A/N: Yes, yes, a longer one for all of you patient readers! Heehee!
XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
"Save us from what?" Naru asked the children before him.
He knew that the world was comprised of infinite possibilities—that a split-second decision could branch out into countless consequences depending on timing and context.
So when he stared at the two children before him, he saw a lot in them. He saw wisdom. He saw hope. He saw anguish.
He saw too much that he looked away. The children..."His" children appeared older with those eyes.
And he found himself without a sliver of a doubt at what they'd said, although he'd only seen the paternity and maternity DNA test results on top of the documents they handed him.
It was curious.
Naru had once studied his and Gene's DNA out of a scientific whim. It was a wonder of his as to how identical he and Gene could really be, minus their personality and experiences.
The document "his children" gave him showed all the matching alleles. His Y-STR profile and Mai's mitochondria matching the two children's. The parentage probability was 99.99%.
Their DNA was similar to his, and as to Mai's, he can only assume the same. But what was curious was their signatures on other documents. Even if someone could forge their signatures...he would know...
It was strange. Psychic phenomena he believed with conviction, but time travel...?
There was a reason why Albert Einstein's theory of relativity was simply a theory; it was unapplicable.
But the kids before him...
He returned his attention to the midgets. They'd been whispering before they replied to his question. He'd been preoccupied by different rushing thoughts himself to notice their un-childlike arguments.
"...okay? Let's do that, then," Naru heard Kazuma say in hushed tones.
Maka sniffed and rubbed a tiny finger under her nose. "Fine."
Noticing his stare, they turned to him, blinked and smiled.
Resolutely, Maka said, "W-we can't tell you from whom we'll be saving you, Papa. No-not now, Papa...You and Mama are still too young to know..."
It was amusing that he, 18 years old, and Mai, months younger than him, could be termed as too young to know by children barely even out of the nursery. Naru though, did not laugh (not that he ever did anyway). His response was just a twitch of his lips and a raised eyebrow.
"She meant you're months younger," Kazuma explained. "W-we came earlier than before. Much much more earlier. We-we should have done this before, bu-but we wanted it to end immediately. Bu—but"—he sniffed—"now that we're running out of thyme—"
"Time!" Maka hissed.
"—Ti-time, we-we want to feel like children for a while..."
He hiccuped, and Maka smacked his back—which caused him to burp.
Naru had to admit then that there was something fascinating with the children before him...Mai would probably hug them if she wasn't hiding in the washroom.
Shrugging and not even thinking, he shifted the documents in his hands to examine the other records. He could feel the little ones gazing at him with watery eyes, and Naru tried not to glance down at them.
He was never good at comforting children, even little Gene when he fell on a stupid swing many years prior.
Anyway, barely touching the other papers, the air became different. There was a smell of something burning...
Of candles burning.
Naru shuddered as he felt electrified, and when he looked up to know what was happening, he stiffened as, before his eyes, he saw Mai in a fetching light blue gown...
No.
Mai was fetching in a light blue gown. Her hair illuminated a reddish, brownish glow. Her skin was radiant with happiness...
And to his great surprise, so was he, standing beside her. He was not smiling, but he wasn't unhappy either. He looked like Gene when he was glad but knew he shouldn't make it known with a smile.
He...looked like Gene...?
"You may kiss the bride," a voice interrupted, and he saw himself and Mai face each other.
Her light blue veil was lifted by him, who donned a white and black suit with dark blue cravat.
Lilies.
He could smell lilies.
Soon, his vision blurred...
Then he saw Mai lying beside two small cocoon-like bundles on an obvious hospital bed. Her smile was wan but joyful as she looked at the two infants and at him, crouching over them with an unusual worried look.
On and on the memories rushed to him from different perspectives. Just a touch, and a lot was revealed.
"Papa?!"
He flinched uncharacteristically, and he was transported to the present. He stared at the worried children before him.
And it sunk in that they were truly his.
There was no contest about it now. The memories in those papers were as real as the children before him.
His children.
He didn't look at the date as he peered at his and Mai's signature on their marriage registration form.
And it was most enlightening.
He never signed as Oliver Davis in Japan. But if he would, it would be for a serious reason.
He'd never thought marriage would make him do so. Nor that his marriage was serious.
Which would only mean one thing: what he did and when he signed it, he was very willing.
Naru glanced at the washroom's door. Mai's signature was perfectly done too. Perfectly hers. Its looped kanjis as adorable as her—
His eyes widened a fraction.
He didn't hate it. The thought of being married to Mai in the future...
He didn't hate it. He welcomed the thought like a cup of tea every now and then.
