A/N: Here it is, a touch of romance for your troubles (somehow though, it revolved mostly around sweet fluff and Tora's sex appeal again... -_- Is that really all I'm good for when writing his character in this story?!)

Oh and dearest, lovelies peasants whom I adore so much- thank you for your reviews and support. Makes my heart get all skippy and fluttery.

CK:*

-Extras-

Get Set

...

Akari stared at the pregnancy test in her hand and her breath hitched when she saw that it was positive.

"Oh my god."

She threw it away and quickly washed her hands, staring hard into the mirror at her midsection.

There was a human being growing in there!

"Oh. My god."

She ran her hands through her hair, pinned it up away from her sweaty neck, and started pacing around the bathroom in small circles.

"Oh my GOD."

Tora wasn't home yet. In fact, he was away on business over the weekend. So the last time they'd done it was a few days ago, and her birth control definitely should have worn off by now, so she decided to humor herself by going out and buying a pregnancy test...

She hadn't expected it to actually work though! Well, that sounded stupid of her, but- but-

When did this even happen?!

She was pregnant!

That single thought seemed to scramble her mind.

"Oh my g- should I call him? No, no, he'll want to be told the news in person! Wait, so, I have to keep this to myself until he gets back?!" She exited the bathroom and walked back into the bedroom, only to start pacing around and around the furniture in there. "Oh... kay... so... No, I could tell Aika? Seiji? No!" She slapped her cheeks. "That would be wrong! Tora needs to be the first to know, since he's the father of the child!"

There was a knock on the door and she yelped out of impulse, she was so on edge.

"Akari-san? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Is that..." She hurried to the door and opened it up, looking into the narrowed eyes of the man with the familiar polite face, the fancy suit, the black hair slicked back butler-style. "What the hell are you doing here Maki?"

"Tora asked me to bring you to him right away." He held out a gloved hand to her expectantly, but the action and his words only caused her to cock her head to the side.

"He's not in town though..."

"True, but he finished with work early, so he wanted to see you." Maki cleared his throat as he got a better look at her. "Though I suggest you put on something less revealing for the trip."

Akari looked down at herself, and her silvery eyes widened comically. She slammed the door in Kanade's face without thinking.

"I- I'll be out in a few minutes!"

"Please," Outside the room, Maki was rubbing his hand where it had almost gotten caught when the door slammed shut, thankful for his quick reflexes. "forgive me for the intrusion."

It was a good thing he was a friend of the family, otherwise both Igarashis would have killed him dead after an incident like this. Even if it was an accident and quite frankly her own fault for answering the door in her mostly see-through chemise.

One private helicopter flight later, and Akari was several hours away from the Igarashi manor, sitting in a private restaurant at the top floor of a very fancy hotel. Tora had bought her a new outfit for their dinner date, which she was now wearing at their table- it was an elegant midnight black number with an empire waist and sheer sleeves, accompanied by diamond-strapped black kitten heels and an arrangement of various other diamonds for jewelry. Tora was dressed similarly in a black suit, just without all the diamond embellishments.

It was almost as if they were celebrating something... for example, her pregnancy... except, there was no way that he knew about that yet because she still had yet to bring it up in conversation. In fact, presently they were talking about the deal he had just closed today with a hard-nosed hotel tycoon. That was probably the real cause for this sudden celebration.

"But you wouldn't believe how stubborn he was," Tora was going on about it, waving a hand as he talked in a slightly exasperated tone while Akari drummed her nails absent-mindedly on the table. "I thought I could persuade him easily enough, but at certain times, it was difficult not to reach over and strangle the man." He scoffed, probably running through his head again something specifically awful about the experience.

"But you managed it in the end. He didn't prove to be too much for you. That's good..."

The proud tiger smirked. "Nothing has ever proven to be too much for me, not even you." His smirk slipped when she seemed not to have heard him, and he reached across the table to still her drumming fingers. She looked up at him with a start. "You're acting strange."

"What makes you say that?"

Golden eyes narrowed down to perfect slits. "Don't play dumb with me. You've been in a daze this entire time, from the moment I greeted you up until right now. I'm not going to ignore it for any longer."

There was a pause where she studied his face, trying to figure out if now was the right time to tell him. There were places where the skin under his eyes was slightly darker than usual and also worry lines along his brow that would have gone unnoticed by the untrained eye, but she easily noticed it after all their years together. Her husband was worn out, spent from all his hard work. He needed rest.

"You're tired, tiger dearest." She smiled at him, moving her hand from underneath his so that they were holding hands instead. "You need a little cat nap. Why don't we just call it a night and go home to bed?"

He frowned at her light teasing, but was so used to it by now that he allowed it to pass. "I may be tired, but I brought you out here for a reason. I wanted to treat you."

Akari made a face at that. "Treat me? Why? Isn't this night for you?"

