So...I don't know how you guys feel about this story, but I hope you guys like it. I'm sorry for the previous note and some of my actions lately. But I'm trying to figure this out and hope you guys are okay and you have a good Christmas. Maybe I'll have two chapters up soon, and I hope you guys all find this enjoyable. Would you guys be okay with a time jump using the original first chapter that I rework or do you want more time with a young Airi? I'm just casting feelers out to those who want to read this still.

And I think I figured out why some people didn't like the second half of the story and...well...I can write an essay on that but not here.

I apologize for the lack of an "n" again in the title on AO3...my freaking computer screwed up, and I forgot to hit the checkbox again to say it was a multi-chapter story. Same as last time. Whoops!

Also, my new work location sucks, and I'm hoping to transfer out soon.

Anyway, on to the chapter.

I know only 2500 words! I can write short chapters; it's a Christmas miracle!

Chapter 2

The more she thought about it, the more Mei felt like she was on the longest walk of her life.

Even her walk down the aisle with Yuzu didn't feel as long as the slow, ominous march they were taking toward the bullpen. Given that her knowledge of police procedure was limited to the odd police drama or television show, Mei didn't know what to expect when she walked in there and began wondering if they should expose Airi to it after everything their daughter had been put through.

Even after seeing her daughter's smile, Mei couldn't forget the look on Airi's face when they'd opened the door. It had only been for a moment, but Mei recognized it as the same look Yuzu wore when she was trying to hide something and tried best to fight the impulse to begin questioning her daughter.

She knew that the officers were right, that pushing her would have been too much, but Mei hated not knowing how best to help their daughter and barely absorbed what Airi was telling Yuzu about the song she played for the officers. Her mind was so focused on the memory of the sad look she'd worn that Mei didn't notice how hard she'd been squeezing her daughter's hand until Airi began whimpering and trying to pull her hand free.

"Mommy, that hurts."

"What?" Mei looked down and saw Airi's face screwed up in pain as she tugged on her arm. Upon noticing this, Mei immediately let go and looked around, hoping that nobody had heard Airi's complaints and thought she'd intentionally hurt her.

"I'm sorry, Airi. I didn't mean to do that, are you all right?" Mei ran a hand through Airi's hair, watching worriedly as her daughter flexed her fingers while Yuzu gave Mei a worried look of her own.

"Yeah," sighed Airi looking perplexedly up at her mother. "Are you mad at me?"

"What?" Mei nearly collapsed from the shock at Airi asking if she'd hurt her because she was mad. "Airi, I'd never do that to you because I was mad at you or because I wanted to, you know that, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Airi, though the uncertainty in her voice wasn't lost on her mothers. "It still hurt though."

"I'm sorry," said Mei, caressing her daughter's cheek and trying to smile. "I promise you that I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Then what were you doing," asked Airi cautiously cradling her hand against her chest. "You looked sad. Did I make you sad? Are you sad cuz Hideki got in trouble?"

"Both, I suppose," coughed Mei, trying to sound casual in an attempt to keep Airi from worrying. "Are you okay? Did the fight scare you?

"A little," said Airi, her feet shuffling while her gaze shifted nervously between mothers. "Those boys were bigger than Hideki and they pushed me."

"Is that what happened to your knee?" Yuzu placed her hands on Airi's shoulders, a concerned smile on her face. "Did they push you during the fight?"

"N...no..," Airi's lower lip disappeared into her mouth, her eyes turning in the direction of a newly opened door, her eyes lighting up while her feet began shuffling impatiently.

"Airi, you don't have to lie," said Mei quietly, dropping to her knee and lifting her daughter's chin. "If they pushed you or did anything else to you, you need to be honest. Hiding things like that can make matters worse, and we need as much information as possible.

"But, what if I get Hideki into trouble?" Airi continued to chew on her lip while her eyes began scanning the hallway looking for an escape.

"Hideki is in trouble regardless," said Mei, praying that AIri would understand the explanation. "But if there was a good reason for what he did then he won't be in as much trouble. Does that make sense?"

Airi wiped away a tear, sniffed, and nodded while trying to put on a brave face. A face identical to the one Yuzu wore whenever she was frightened or uncertain about how things would turn out.

"It'll be okay." Yuzu stroked their daughter's hair before holding her tight against her legs. "We promise, Hideki won't get into any more trouble. But if there's something you think you need to tell us, then you might want to let us know before we leave so we can tell Habiki-san, okay?"

"I don't wanna," whimpered Airi, breaking free from Yuzu's hold and before Mei and Yuzu could stop her she began running down the hallway, oblivious to her mothers shouts.

"Airi, get back here," called out Yuzu, wasting no time following after their daughter with Mei hot on her heels.

"Airi, listen to Mama," called Mei only to have her words fall on deaf ears as Airi slipped past two officers and disappeared behind the door with Mei and Yuzu following shortly behind her.

"If it's not one thing it's another," side Mei while Yuzu waved down the officers and apologized to them for the interruption.

"It'll be fine," whispered Yuzu as they both stopped to apologize to the officers. "We're sorry about that. She's had a rough day. You didn't happen to see which way she went?"

"I think she's with Sato-san," said one of the officers looking confused and taking a peek into the door. "Yeah, just go to the right and you'll see her in Detective Sato's office talking with that kid that got brought in earlier. I take it you two are here to pick him up?"