Mai Shibuya.
Or Mai Davis...
Both names sounded right. Marriage to Mai sounded right.
And that was strange because he'd never ventured to think of her like that before. He'd hardly thought of marriage at all.
But if it's Mai...nothing would be dull.
"Papa!"
He looked down at the twins gripping his trousers. Despite the mismatched hair, the boy looked like him and Gene when they were rebellious kids.
And the girl resembled Mai despite the hair...It was the color of his own...
The thought oddly pleased him.
"Both of you..." He paused, reorganizing his thoughts. "Don't tell Mai about this."
Not until he was able to grasp something...some plan...
But really, at the moment, he could not think of anything clearly.
To his hidden surprise, Maka and Kazuma nodded eagerly.
"Better not, Papa," Maka agreed. "Not yet."
"We—we know it is sho-shocking. Thi-this is the first time we traveled when you and Mama weren't married ye-yet." Kazuma sighed.
Maintaining the quiet, he handed back the papers to the children. They squeezed the documents back in their backpacks, and straightened.
He noticed matching gold necklaces disappearing under the collars of their clothes, but he thought nothing of them. Their backpacks were as new as though they were bought yesterday, but the documents he held were yellowing...
And they were supposed to be made in the future...
Recollecting his composure, he muttered, "Mai will panic."
The kids sighed.
Sighed!
"We know," they said in unison.
"You do," he enunciated, a statement of fact, not quite a question.
"But we couldn't help it, although we know we should tell. Mama is adorable when she panics, isn't she?" Maka said with a tip of her mouth, quite a little off topic.
There was a knowing smile on both of them, and though he held his silence, Naru found himself agreeing with them inwardly.
Harrumphing and then thinking of what they said, he spoke, "How many times have you done this?"
They blinked, and then Maka answered, "Many times. But we came earlier than before."
"Yet we do not age. We've bested time." Kazuma pounded on his chest proudly.
The wisdom he saw in them...Experience had marked it in the children...Experience, which he now assessed as continuous time travel. If he could calculate how many times they'd repeated days, the children were probably supposed to be older than or as old as him.
Children hardly joked about life and death. Neither do children about six years old could understand what death really means.
They couldn't supposedly.
Yet.
On another note, there was something about the burns and scratches on their clothes that made him think something amiss.
"Why were you confirming our names if you're certain about who we are?" Naru frowned.
They glanced at each other before looking up. Their synchronization was nostalgic...There was a time when he and Gene acted simultaneously.
"We just wanted to lessen the shock," Kazuma explicated and glanced at his sister with apprehension.
If it was a rehearsed reply, it sounded flawless, but Naru didn't press further. He doubted it was the truth. If it was, he doubted the shock lessened though; Mai's reaction was evidence enough.
As to him...
It wasn't entirely shock...It was curiosity. That it wasn't shocking he would marry Mai and sire intelligent children was shocking.
Well, maybe not the siring-of-intelligent-children part—that's like natural law where his ingenuity was concerned.
"Go fetch your...mother," he ordered as gently as he could. He wasn't adept with the care of crying children, and he'd be guilted into it by Mai when she would hear. His lips twitched afresh, and it appeared he was trying not to smile. "Do any means necessary to strip her out of there."
If there was someone who could coax her easily, it would be a child.
Mischievous eyes and smiles greeted him, and the girl said with bravado only seen in children, "I'll do it! You"—she pointed at her brother conspiratorially to Naru's amusement—"tackle her when she opens the door."
With a dignified air—too dignified—the girl approached the washroom and shouted in a pleading voice, "Mama, Mama! Please hurry out of there! I want to poop!"
There was a rattle on the door, and Mai must have winced out in there.
So Naru wondered what she would do.
XDXDXDXD~nya~
Wha-wha-wha-wha-what was I doing?!
I slid down with my back on the bathroom door.
Why was I thinking of Naru and me—
Kyaaaaa! Erase erase! I shook my head.
Wasn't I in love with Gene?! I pressed my cheeks with my palms.
Then I blinked.
Gene...
Trying to recall, I scrunched my eyes shut, but then succussed my head.
They looked the same!
Ahhhhhh!
I waved my arms in the air vehemently and did random movements I couldn't even describe.
I loved Gene! Me and Naru having children would sound wrong!
I meant...!
I rested the back of my head on the door, and whispered, "Isn't that like...I'm using Naru as Gene's replacement?"
Perhaps I'd always been irrational, and my conclusions were way off from the line of thoughts often...
But...
