"Oh, someone's at the door." Hajime said before going to check the monitors in the room to see who it was.
On the screen, four figures could be seen. The largest was a blonde man with piercing green eyes. The man was slightly taller than Yuujin and had the same body frame as him. He was wearing sporting a hat with the cap backwards. Next to him was a young woman with long pink hair and blue eyes. She was roughly the same size and build as Haru, but was obviously curvier than the male Haru. In front of the two, were Haru and Yuujin's Appmon and "kids." The eldest was Gatchmon, a bipedal looking cat with white fur and a red hat that had a magnifying glass on it. Next to him was his "brother" Offmon, a canine looking creature with a newsboy cap placed squarely on his head.
"Come on Yuujin let's go greet them." Haru turned to look at the other occupants in the room, "Want to come Hajime-kun? Bootmon?"
Hajime smiled at the couple and made a dismissive gesture with his hand, "I'd love to, but I'm really busy right now with a current side project, I'll tell you more about it later Haru-senpai."
Bootmon responded too, "And Boo is going to stay with Hajime."
"Ok bye Hajime-kun, bye Bootmon" Both Haru and Yuujin waved goodbye to Hajime and Bootmon. The innocent Appmon and young AI researcher waved back.
Haru and Yuujin promptly left the building only for Yuujin to be met with Offmon jumping straight at his chest. "Yuujin!" Offmon shouted while having tears running down his eyes. Yuujin caught the hat wearing Appmon with his arms. "Are you okay?" Offmon voice was clearly wrought with distress and worry.
"I'm fine, Offmon, sorry for making you worry about me." Offmon snuggled deeper into his buddy. Yuujin offers a small smile as he gently embraces his "son."
Gatchmon raises his claw hand and points it at Yuujin. "Honestly Yuujin, you need to be more careful, you are constantly getting hurt, next time think about Haru's feelings for once before getting involved in dangerous situations."
Haru was at a loss for Gatchmon's harsh words and simply yelled "GATCHMON!"
"No. It's okay Haru, Gatchmon is right. I'm sorry Gatchmon, when it comes to Haru sometimes I forget about my own safety." Yuujin made a pleading gesture to the annoyed Appmon which Gatchmon reacted with a satisfied grin.
Eri interjects to the conversation, "No, it's not just Yuujin, Haru is just as guilty as Yuujin. Honestly, both of you need to be more considerate of each other's feelings regarding your safety."
"Hello to you too Eri-san and Astra-kun, thanks for bringing Gatchmon and Offmon to us." Haru replies with nervously laughter. The green-haired youth had no other response to Eri's blunt honesty about one of the few issues that plagued the relationship between him and his best friend. In fact, this was a hot button discussion among the otherwise happily married couple. Both made it abundantly clear that they didn't like how their significant other had little concern for their own life when it came to the other. They had previous heated altercations over this problem. For now, both Haru and Yuujin put the issue aside, but they both knew that one day it would need to be properly addressed.
"Wow Yuujin what happened to your neck and arms, did you get attacked by a horde of spiders?" Astra commented on and directed his fingers to the purplish back marks around Yuujin's arms and neck. Yuujin was wearing a sleeveless black V-neck T-shirt which allowed the world to see he was full of love bites from Haru. "And you Haru, why were you walking funny?" Both Haru and Yuujin's face immediately changed to the same shade of color as Yuujin's hair. "Oh, I get it, oh damn, you two did a number on each other. Reminds me of the last time we met and Yuujin was the one walking funny and both of you were full of hickeys. Damn you two sure do go at it like wild animals." Astra finished his last statement with a huge shit eating grin.
Yes, Astra's remarks had a ring of truth to them. The couple did lead an active and healthy sex life, and the night before engaged in some passionate love making. And contrary to the lies published by the tabloids, Haru was not some submissive effeminate lady boy that wanted to be constantly dominated by his testosterone-ridden looking robot. Haru and Yuujin switched sexual roles from time to time, but they had their preferences like many other same-sex couples.
Not long after Astra stopped talking, Eri punched her husband in his right arm. "Torajiro, that's really mean, they just went through a traumatic incident and you are making lewd remarks on their private life, be more considerate." Eri only used Astra's full first name whenever Astra committed some antic she deemed as foolish or highly inappropriate.
"What? I was just trying to lighten the mood, babe. You feel me!? Of course you do!?" Astra retorted with his classic gesture.
"Ugh you are impossible sometimes." Eri shaking her head with her hand pressed to her brow.
Haru, Yuujin, Gatchmon, and Offmon laughed at the couple interactions. "It's alright Eri-san, Astra-kun's comment did lighten the mood, right Haru?" Yuujin looked to his spouse, which Haru responded with a light nod of his head and a smile.
"This is why I like you two, you both get me." Astra said with a wicked smile on his face.
"Please don't encourage him." A few seconds passed and Eri finally decided to pop the question, "So, what happened?"
And now for a third time that day, Yuujin retold his run in with the mysterious intruders.
"Oh wow." That's all Eri could say, still trying to process the story that Yuujin had just told everyone.
Astra spoke up, "Haru are you sure you have no idea who is gunning for you?"
Haru responded, "No Astra-kun, I have no clue. I know people exist that don't approve of my relationship with Yuujin or my research, but I don't think that anyone of them would try to attack me or Yuujin."
"Maybe I should scan the web to see if there might be an answer on there, eh Haru?" Gatchmon reaches for his magnifying glass.
"Please do so Gatchmon, but let's wait till we get home, okay?" Haru answers.
"Rei-kun is also investigating this matter. I just hope we can quickly put this mess behind us." Yuujin uses his free left hand to reach for Haru's right hand and links their fingers together. Haru could feel a slight quiver from Yuujin's hand. All he can do to console his beloved was to use his thumb to slowly rub on his red-haired lover's hand to soothe him and to remind him that he was safe.
Haru decided to change the subject into something a little less serious. "So, who is taking care of Itsuki?"
"Mama is. Dokamon and Musimon are also back home. Dokamon almost came with us because he was afraid of something happening to me after hearing the news about Yuujin, but I told him to stay behind to keep Itsuki safe. By the way Haru, I know you and Yuujin have already picked a name for your son, so spill it." Eri points a finger at the couple.
"Sorry Eri-san, but that's a secret between me and Yuujin. You'll just have to wait till the baby is here," Haru replied with a sweet smile.
"Why did I already know that was going to be your answer?" Eri let down her arms to show a defeated pose. The entire group chuckled in response.
Suddenly, a beeping noise rang out. Eri composed herself and look at her blonde mate. "Tora, that's my alarm for work, we have to get back home." After several years of working as an idol, Eri caught her big break and finally landed a role on tv. A few years later she rose through the ranks and became a movie star. Eri was now able to make more people smile than ever before.
"We got to catch up some other time, good bye Haru, Yuujin, Gatchmon, and Offmon. And please be safe, all of you." Eri exclaimed. Both her and Astra gave a concerned look before waving off to them and returning to the teahouse. The Shinkai family equally said their goodbyes and waved at their departure.
A few seconds later, the makeshift family slowly began their trek back to their home.