Tora pulled at her other hand, the one with her wedding ring placed on it, and placed a kiss over her delicate, swollen fingers. "Don't think I haven't noticed."

Honest to god, she hadn't the slightest idea what he could be referring to. "Noticed what?"

Seeing as this was such a fine establishment and they were not alone, he leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper, still stroking her hand gently. "How much more sensitive you've become during sex, or just in general? You never used to pull away when I grabbed your breasts. Your sudden food aversions? You won't eat any of your favorite meals anymore. Your constant need for a bathroom? I don't recall you having such a weak bladder until just recently."

Silver-blue eyes merely blinked at him, so he rolled his own eyes and continued.

"Your feet have swollen, your fingers have too. You complain that you've gained weight in other areas as well. You also complain how you're always tired for no real reason-"

"Swollen- gained weight- the hell are you talking about Igarash-"

Waiters interrupted suddenly as they brought food to the table, and Tora was spared his wife's wrath as she became distracted and stared down at the plate of Doro Wat placed in front of her. When she asked a waiter what it was (an Ethiopian dish with berbere spiced chicken), she immediately dug into it without a second thought.

"How-" She swallowed after practically inhaling several mouthfuls, gazing up at her husband with a happily surprised expression. "How did you know I would want this?"

He smirked at her. "Well, pregnant women usually love spicy foods."

She choked even though there was nothing in her mouth at that given moment.

Tora carried on smoothly, "They say it's because hot foods make the body sweat, which will help to cool you off. And that's what you need, right? Since you're always complaining about being too hot every day now."

Her mouth dropped open, and he let go of her hands and placed both of his under his chin, staring at her expectantly. He was waiting for her to say something, amused by the fact that he had obviously known about it when she hadn't. This only proved his theory about how he'd come to know her body better than she knew it herself.

"I- I- Tora, you can't be serious?" She didn't sound so certain about that. After all, she knew how observant he could be.

"I'm not wrong, am I?"

Silence from her end of the table.

"Well?"

"...I checked today..." She picked up her glass of water and mumbled into it.

He arched an eyebrow, figuring that was why she had been acting so weird. "You did? What was the result?" He was quick to ask.

"Positive."

More silence, now from both ends of the table.

When his voice finally came back to him, it barely came out as a disbelieving whisper. "Positive?"

She nodded her head while chewing on some ice (another pregnancy habit that she was unaware of). "Positive."

Tora stared down at one of the plates of food, picked up a stick with skewered shrimp on it, grabbed one between his teeth, pulled it off and chewed- just to give himself something to do other than sit there like a mindless fool. Once he had taken his sweet time grounding it down and swallowing it, he spoke in a firmer tone of voice, as if affirming the news for himself. "Positive."

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "You had already assumed as much, right?"

"Yes, but now that it's certain in my mind... now that I know," He set down the food and pushed it away from him. Then he stood from the table, walked around, and caged his wife against her chair with his long arms.

"T-Tora?!"

"My wife is pregnant with our child. We created another human life together, and I placed it there, inside you." He breathed into her hair, laughing lightly in awe of those words; and Akari fell in love with him all over again at the sound. "You have no idea what that knowledge does to me... Mmmn... I want you so badly right now," He lifted a hand up to her chin, eyes focused on her lips. "I can hardly wait until we get to our hotel room."

"Down boy- EEK!" He bit her neck, nuzzling past the diamonds and suckling harshly on the spot.

"So sensitive..." He murmured appreciatively, wanting nothing more than to explore her body right there on that table in front of everyone.

"Tora, we are in public!" Akari pushed him away, but not before noticing the lust darkening his eyes and the place his gaze was directed- her stomach.

He placed a hand there before she could stop him, and she blushed furiously at all the looks people were giving them. Tora was lost in his own world though, ignoring her ranting in his ear about whatever the hell was upsetting her and instead focusing his attention on softly caressing her stomach.

"You know," He said as he looked up at her once she had resorted to pulling on his hair to get his attention. Her eyes widened seeing the protective, primal, loving glint in his. How could he be so... worked up over this? He wasn't sure about this for so long, and now that he was sure about it, he really wanted it, really seemed rather obsessed over it now more than she ever was. She didn't quite understand this man, even after all these years! "I hope it's a girl. Another woman that I can spoil rotten with pretty dresses and fancy meals. Ice cream, too, if she has a sweet tooth like Mai."

Seeing him doting over their unborn child brought about Akari's ultimate ruin. She forgot about everything else around them, and her grip went slack in his hair while she moved her fingers down to his cheek. Both of her hands ended up laced behind his neck, and she pulled him down to her to kiss him tenderly.

When she pulled away, it was with a glint in her eye much like his own. "It'll be a boy. Just wait and see."

His lips curved up into an enticing grin, and his voice turned into a sultry rumble. "Wanna bet?"