There's no way Naru and I...would be together...Besides...he would be hurt...And deep inside...he'd think I'm just using him as Gene's replacement. If we would be together...wouldn't it be because he pitied me…?
It had been a year ago when I confessed to Naru and found out about Gene...After that, I made sure to not mistake Naru and Gene ever again, and I'd finally come to see Naru properly...
And...Gene hadn't been coming to my dreams anymore...
So I wondered...so often...if the happiness I felt when I'm with Naru was really because of Naru himself, or because...he looked like Gene. There were times, when my eyes and Naru's met, that make my face burn—like when Gene smiled at me in my dreams. There were many times I'd dreamt, really dreamt, of Naru (not smiling) before waking up.
Just then there was a pounding...and I put a hand to my heart.
Were the throbbing and pounding of my heart because of Naru?
"Mama, Mama! Please hurry out of there! I want to poop!"
I flinched and hit the back of my head on the door. Doubling over, I realized that the pounding wasn't my heart. Squinting my eyes while massaging my head, I gazed at the rattling door.
"What are they doing...?" What did she say? I heard "poop"...
I blinked and looked at where I was. I stared at the gleaming toilet bowl as though I'd never seen it before, and it was then that it dawned on me.
XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
When Mai didn't open the door, Maka tried sniffling, "Mama, please! Ah! It dropped on the carpet..."
Naru would have laughed if he had the knack for it or wasn't able to think against it as Mai hurriedly opened the door.
"Maka, you can't—!" She was cut off with Maka pushing the door wide open and Kazuma tugging the former out of the bathroom.
Mai was so beautifully perplexed. Naru could just stare.
Without question, they were his kids alright.
They had inherited his cheekiness.
XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
With me sitting on the couch with two children holding me down (by sitting on my lap), Naru asked across me, "What were you doing there?"
I felt my cheeks warm up, but I tried to ignore it by giving him a glare. His tone of voice echoed "coward" in my direction, and I couldn't help replying, "What someone should do in a bathroom!"
However, he just raised an eyebrow. "I would be humbled to hear of the specifics."
I gaped at him.
Why would anyone tell somebody else how they do their toilette or whatever?
As fast as I could, I closed my hanging mouth and cleared my throat. Raising an eyebrow to his direction, I mustered a 'why-should-I?' voice. "Oh? And will you tell me the 'specifics' after you use it too?"
If there was one thing that ruled Naru's world, it would be reciprocation. I was grateful that in some moments of defiance, I could be at par with him.
Still I felt uneasy.
I felt that something...changed. Naru's face did not bear the usual bored look when he's lounging on the couch with nothing to do. Right then, I felt like he was piercing me with his gaze with more intensity.
I looked down at the two kids on my lap. They were mine...they said...Mine and Naru's...Thinking about it, it didn't sound bad…
But it didn't make a sense either.
And warmth still spread to my body...
Wait! What was I thinking? It's not like it's true! How could I have borne them?! I shook my head.
Then, clearing my throat, I held Naru's gaze. "Wha-what are we going to do with these children?"
Were we really their parents? How could that be? Was it all just a lie? Was it Bou-san's prank?! So many questions that continue to whirl in my head were unvoiced.
Naru hesitated, and I thought he wasn't going to answer. But he did.
"We have a new case."
I blinked again. "A new case?"
It was an unexpected turn of thoughts. I looked down at the children again. Was he uncomfortable about them? Was that why he was avoiding the main topic?
"Do you mean to say you'll accept that one about a cat's ghost?" I queried, unable to hide my incredulity.
Maka and Kazuma gazed up at me with interest.
"There's a cat's ghost, Mama?" Kazuma inquired. "Was it lost?"
"Should we find its owner?" Maka asked while rubbing her eye.
I shook my head. "I—"
"No, we're not taking that case," Naru's voice traveled to us, and my eyelids fluttered.
"Which case then?" I jutted my lower lip.
He shrugged and leaned back (and I didn't even notice he was leaning forward). "A case that involves the children on your lap."
"Whaa?"
"For a while we'll be acting as their parents. They'll be under our protection until we'll solve their problem," he said a-matter-of-factly, like he was doing a simple charade.
I felt my jaw drop and my cheeks burn once more. "Pa-Parents?! Wha-what kinds of ghosts are we dealing with?"
How could he just say that as if he gets to play as a parent everyday?!
"A live one."
I sputtered, "A live one? Naru, stop playing—"
"He didn't mean it literally, Mama," Maka intercepted.
Kazuma bobbed his head, as though in approval. "Papa is brilliant! He immediately knew what to do. As always!"
