Chapter 6

The night Rido discovered Emi under his bed, he thought it was simply an unfortunate but singular occurrence. However, he soon realized he was wrong – that would not be the last time he found Emi in his room. To his horror, he was being stalked by his toddler sister.

If Emi had to pick a soundtrack for her daily activities, it would be the Detective Conan theme song. At least once a week, she would slip away from her caretakers to infiltrate Rido's room and search for his hidden Juri collection. Thankfully, after being caught that first time by Rido, she had gotten better at escaping his room undetected, picking the times he was not at home and would not be back for a while to snoop.

When Rido was at home though, Emi would still slip away from her caretakers to follow and observe him. She was very curious what sort of person he was before he went full blown crazy and homicidal like he did in canon and trailed him like an extra shadow whenever opportunity arose.

The first few times Rido found Emi staring at him from behind a bookcase in the library, or behind a vase or potted plant in the hallways, he thought it was just coincidence, that he had gotten caught up in those games of hide and seek his mother and Emi seemed to play so often. However, the incidents of him opening a door, or glancing around a corner to find Emi there, staring straight at him unblinkingly became too frequent to ignore.

Not long later, things escalated to his great concern. Emi started to openly follow him around the mansion, not bothering to hide. She followed him down the hallways to the library, the living room, the dining room, the music room, the wine cellar, the gardens. He could not read a book in the library or play the piano in the music room without feeling a pair of eyes on him and turning around to see Emi staring. In short, wherever a toddler could go in the mansion, he would find her trailing after him, often pushing that toy perambulator of hers for support.

Speaking of that damn perambulator, he deeply regretted having gifted it to her. He had ordered Kohei, his valet, to pick a gift for Emi's birthday, as he himself was too busy to deal with such trivial matters, and that decision had come back to haunt him. Why couldn't Kohei have chosen a doll or some baby clothes instead? It especially irked Rido to see Emi stop and rest for a moment in the distance, retrieve her sippy cup from the perambulator and take a swig of juice.

Thankfully, besides, the bathroom, the one place she did not bother him was his bedroom, and that was only because he would slam the door in her face as he saw her approaching and lock it. However, he discovered even his private sanctuary was not 100% Emi-proof.

One night he woke to the sensation of someone breathing on him, causing chills to race down his spine. As he was not in bed with a lover, whose breath was it that he felt? Not lifting his head from his pillow, he slowly turned his face to find Emi standing at his bedside, close enough for him to smell her breath, hinting at the milk and fruit she had recently ingested.

"What the fuc-" Rido came as close to yelping as he ever would, and barely held back his impulse to hit the creepy figure beside him. He sat up in bed and glared at Emi, who was now staring at him while munching on a strawberry.

Is this reality or am I dreaming? He wondered as he stared back.

She fumbled with the food container in her hands, pulled out another strawberry and held it towards him.

"I don't want food you touched with your grubby hands!" he snarled.

Emi gave him an offended look before popping the strawberry into her mouth.

At this point, Kohei entered carrying a tray of tea and toast, and the day's newspaper.

"Ah, you're awake Rido-sama. Good evening."

"Kohei, what's this brat doing in my room?"

"I saw Emi-sama outside your room earlier and let her in," Kohei replied. He smiled at Emi who smiled cutely back at him. Tae (his mother and Emi's nanny) had told him that Emi liked to hang out with her older brother. Thus, when Kohei had found her loitering outside Rido's door, he had let her in while he went to get the food and newspaper.

Rido shot his valet a censorious look. "From now on, if you see her outside my room, send her away."

Kohei nodded. "Shall I escort Emi-sama back to her room now?"

Rido looked over at Emi, who was still eating while staring at him. He scowled and ran a hand through his hair. It was no exaggeration to say that never in his 400 something years of existence had he ever felt as creeped out as he had upon waking and finding her beside him, staring unblinkingly. Those big baby eyes in that small chubby face may seem adorable to everyone else, but to him, they were the stuff of nightmares.

"I'll handle her," he answered and got out of bed. He quickly threw on a robe, unceremoniously picked Emi up like she was a sack of potatoes and headed out the door.

