nervously. She went to take her plate to the sink but he grabbed it from her, washing it off and putting it away. When he turned around, Kaname was still standing in the same spot, wringing her hands nervously. After what seemed an eternity of staring at each other, she stepped forward and reached out to touch his cheek tenderly, then urged him down to kiss her. They stayed like that for another eternity, wrapped in each other's arms and savoring each other's presences, and tastes. When Kaname drew back Sousuke edged forward with a disappointed groan. Cracking his eyes open he saw her giving him a sultry smirk and she lifted a hand to crook a finger at him, signaling him to follow her.
Follow her he did, his excitement mounting when she brought him past the couch and all of her resource materials, and into the bedroom. Perhaps he should remember to compliment her more often.
Several days later, many appointments to see various properties later, and Sousuke had lost his speaking privileges when it came to asking questions of the real estate agents. It had started innocently enough, asking about the local crime rates, the noise levels, the traffic in the area, the normal questions that anyone might ask. It started getting out of hand when he started asking what year the houses were made, what materials were used, what zoning regulations they followed, though that was still acceptable. Odd for most people, but still acceptable. No, it was when he started asking questions like if there was a bomb shelter, if there were any traps built in the house to ward against intruders, if there were any traps placed in the surrounding territory, and that was when Kaname had lost it.
The real estate agent had looked at Sousuke completely perplexed, wondering just what kind of a person it took to be asking such bizarre questions. Kaname had told him repeatedly to 'shut the hell up,' but he had continued to ask his questions, saying that they were very important things to know. Kaname did not agree. Finally she lost it and whipped out the harisen, bashing it hard on his head. Then she had yelled at him, telling him that his stupidity was causing her stress, and that stress was bad for the baby. That had clammed him up, and instead of asking questions about the house he had immediately began a string of questions regarding her health. That one she decided to put an end to prematurely, striking him so hard he collapsed on the ground. She had placed her foot on his back and stood over him with her arms crossed, and demanded he think about what he had done wrong and to not say a word until he had come to a satisfactory answer.
Five days later and he was still not allowed to speak unless spoken to.
The new real estate agents all looked at him curiously when he did not ask questions, expecting a soon-to-be father to have all kinds of things to ask. When one of them asked Kaname about it, she decided not to press the issue when the girl grinned evilly, baring her teeth in a snarl. That told alone told the agent a great deal more than she had ever wanted to know. At the very least, they were nearly done, and Kaname had a feeling that one of the previous houses would be what they chose. They had already visited the police station and asked for the area's statistics and had come out satisfied. There were not many houses that matched the criteria both of them had set, that much had become painfully obvious from the very beginning.
Sousuke managed not to cause any more trouble for Kaname from then on, and she had promised to ask the sane questions he had wanted answered, so he could stay quiet and not irritate her further. It had been working so far, and Sousuke was content with the simpler questions being answered. It really should have been obvious to him from the start that people would not be setting up traps in their homes in Japan. They did not live in his world, where such things were necessary if one wanted to live for very long. Kaname seemed to enjoy being in charge of everything, though, so he had consented to being quiet and letting her lead them through the process. Just because he was not allowed to speak did not mean he had no say in the final choice, and that was all that really mattered.
Day over, and they were finally done looking at all the houses on their list. Sure enough, they went back to the one from before. They had called, given their offer, the offer was accepted, and they would be signing the papers soon enough. It helped that they were buying the house outright and not having to deal with all the extra paperwork and scheduling of assessment visits and all of the other processes going through a bank added. Lucky for them, the owners of the house had already moved out, so they would be able to move in almost immediately. All in all, they had done well for themselves in the search, and had managed to keep the time down to a minimum. Things were going well.
"Sousuke, if you were just going to tear the whole place apart, then why didn't we just try to find a piece of land to build on?!" Kaname stood in the room with her hands on her hips, glaring at Sousuke who was tearing down a wall.
"Kaname, please, there is a lot of dust in the air, you should put on a mask," his complete disregard for what she had said threw her over the edge. She picked up the nearest tool and hurled it at him. He ducked the heavy hammer and it sailed over his head to embed itself in the wall behind him. For a long moment he stared at it, thinking just how bad it would have been if he had not dodged. He turned to face Kaname who was seething with rage and giving him the dirtiest look yet. "I'm sorry, Kaname. Ah, to answer your question, first, trying to find land would have been near impossible. Certainly anything we may have found would have been in an inconvenient location. Secondly, it would take far longer to build from scratch than to do what I want like this. If we had to build there would be no possible way for the house to be completed before Shizuko is born. I will be done within the month, if not the week even."