Maka grinned. "We didn't even say who the villains are yet."
I goggled at them. "Villains?"
Both of them looked at Naru for help.
He sighed and explained, "They seem to like imagining a parallel world where they are...superheroes."
I stared at him as though he lost his head. Naru...was interpreting children with so much patience and understanding than usual...so a chuckle was dying to escape from my mouth.
"A-and," I coughed my chuckle down, "you are willing to...to be a temporary father to these...little superheroes?"
He shrugged. Maka and Kazuma stared up at me.
"We don't bite, Mama," Maka assured.
"We'll take care of you and Papa!" Kazuma said.
I couldn't help it; I laughed and squeezed the children gently in my arms. They were so cute. It was hard not to hug them. As a result, they gurgled with mirth.
"Shouldn't we be the ones to assure you two?" Somehow, acting as a parent wouldn't be hard. There was nothing more to it…
There was nothing between Naru and me. I was still in love with Gene...right? It wouldn't hurt, right?
Or so I thought, but I was confident it would be alright. Nothing would change. No one would get hurt.
And this would be the most unique case we'd ever taken. There didn't seem to be any evil ghosts involved in it—which was strange, but since Naru was okay with it, I couldn't really deny him as my boss, right?
The kids smiled, and I had an inkling that they knew something I did not...That they knew something they did not wish to tell me.
When I peeked at Naru, I noticed his eyes on the children. He was a thoughtful person, but there was something in his current thoughtfulness that made me think he also knew something I did not.
And he...was wondering about it.
He was never the kind to share his private thoughts to me or to anyone (perhaps, except Lin-san), but most of the time I wished he could. There was something...something he's having a hard time with at that moment.
"Naru?"
He perked up at me, and with the meeting of our eyes, I felt something tilt. Naru had gazed at me intensely before, but never so deep and steady as that instance. For the first time, I could say he was looking at me, as though he could see my soul. There was something quite unnerving yet not about it. There was a flicker in his eyes, and I wondered what amused him so much...
Was it the picture of me cradling two kindergarteners on my lap?
"Mama, Papa, I want some ice cream," Maka pleaded and Kazuma snorted.
"Ice cream again?"
Maka shot him a look that could wither anything. "It's not like you don't like ice cream, onii-chan."
"I don't! I'm a man." Kazuma hmphed with crossed arms and chin upward.
I bit my lip and tried hard not to laugh at the children spat.
It wouldn't be hard...I assured myself that. I could pretend...I glimpsed at Naru.
We could pretend...and there would be nothing more of it...
Soon enough, I heard Naru stand up across me. Our eyes locked again, and he tipped his head.
To my astonishment, he said, "We'll buy them ice cream."
XDXDXDXD~nya~
Naru took us to an ice cream shop in Ebisu. Earthy colors like light brown and green decorated the place.
"We'll choose our flavors while you two sit, Mama, Papa," Kazuma informed before Naru and me could argue.
Sighing, I sat on a table for four, and Naru settled across me. Kneading my fists on my lap, I glanced at Maka and Kazuma.
Although my lap was getting weary, since Naru had no child seat, I cradled them on my lap again during the ride. Something tugged in my heart as Maka and Kazuma clung to me. There was something sad about the way their tiny arms embraced me—some kind of desperation to hold me as though I'd disappear if they didn't.
I took a glimpse at Naru, who was reading a laminated menu.
During the ride, he'd glanced at us, beside him, many times. It must have been strange to have someone beside him in his black BMW with children in tow...
The silence was...unusual, so I started with a croak, "It feels weird...To act as parents to children..."
Naru arched his brow, and I just smiled slightly. Was I too forward?
I felt my blush, so I looked away.
"I...never thought of marrying." And it was the truth, although I didn't know why I was telling him that. Although I loved the idea of it, it...
It just seemed so far-fetch as a future.
He narrowed his eyes. "You like children though."
I felt a tug on my lips. "Yes, but...having my own children...I don't think it's..."
I bit my lip. How should I say it…? The odd foreboding inside me when I think of children?
"If you're thinking of expenses, I'd assumed you're the type who wouldn't mind."
I blinked and shook my head. "It's not about money...I...I don't want to make them sad...if I had children."
"Sad? Whyever?" He studied me with his inscrutable eyes, and I felt my lungs constrict.
I shunted my head.
"My...father died when I was very young, and my mother died when I was old enough to know but still too young to live on my own. I...I don't want that to happen to my children. I don't want them to grow up without me..."
He didn't even pause or hesitate when he remarked, "That's ridiculous."