Hurrying down the hall and stairs, he picked up his pace until he reached the dining room. The rest of his family were already dressed and seated, and they stared in surprise when he burst in with Emi in his hold.

"Onii-sama, how rare to see you at breakfast! What is Emi doing with you?" Juri was the first to speak.

It was indeed rare for Rido to join them at breakfast, as he usually had food taken up to him instead. What was even odder was for him to show up so disheveled, his hair uncombed and him still in pajamas.

Emi looked at Juri who was the closest and stretched her arms towards her, causing Juri to get up and take Emi from Rido.

"I woke up and found Emi just standing there and staring at me!" Rido fumed, looking at his parents. "This baby needs to be kept on a leash or something, she keeps following me everywhere!"

"Don't make a big deal out of it, children like to follow their older siblings around," Hiroshi replied calmly and took another sip of his coffee.

"Emi follows you because she is curious, she doesn't see you much since you're usually away or in your room," Kyoko explained gently.

"I don't care, make her stop!" Rido was annoyed with how blasé his parents were.

"Don't worry, Onii-sama. It's just a phase, Emi will get bored soon and stop," Haruka tried to reassure his brother.

"Onii-sama is lucky, I wish Emi would follow me around too," Juri added and kissed Emi's cheek.

Rido scowled with frustration, seeing how indifferent the rest of the family were to his plight. He glanced at Emi, now sitting in Juri's lap and being coddled. She stared back at him and for a second, Rido could have sworn her lips curled into a smirk. Once again, he was reminded of the dangers of not using protection when doing the horizontal tango. Giving her one last glare, he left his family and retreated back to his room.

Despite Haruka's assurance that Emi was simply going through a short-lived phase, Rido was still plagued by his unwanted shadow.

One evening, Rido was taking a short break and enjoying the scenery and aroma of the carefully tended rose garden, which was in full bloom. As he sat sipping his Cognac and looking at the red roses, he reached for a chocolate truffle on the platter beside him. However, instead of the texture of chocolate, he felt a small hand. Suppressing his desire to scream in exasperation, he turned his head to see Emi leaning against the side table, with one hand stretched out to steal his food. Based on the dark smudges around her mouth and the fact that there were only two truffles left, she had been stealing them for a while. He would not put it past this larcenous toddler to steal his Cognac next.

And anyway, how is she able to evade detection so well? Given the frequency with which Emi frequently slipped away from her caretakers to stalk him, their mother should put her in a maximum-security prison or something. With a groan, he grabbed his bottle of brandy and got up.

As Rido made for the house, Emi quickly stuffed the remaining truffles in her mouth before toddling after him. Hearing her footsteps behind him, Rido sped up. Seeing him walk quicker, Emi also sped up. In her haste to keep up, she tripped as she descended the garden stairs and landed smack on her face. Although it was only five shallow steps, her toddler body found the pain too much, and she immediately burst into wails.

Her shrill cries cut through the tranquil night like an air raid siren, causing Rido to grimace and look back. Emi was sitting on the stone path, her mouth a dark cavern as she screamed and her face an apoplectic red. It really made one wonder how someone so tiny could produce sounds so terribly loud. He wanted to walk away, but knew that as an adult, he was expected to take care of her. That, and the fact that his parents would give him hell if he left Emi there. Thus with great reluctance, he forced himself to turn back.

"Stop crying, you'll live!" He had to shout to hear his own voice over her wails.

In response, she screamed even louder, something he had not thought possible. Oh great, soon the whole household will come running out and probably think he was mistreating her or something. He needed to calm her down before the situation blew up.

He contemplated forcing her into sleep with his powers, but decided that would also get his mother to descend on him like a fury so discarded that idea. Perhaps she could be cajoled into silence? This little demon likes food doesn't she?

"Hey! Listen. HEY!" In desperation he clamped his palm over her mouth, forcing her to look at him. He could see her eyes narrowing in rage over his fingers and her chest heaving threateningly, like an opera singer about to belt out an aria. "You like chocolate? I'll give you more as long as you shut up!"