She stared at him, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping a finger impatiently on one arm. The position was somewhat uncomfortable for her as she had grown a considerable amount in the past month, but she felt the need to hold it to drive a point home to him. She was not pleased. Finally, she dropped her arms to rest a supportive hand on her stomach and another to brace against her back. "Sousuke," she began calmly, proud of herself for managing to keep her voice smooth, "just what exactly is it that you are doing?"
"I am fortifying the walls, and in some places I am altering the wiring to be more optimal," he stated calmly. He did not add that he would have thought it to be self explanatory, with the lengths of various wires and sheets of military grade armor lying around.
Kaname sighed, dropping her head into her hands and shaking it with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Why me?" she muttered plaintively, her voice rising an octave or two with her misery. "Sousuke, why can't you ever make anything easy on me?"
Concerned, Sousuke dropped his hammer and dusted himself off before walking over to her, "Kaname? What's wrong?"
"Everything," she whined, "why can't you keep things simple Sousuke? Why do you have to do this?" The tears were flowing down her cheeks now and she wiped at them fiercely, damning herself for her weakness at that moment. She knew it was the hormones kicking in, ordinarily she would just be beating Sousuke over the head with either her harisen or the closest blunt object, but instead she was reduced to tears. He tried to coax her into his arms but she shoved him away. "No, never mind, forget I said anything, do what you have to and just make sure it's still in condition for someone to live in when you're done." She pushed against him once more, her arms completely outstretched and then she turned and left, wiping at her face.
Sousuke was at a loss as to what to do, and he just stood there staring at the door she had left through. He wondered if he should go after her or finished what he was doing. Finally, he decided to check on her, and he went in search of her. She was lying down on their bed, resting on her side and hugging a pillow close, sobbing. He stood over her for a few moments, watching her sadly before stepping closer and resting a hand on her shoulder, "Kaname."
"Go away, I don't want to see you right now," she muttered.
He took in a deep breath, "Kaname, I'm sorry. I did not think it would be a problem as everything will look the same as before when I am finished."
"Well, it is a problem," she was whining again, she knew it. She could not bring herself to care at that moment. "Sousuke, I just to have a normal house, and a normal life, why is that so much to ask for?"
"Kaname…," he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Kaname. Just because Amalgam is gone does not mean that the danger is over. You will always be in danger, and I do not want anything to ever happen to you. That is why I am doing this," he spoke calmly and objectively as always, but his eyes were pleading with her to understand.
She sat up and looked at him sadly, then looked down at her hands, "I know. I just wish I could live in ignorance of all of this. Things were so much easier back then," she sighed.
Sousuke knelt on the ground beside her and reached out to hold her hands, "I know, Kaname. I'm sorry. I wish you could live the life you wanted, I-I'm trying to give you the closest to a normal life, and still have you be safe."
Kaname nodded sadly, then turned to swing her feet off the bed. Sousuke helped her up, wishing he could draw her close for a hug but with all of the dust from the wall on him he did not dare. "I'll make lunch," she whispered, pulling away from him and walking to the kitchen. He followed her out, watching her for just a few moments before returning to his task. He was determined to finish quickly so he could return things to normal as soon as possible for her. It was not going to be fun when he had to do their bedroom, he thought ruefully.
Sousuke wiped the sweat off his brow and then put away his tools. He was finally done with the entire house. Since Kaname was spending the day with her sister, he had saved their bedroom for that day. Now all he needed to do was clean up the floor and air out the room. As he reached for the broom he heard a knock at the door. He stepped out of the bedroom and went to the front of the house, checking to see who it was before opening to the door to find Kyouko standing there.
"Tokiwa, how are you?"
"Good, good, Sagara-kun! Is Kana-chan home?" she asked, her hands clasped behind her back and twisting her body back and forth excitedly. Sousuke shook his head and she clapped her hands together with a big smile, "Good! There was something I wanted to talk to you about."
Sousuke raised a brow curiously and turned aside to let her enter, "What is it?"
"I wanted to hold a baby shower for Kana-chan. I mean, she thinks I'm the only one that will accept her, but that's not true at all. I talked about it with the others and they all agree. Kana-chan shouldn't have to think she lost us as friends, and we all want to do something for her. Don't you think she would like that?" she turned up to face Sousuke expectantly.
He tilted his head to the side and considered it. Finally, he nodded, "Well, I don't really understand what a baby shower is, but if it's something that normally happens, then-."