For the first time, I was confident when I told him, "I know…"
"It's ridiculous that you don't want children because you think you'll die before them. I find it uncharacteristic for a readily optimistic person like you."
I stared. "Hah?"
He withdrew a breath. "Not every mother dies before her child. If you anticipate your death so much, you'll be the greatest idiot there is. Nothing is entirely predictable."
"I know, but it's not impossible. If they die before me, I don't think I'll be able to live with that too—"
"If you don't want to die before your children, you should try to escape danger."
I smiled. "But trouble always finds me right?"
He frowned. "Trouble finds everyone. If you like inviting it too much, it wouldn't refuse. You have a ludicrous excuse for not marrying."
He looked so annoyed that I laughed. I couldn't believe Naru would be so against someone not thinking of marriage.
"What's funny?" He loured and I snickered more.
"No-nothing." I gulped and curved my lips. Then, not meeting his eyes, I blurted out what I'd been dying to, "How about you, Naru? Have you ever thought of marrying?"
He stared at me and fell silent. I felt my cheeks heating up afresh. It was as though his gaze was a warm touch to my skin. It's summer, but I was fairly sure the air conditioning in the shop was set very cold when we first came in.
When he was opening his mouth to finally reply, Maka and Kazuma came back to us with their orders and called, "Mama! Papa!"
And they tugged our arms to the cashier.
They ordered their 20-flavored bowl of ice cream while Naru had green tea ice cream and strawberry mochi ice cream for me. The cashier, a woman in her late 20s, smiled at the children and at Naru. Coyly.
"Your siblings?" she spoke while tucking her curly honey-colored hair under her ear.
Before Naru could reply, Maka and Kazuma hollered, "We're his children!"
Then they held my hand and Naru's as though to defend their words.
With ease, Kazuma declared, "That's all for our order. Come on, Mama, Papa."
The lady's blinking eyes followed us, and I couldn't help but smile. Even if Naru and I were in a marriageable age, having 6-year-olds already while just being 18-year-olds could shock anyone.
I met Naru's eyes while beaming, and my cheeks were like being steamed.
Because although he wasn't smiling, his eyes clearly lit with satisfaction.
Marriage...looked quite appealing indeed. Especially with the right person.
XDXDXDXD~nya~
The trip to the ice cream shop was a pretty quick affair. The children were quiet all throughout their snack that there wasn't much room for conversation. When we were done with the ice creams, Maka and Kazuma were already yawning as they sat on my lap again in Naru's car.
Looking at Naru, I inquired, "Is it ok if I let them lie down on the couch while I finish filing your magazines in the office?"
Again, the children intercepted Naru's reply.
"I want to go home, Mama," Maka said with a yawn.
I blinked. "Ho-home?"
I glanced at Naru in bewilderment. Where?
"Me too," Kazuma said. "Let's go home, Mama."
Where? Didn't they have real parents? Weren't Naru and I just pretending for the day…and maybe the next few days? But they had somewhere permanent to sleep on, right…?
But then again, we never discussed it earlier, so I didn't really know how to approach the matter.
"U-um...Naru ?" I gazed at him questioningly. Inside, I was shouting, Help me on this!
He looked at me pensively himself.
Maka stirred and looked up. "Oh...you still live in a different place."
Still? "O-of course we live in a different place..." I felt a crease form between my eyebrows.
Kazuma yawned before saying, "We forgot...Oh well. Papa, we can go by Mama's place so that she can pack up her things before going to your place."
"WHAT?!" I gaped at the exchange.
Wha-wha-wha-wha—?!
Maka smiled. "You'll be living with Papa from now on, Mama!"
My cheeks burning, I turned to Naru for help (thinking he would clearly be revolted to think I'd live with him), but Naru's expression was impenetrable...and he didn't object.
"Do you live in the same apartment complex Lin and I had fetched you before?" he asked in a low, quiet voice.
"Ye-yeah…"
He nodded while starting the engine.
"Pack all your clothes."
"A-all?!" My jaw was hanging in a way that it could be digging underground any minute.
"Yes. All," he responded firmly.
And he gave me a look I often saw when he implied something as final.
XDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
When we arrived, Maka and Kazuma were already sleeping. Naru and I had been quiet all throughout, but now that we're truly alone, in a sense, he turned to me as I did.
"Sho-should I really pack everything?" I stammered.
He jounced his head. "We don't know until when we'll pretend to be their parents."
"O-oh…"
"You sound disappointed," he observed.
I felt light-headed. The day was so strange that I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and realize it's all just a dream.