Chocolate?! Emi glared at him. He thinks I can be calmed with just chocolate? Ha!

Seeing her gaze was still furious and that she did not look a bit appeased, Rido had to think hard. What was something she really liked? A memory from a few weeks ago suddenly came to him, the last time he saw Emi throwing a tantrum.

It was when Juri had been teasing Emi with some cake she had bought back from a trip to the city. Juri had given Emi just one bite and then had finished the rest in front of her, causing Emi to burst into enraged tears. Haruka and their mother had had to do damage control and calm Emi after Juri's poorly thought out prank. Rido scowled – all that trouble over some stupid cake. Apparently that cake was one of those over-priced, limited edition, tiny cakes from some fancy bakery customers had to wait in line over an hour for.

"Ok, you don't want chocolate? How about cake? That cheesecake Juri bought last time?"

Cheesecake? That cheesecake? The jiggly, spongy, foamy piece of heaven? Emi's anger started to lessen as she remembered the taste of the cake that Juri had so cruelly given her just one teensy bite of before finishing on her own.

Rido saw that Emi's face was less red now, although still splotchy, and cautiously removed his hand from her mouth. Finally, some blessed silence.

"No lie?" She asked, looking distrustfully at him.

"I'll send Kohei to get that damn cake tomorrow." Rido frowned, disgusted by the snot and tears on his hand. He took out his handkerchief and wiped his hands before proceeding to roughly wipe Emi's face too. It would be annoying if their mother found out Emi had cried while under his (involuntary) supervision. Without warning and to his horror, Emi heartily blew her nose into the handkerchief.

"No lie to me," she sniffled before staring at him again, her gaze ominously intense. "Or else…"

Shit, this little demon is also an extortionist, Rido thought as he looked down at her. Yup, he definitely was not having kids anytime in the next few centuries, not if he could help it.

A few nights later, Hiroshi entered the nursery as Kyoko was getting Emi ready for bedtime. When Kyoko finished changing Emi into her pajamas, he took Emi to her crib. Next, he led Kyoko to the love seat near the windows. Emi peeped at them from between the slats of her crib, wondering what was up. On the occasions Hiroshi dropped by her nursery, he usually read to her, but not tonight.

"I have something to discuss," he said after they sat down, and softly squeezed Kyoko's hands.

Kyoko smiled, wondering if he had a nice surprise for her...their wedding anniversary was coming up in two weeks after all.

"We should start looking for a fiancé for Emi soon."

Kyoko blinked twice, stupefied. "What?"

Emi bolted up in the crib, equally alarmed. Maybe she was not understanding correctly...

Getting over her shock, Kyoko snatched her hands away and glared at her husband. "Are you kidding? Emi is still a baby!"

Hiroshi sighed, he had already known Kyoko would not react well. "You and I both know Emi will have difficulty finding a partner, so it's better to start looking earlier. Besides, Shizuka was not even a week old when she was promised to Rido."

"The Hious do things differently," Kyoko grumbled. "And even if it's difficult, we should at least wait until Emi is 10!"

"There are only three potential matches for her now, so we should act fast before they get taken. I'm not saying Emi has to get engaged immediately, but we should get better acquainted with them and start negotiations so that when the time comes, we have a candidate ready."

Only three eligible bachelors? The pureblood population already dwindled to such a sad state? Emi wondered. Talk about slim pickings!

"But I don't like any of those three for Emi! We can already cross the Toma boy and the Shirabuki boy off our list since our clans don't really get along. That only leaves Takeru Shoto, and he already has a child!" Kyoko hissed.

He has a kid? I do not believe I'm ready to be a stepmother at the ripe age of one and however many months I am. Emi frowned.

"We should approach this with an open mind Kyoko, perhaps our clans will get along better if one of their sons marry into our family. As for Takeru's child – he's just an illegitimate child with a noble, so it's not really an issue… We can't reasonably expect a pureblood male to stay celibate until marriage, so a few illegitimate children here and there should not be a deal breaker."

Wow father, good to know you have such high standards for my fiancé, Emi thought, making a face.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed and her demeanor turned frosty. "Of course you would know."