"A baby shower is a party held for an expectant mother. There's games, and food, and presents for the baby and mother. They're normally just for girls, but we figured that inviting the boys wouldn't be so bad. This way she can see them and know that they're all rooting for her too," Kyouko smiled up at him. "As long as you think that's okay, anyways."
Sousuke nodded slowly, thinking, "Yes. I think that would be fine. Kaname would be happy to know they're still friends."
"Great! I think it would be better if you boys came later though, so we can do our girly thing," she giggled. "And this way you can spend some time with the guys before coming over. What do you think?"
"If that's the way it usually is done…," he trailed off. "I don't see why that would be a problem."
Kyouko nodded excitedly, "Awesome! Okay, I'll give you a call when we figure things out. My mom already gave me permission to have it at my house, and it will probably be in about a month, if that sounds all right. Are there any days you know of that would be bad?"
Sousuke walked to the wall where a half-white- half-cork-board was hung. On the whiteboard side Kaname had written her down her appointments with the midwife. Peggy had told her that her pregnancy so far was looking to be low-risk and that if she wanted to do a natural birth then she could safely go with a midwife. The kindly woman had come out and helped her find a good one as well, knowing all the proper questions to ask, and for that they were grateful. The one they had gone with was set up in a hospital so they had all of the equipment there as well and if any complications developed then she would not have to search for an obstetrician since one from the hospital would work with the midwife in that event. "Her next appointment is in two weeks, and then there's one four weeks after that."
Kyouko pulled a small notebook from her purse and walked over to the board, writing down the dates. "All right then, so if we plan for four weeks from now then it will be all right?"
"Yes, it should be fine."
"And you, Sagara-kun? You won't be working will you?"
Sousuke shook his head, "No. I don't start my new job for another year."
Kyouko looked at him, shocked, "A year, Sagara-kun? That's such a long time!"
"Yes. They need to set-up and reorganize everything to accommodate the program I will be teaching for them, since it is completely new. For that, they need time. As for my old job, well, technically I am still working for them and will continue to do so in my new position. They have me signed off of active duty and the only instance in which I would leave here is if there is a dire situation. There should not be any reason for them to need me in the foreseeable future," that was certainly true.
The only thing that would cause them to need him would be if they were to come across multiple units with the lambda driver. With Amalgam gone, there was likely not to be any such machines anywhere but Mithril for a very long time, if ever anywhere else again. Even in the rare event that they did come across more units with the lambda driver, with the Fairy Eye they would be able to take care of such units on their own if they were in the same class as the Venoms.
Everyone involved knew all of this. This was a way to essentially give him time off to be with his wife and child while allowing him to maintain his position in Mithril. It was special treatment, he was not the only one with family, but because of his official position as Kaname's bodyguard and because he was the only one that could pilot the Laevatein, they were able to get away with it. It also helped that only those in command or closest to him knew exactly what was going on so there would be no jealousies or grudges.
Kyouko nodded, knowing better than to ask any clarifying questions. She would get no answers. In some ways, she preferred to be left in the dark about the specifics. She was happy that she had been trusted enough to be given some information, but what little she did know painted a scary picture and she would rather not know the darkness outside of her peaceful world. They had told her that the biggest threat to Kaname, and also to Sousuke, had been taken care of, and that was the most she really wanted to know.
"All right, well, then, I'll be in contact with you. I'll talk with Ayame about inviting any of their family, and if you know anyone from your work that might want to be there let me know. Ayame will be in charge of letting Kana-chan know that it's happening so don't mention anything yet, okay? See you," she smiled and waved to Sousuke who had walked her back to the front.
"All right, take care Tokiwa," he said, closing the door behind her and returning to his task. He still had a room to clean up before Kaname got back.
AN: *cough* Ok, I know I've done my damnedest to be completely accurate with most things up to this point with research, but I'm sure this chapter is full of inaccuracies and I apologize for that. As for the beginning with buying a house, I have not gone through that process before and I'm not sure if it's any different in Japan compared to the States, so I really just used what I vaguely remember from when my parents were buying a house 10 years ago and what seemed to make sense to me. Also, Sousuke's reinforcing the walls, I honestly would not know how to go about doing that... I am assuming there would be some difficulties with the electrical and insulation and blahblahblah, so don't take it too literally... It was just a 'ridiculous Sousuke' moment.
I'm hoping it won't be too long before I get the next chapter out. I'm estimating about 2 more chapters and an epilogue, then sometime after that I will begin working on a (much more light-hearted) sequel.