"I-it's not that. It's just...this is all sudden...and I'm renting this place, so…"
"I will pay your rent and other house bills for taking this case with me," Naru said in a flat tone.
"That's—"
He gave me a don't-oppose-me-again look, and I exhaled.
I had dreamed of thousands of romantic scenarios that could lead me to live with Naru, but I'd never thought I'd get to live with him by pretending to be a parent to children...who strangely...resembled the two of us.
I shook my head. How could that be possible?! We didn't—
I stopped my thoughts before I could embarrass myself again.
Gently resting Maka and Kazuma on the front seat, I wended to my apartment and packed up my stuff into my floral trunk. I couldn't even remember what I dropped in it. All I could think of was that I could be dreaming. I could have eaten something bizarre yesterday, and the effect of it in my stomach was bizarre too...And my brain turned out showing bizarre things…
I met the landlady near the elevator, and I told her I would be going on a trip. I couldn't remember her reply then (something about me going to the beach, I think, and me nodding without thought). Then I went back to Naru's car, and he helped me put my trunk on the back seat.
I cradled Maka and Kazuma again on my lap afterwards. Somehow, it was...thrilling. Something was crawling in my skin—an excitement I could not contain.
I was going to live with Naru.
I was going to live with Naru with children.
It was the most bizarre situation I'd ever landed myself into, and as much as it could be as embarrassing, deep inside me, I was...floating.
I would become a part of a family with Naru.
I expected a warmth on my cheeks at the thought, but it didn't feel embarrassing after all. It felt wonderful. It felt so wonderful.
I gazed at Naru on the driver's seat and winced back at his darkening eyes.
"W-why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Now my cheeks felt warm.
Naru just shrugged as he keyed the engine of his car. "You haven't cut your hair."
"My hair?" Like a fool, I touched my hair and bent to smell it, and he smirked.
Feeling self-conscious, I said, "Oh...I thought of keeping it long...for a change."
And because I was able to buy a giant bottle of Shiseido shampoo because of your hefty wages for me...
I smiled sideways. He noticed...even the least of things? Of me?
Maka moved in my arms, and I gazed down at her brown eyes...like mine...
She was grinning at me, and I got a feeling she wasn't sleeping all along.
XDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
"Do you have an extra room?" I asked with my mouth open.
Naru brought my trunk on his doorstep and didn't look back when he shrugged his reply.
It was like our usual case sleepovers. At least, I was assuring myself until I spotted his home. Never had it felt so different from our cases before...
Because I just remembered that Lin-san wasn't living with him.
At the moment.
I didn't want him to see me blush. I didn't want him to see my hesitation. But inside I was squealing in utter panic because living with Naru never felt so damn real.
Until I stepped inside his turquoise-colored home, which, I might add, looked like a slice of cake from the outside.
I was not kidding. Naru had to turn around to get to the garage because of a garbage truck blocking the way, so I had a great look of his expensive-looking place before we got in.
The inside was very different from outside. It was dominated with white paints and light wood colors. The contrast to Naru's clothes was striking. I didn't know who cleaned the place, but it must have taken a long time to have every glass so shiny and squeaky clean, every white spot so de-speckled.
"Mama?" Kazuma yawned while tugging my shirt. I put him down from the cradle of my arms and saw Maka following Naru to the kitchen, which was all white and silver.
"What do you want for dinner?" Naru asked. He'd put down my trunk on the living room while he took some hot tea—from where, I didn't know.
I blinked. "You're hungry?"
He shrugged. "I eat early."
"We just ate ice cream!"
"It's not that filling." He furrowed his brow, and I suppressed a giggle.
I didn't even know that. In fact, I didn't know how and when Naru eats his meals at his home.
And I'd known him for quite some time.
I stared at my watch. It was just some minutes past 5 o'clock.
"I want Mama's fried rice!" Maka demanded.
"My fried rice?" My eyes fluttered for a long time.
"Yes! We love your fried rice," Kazuma revealed.
I loved it too, although that sounded conceited of me. But how could they have known?
My query hung unanswered in my head. Still, looking at their expectant glittering eyes made me want to spoil them.
"D-do you have ingredients for it, Naru?" I asked as the two yay-ed.
Naru shrugged. "Lin has stocked the fridge before he left."
Lin-san...went to China to attend a funeral. I didn't know who died, but it was clearly not my business...
Thinking about Naru's shrug, I curved my lips. "You don't cook, do you?"
He narrowed his eyes, and when he spoke, he seemed defensive. "Not usually. It's a troublesome endeavor."
I bit my chuckle and nodded. But I couldn't keep it down, so I laughed.