Hiroshi sensed the edge in Kyoko's tone and quickly steered back to the main topic. "While we should keep the Toma boy and the Shirabuki boy as options, Takeru is the best candidate as the Shotos have always been our allies. Also crucial is the fact that he's the younger brother, and not the future head of their clan."

Kyoko clutched her dress, and forced herself to focus on the present topic instead of dwelling on past transgressions. The last point Hiroshi bought up was certainly important. Even if they got along with the Shirabukis, the Shirabukis were highly unlikely to agree to an engagement between their only son and Emi.

After all, whenever a female Kuran married an outsider, the male was the one that had to change their surname and marry into the Kurans. Even then, they were never quite treated as part of the clan, as Kuran blood did not flow in their veins. Unsurprisingly, that often strained marriages, like the one great aunt Keiko had. Kyoko sighed, remembering how great aunt Keiko's husband had eventually come to resent his wife and how great aunt Keiko had suffered for it. She would never let that happen to Emi!

Hiroshi took Kyoko's hands again. "Don't worry, Takeru is a decent man. We've known him since he was a baby, and he is friends with Rido. You like him too, don't you?"

Emi scrunched her lips skeptically. I'm not sure how decent he is if he is friends with Rido.

"I like him, but that doesn't mean I want him as a son-in-law!" Kyoko protested.

"Kyoko, you don't want Emi to be alone do you? If you're not satisfied with those three, we can only wait for another male pureblood to be born, and that might not happen for a few centuries," Hiroshi tried persuading her.

Instead of marrying one of the aforementioned three or robbing the cradle, I'll just stay unmarried, Emi thought.

"… It would've been so simple if Emi could be engaged to Rido instead," Kyoko finally replied with a sigh.

Do you hate me that much, mother? Emi was appalled at the suggestion.

"Unfortunately, Emi came along too late, Rido is already spoken for" Hiroshi commiserated.

Whew, guess I should thank Shizuka for taking that bullet for me, Emi reflected. Anyway, end this talk about engagements!

"So what shall we do?" Hiroshi prodded gently.

Kyoko shut her eyes for a few seconds, then looked unhappily back at him. "Fine, we'll invite Takeru over to dinner next week and consider the possibility of a union between him and Emi."

"Excellent, I'll leave the planning to you dear."

Hiroshi and Kyoko turned their gazes over to the crib and finally saw Emi very much awake and glowering at them. Her brows were furrowed and she wore a greatly displeased expression. It was comical seeing such an expression on their toddler and Hiroshi laughed before walking over and taking Emi into his arms.

"You're not sleepy yet Emi? Why do you seem so upset?" he murmured.

Hmm, maybe because of the questionable decisions you're making on my behalf! Emi frowned but kept silent.

"Is all this talk about engagements keeping you up? Don't worry, daddy and mommy will find you a wonderful husband to love and care for you," Hiroshi said.

Sir, your track record arranging marriages for your children indicates the opposite! Emi shook her head vigorously and objected, "No husband for Emi!"

Hiroshi chuckled and placed Emi back in the crib. Gently, he pulled the blanket up to her chin and kissed her forehead. "One day you'll say otherwise. For now, sweet dreams my child."

Hiroshi then took Kyoko's hand and the two looked adoringly down at Emi one last time before turning off the lights and heading back to their own bedroom. Emi laid in her crib, her eyes wide open, sleep unlikely to come anytime soon after that conversation. She stared up at the ceiling, the painted sky and clouds no longer clearly visible, and listened to the sounds of the manor's various inhabitants gradually settling down for the night.

Finally, Emi sighed. Well, I suppose there is nothing I can do for now. At least it will be interesting to meet someone from outside the household…

A/N: Finally, more Rido and Emi interaction, something Rido is not too pleased about, heh. 90% of Rido and Emi's relationship can be summed up by that meme of the woman about to throw hands with a defiant toddler, lol. Thanks for the reviews!

At Chesie - I'm glad you find it humorous :)

At Azla Hashi - Currently Emi looks like Ai did as a toddler, but her hair is curlier and her eyebrows more Rido-like. Her appearance will be mentioned more as she gets older.