Naru glowered at me, but then looked away and countered, "I thought you don't cook."
I made sure to grin widely at him. "That was before. I started learning last year."
Still, my mind nagged, How did the kids know I can cook fried rice? It was the first dish I'd perfected, and I was quite sure I told no one about my self-cooking lessons.
"I'll take out the shrimp, Mama!" Kazuma volunteered.
"And the peas! And cilantro!" Maka interjected.
"And the eggs! And the chili paste!" they chorused, and I looked at Naru, puzzled. They were invading his space so naturally. I couldn't even intercede and ask if he had such things in his fridge.
"And the carrots! And the garlic!"
I blinked. "How do you—?"
They beamed and neared the large silver fridge without a reply.
"I could make a soup after I lodge your trunk properly," Naru informed resolutely.
Soup? He's making us soup?!
I cleared my throat, but I knew it wouldn't erase the crimson specks that I was sure now lingered on my cheeks.
I stared at Naru and finally expressed in a low voice, "I'd never told anyone I can cook fried rice..."
He raised an eyebrow. "It's not a complicated dish."
"Yes, but...How could they know the ingredients? They're my mother's."
Naru didn't answer immediately, but soon said, "Someone might have told your mother, and whoever it is told others. However it came to be, your mother must have gotten the recipe somewhere, and recipes could be accessed anywhere."
It sounded so simple, but it was strange. Could Bou-san be so investigative? If he was really the one pulling the strings somewhere or something...
Gah. My head hurt just by thinking.
Naru said something, but I didn't hear him. So I blinked. "Eh...?"
"What do you want for soup?"
"I...don't know."
"We want cake papa!" they shouted in unison.
I blinked. "Cake?"
Kazuma informed, "It's our birthday today."
I gaped at them. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Because there were more pressing matters."
I just ogled because I was quite sure when I was six years old, my birthday was the most pressing matter.
"What kind?"
I gazed at Naru in disbelief.
He was being so nice to them...nicer than to any children we'd met...Actually, he's very nice that day...
Was he really just pretending to be a nice parent?
"Mai?"
"Eh?"
I tilted my head to Naru.
"What kind of cake do you like?"
"Me? But it's not my birthday..."
"They said they like the same cake as you do." He quirked a brow.
I nictated. My head was spinning, catapulting somewhere unknown.
But I murmured, "Orange cheesecake...then."
He nodded and then said, "Would you like to come up and see your room?"
I felt my blush again.
I was really going to live with him.
XDXDXDXD~nya~
Naru glanced at me while he carried my trunk over the stairway. "I had thought you'd be uneasy."
"Uneasy? Why?" What about you? I wanted to ask him too, but I was tongue-tied.
He added, "You were flustered."
"A-about what?" Did he see my blush?! Although I knew I couldn't hide them all, it wasn't less embarrassing to know he noticed.
He frowned. "Pretending to be a parent."
I felt my cheeks warm up. "O-oh..."
There was silence as we landed on the second floor, but I explained quickly, "I-it isn't like there's anything in it, right? I-I mean, I shouldn't rush into conclusions, right? Yo-you always imply that when you reprimand me!"
He blinked at me, and my breath was caught. He turned away and shrugged. "I see."
And a corner of his mouth quirked up slightly. Veeery slightly before he clicked a door open, and the briefest of smiles vanished.
But it left something.
It left my heart pounding.
The room Naru took me to was painted in the palest blue. There was no TV like my room back in my apartment. There were no picture frames anywhere. There was a painting of little owls in sunset flight, but aside from that, the wall seemed like a great expanse of the day sky. There was a desktop computer on the left of the door. The desk was a thick strip of glass bending to form an upside down edgy U. The bed was covered with blacks sheets and topped with sable silk pillows. A small three-drawer table stood beside it and held a white lamp. Two doors were across the end of the bed, but I was too shy to ask Naru about them as he dragged my trunk.
He opened the left door across the bed's end and showed a walk-in closet that wasn't completely filled with black clothes and shoes. Unlike me when I sometimes left my small walk-in closet, there were no straying underwears.
Naru placed my trunk before a deserted part of the closet, and told me, "You can hang your clothes on this side."
It was too late for me to realize that I was in his room. I felt so hot then and waved my hands at him. "I-I can't possibly—!"
Naru squinted and said, "You will stay in this room."
"I will...?" But wasn't this your room?! I was feeling feverish with all the heat my body was contained in.
He just jounced his head as I fanned myself. "I'll move my things later."
I stopped fanning, blinked and then realized. "Where will you sleep?"
He shrugged. "I'll sleep in the extra room."
"But—"
He gave me a look that he knew would make me surrender. "You'll sleep with the children."
"Oh...Well the bed probably wouldn't fit us—" I waved a hand.
Once more, I stared at the bed, which I think could fit the four of us. Then I felt my cheeks grow hot. What was I thinking? How could I think that Naru would sleep with us?! Like a family?
"I—I thought you had an extra room...Will you be alright?" I heard myself squeak.
"I'll be fine."
"We could stay in the extra room though..." If the rooms were the same as his...
"The new cameras are in there."
"Oh..."
There was silence as I thought of something else. If the cameras were in the extra room...Then wouldn't it be uncomfortable if it's filled with boxes or whatever?
"What about Lin-san's room?" Now I thought I shrieked.
He gave me an odd look, but he frowned. "His room has his shikis in it."
"Oh..."
It was just then that I noticed what else was strange; Naru and I were talking more than usual...Talking about marriage and my lengthening hair and cake and rooms.
"There are a lot of hangers for you to use," he interrupted as he eyed the items on the bar. We were back to my clothes' situation.
That's not the problem! I wanted to shout. "Naru, really, it's—"
"Do you want to wear crumpled clothes?" His eyes straitened, damn him.
So I fumed. "They are not crumpled!"
But then I just dropped my clothes in the trunk earlier, so I wasn't that sure. He seemed to have read my mind, so he just gestured to an iron board and clothes iron at the far end.
"You can use the equipments in this room."
I was probably ten shades redder. He was being too hospitable...
Too hospitable.
And sharing a closet with him...
I felt like his wife.
Bending down over my trunk and opening it so that he wouldn't see my blush (which I was sure adorned my cheeks then), I said, "Th-thank you."
He must have nodded before leaving me in the closet and in his bedroom, but I couldn't meet his eyes. I was like an alien invading his space.
But the unnerving bit was that...he was letting me.
Letting us.
Maybe after that, he wouldn't change, but I couldn't have the same guarantees with myself. Already, I was rethinking about my life...about children...about him.
And I might want something more.
XDXDXDXDXDXDXD~nya~
The cooking part was pretty quick. By the time I went down, the children had already thawed the peas and shrimps, beaten an egg, and plucked cilantro leaves, so I only needed to slice a few things. It was so thoughtful of Naru not to let them handle knives to cut the carrots and shrimps and other ingredients into pieces, and it was more thoughtful of him to cook some creamy corn soup, which I learned the children love.
I couldn't keep my eyes away on the blue-apron-wearing Naru as he plumped pillows on the dining table chairs for the children to be able to reach their plates while eating. It was the first time that I'd seen him use his thoughtfulness on a person than a mystery in our cases. His movements were always calculated, but it just...It was inexplicable.
I'd never seen that side of Naru before, or if I did, I'd never noticed or thought hard about it.
The cake Naru ordered was delivered by the time I turned off the stove. He paid for the delivery man, who I found out was the owner himself. Actually the man didn't do deliveries, but it seemed like Naru had persuaded him...
Which added to the nice things the narcissist did that day.
Kazuma helped me arrange candles on the cake, and we (except Naru) sang the birthday song. He and Maka blew the candles simultaneously, and I asked them what they wished. They regarded me and Naru, who was sipping his tea across me.
"We don't have any wishes for ourselves, Mama," Maka said with her tiny hands gripping her fork. She looked ready to sink the tines in the cake.
"Our wishes are for you and Papa," Kazuma, who sat beside me before the birch-wood table, added while staring hungrily at the fried rice.
"For us?" I scooped fried rice on Kazuma's plate.
They nodded as I scooped fried rice on Maka's plate before slicing the cake into eight pieces and distributing a piece to each of them. Then I filled some of Naru's soup on their bowls. Hesitant, I didn't serve Naru at first because he might want to do it himself, but since he was the host, I changed my mind and served him anyway.
He didn't comment.
As I was scooping fried rice on my plate, Kazuma started after chewing, "So."
"So...?" I probed with a smile. They were very talkative children. It helped to ease the awkwardness I felt with Naru sitting silently across me and just sipping his tea as though his teacup was bottomless.
Maka and Kazuma shared an incomprehensible look, and with a whip cream on her cheek, Maka bluntly asked Naru, "Papa, when will you marry Mama?"
For the first time, I heard Naru sputter in his teacup.
XDXDXDXDXD~nya~
A/N: More fun adventures and intrigue to come! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter! ^^ Thanks to everyone who's reading my stories!