"Yes, we are," answered Mei so stiffly that the officers immediately straightened up and focused their attention on her. "So, if it is not too much trouble, we would appreciate it if you'd kindly step aside."

"O...of course," stammered the female officer as she and her partner stepped aside to let them pass.

"Thank you," said Yuzu, giving the pair an apologetic look and allowing Mei to pass her. "You could have gone a little easier on them."

"They let our daughter run right past them and out of sight, Yuzu," snorted Mei, turning sharply in the direction the male officer had told her; eyes focused on the door that bore Habiki's surname and title. "IF they were any good at their jobs they would have stopped her instead of letting her run right past them."

"Well, they did say she was with Habiki," offered Yuzu in an attempt to pacify her wife much as Mei had when they were in the car, "and based on how they were talking about Hideki, they know they were brought in together which means that if she's with Hideki, she's with Udagawa so they probably thought she was in good hands."

"That's still not an excuse to let a child run around unsupervised in a police station." Mei turned her attention from the door on Yuzu, unconcerned by the looks the few officers in the bullpen were giving them. "Honestly, Yuzu, considering how you were acting in the car, I thought you'd be more upset once you saw the state Airi is in."

"You were the one that told me I needed to stay calm," whispered Yuzu, hoarsely and hoping that none of the officers were paying attention to them. "Remember? You said that our actions would reflect on them more than they did on us. So why is it that you're allowed to freak out and I'm the one who has to stay calm? I thought they were both our kids, not just one or the other?

Mei was so taken aback by Yuzu's retort that she fumbled to find the right words.

Luckily, before she could come up with a reasonable answer, the door to Habiki's office opened, and they heard a familiar voice say, "I know you want to be with Hideki, Airi-chan, but you have to go back to the kid's room, so the other officers don't get in trouble. Now come on, we gotta get you back before your moms show up."

"But, Habiki-kun," whined Airi as she was being pushed out by a well-built haggard looking young man in his early twenties wearing a clean suit, "my moms are here. See!"

"Oh thank, God," sighed both women, their argument forgotten for the time being once they saw that Airi was safe and Habiki's relieved look.

"Good to see you two," grunted Habiki as he massaged his neck and allowed Airi to run to Mei and Yuzu, with the latter picking the young girl up and holding her tight against her chest and quietly scolding her for running off. "And here I thought she'd somehow managed to weasel her way out while the officers were distracted."

"Our apologies," said Mei with a bow while Yuzu barely managed a slight bend. "She ran off when she saw something down the hallway and based on the look she had on her face, and where we found her, I can say it's safe to assume that it was you?"

"Probably." Habiki yawned and held up a paper coffee cup. "I was coming back from getting some coffee and was in the office before I realized that she was trying to claw her way into Hideki's lap. You two have any trouble getting her?"

"Nope." Yuzu patted Airi on the back before setting her down for a few moments of relief while Mei took a cautious step forward and began trying to crane her neck through the door in an attempt to see what condition Hideki was in. "I mean outside of the fact that she bolted while we were in the middle of talking to her, we didn't have any problems.. How's the other one doing?"

"See for yourself." Habiki took a step back and stuck his head in and whispered something. There was the sound of a chair shuffling followed by another familiar voice telling someone to stand up. "Listen to your dad, kid. For God's sake, you fought two guys at once and you're afraid of these two?"

"That's because you don't have to live with them," came a shaky, somewhat higher pitched voice. "I gotta go home with them while you get to stay here."

"Ya got me there," chuckled Habiki stepping back and taking a sip of his coffee. "But you forget how much I used to hang out at your house so I know how scary they can be. Now get your ass out here before I have your dad help me drag you out."

"Let's go," came a deeper voice followed by the clicking of shoes accompanied by the appearance of a slightly gone to seed Udagawa.

He looked almost the same as he had when Yuzu had first gone to work for him, though his hair was a bit grayer and slightly receded. His once flat stomach now had a slight paunch to it and his usually cheerful face was almost as rigid as Mei's, though it was clear from the look on his face that he had a better understanding of the situation which added a certain level of softness to it.

But the patience of all three of them was beginning to grow thin, and after a moment of silence from inside the office all three of them caught the attention of the bullpen when in unison they all said, "Now, Hideki."

As much as they wanted to laugh, the three adults all remained firm, and when he failed to appear, they all looked to Habiki to follow through on his promise. But instead of Habiki, it was Airi who managed to wriggle out of her mother's grip and walk toward the office door, stuck her head inside and quietly said, "It's okay, Hideki. I'm not mad at you."

"I know," sighed the teenager from inside the safety of the office. "I'm just a little scared."

"How come you're scared," asked Airi innocently. "It's just Mama, Mommy, and Uncle." Airi disappeared into the office and they heard the sound of shuffling and a deep sigh.

"That's why I'm scared," chuckled Hideki and they heard AIri laugh before speaking again. "You'll understand when you're a little older."

"Okay." They heard a couple of footsteps and the sound of Airi clapping at her brother. "It's gonna be okay. I'll protect you this time."

"Thanks, Airi," laughed Hideki before hearing him let out a sigh before hissing loudly. "Careful, Airi. That's my bad hand."

"Sorry," apologized Airi followed by her asking, "is that better?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Airi. How's your knee?"

"It stings but I'll be okay. Mommy tickled my leg when she checked it."

"That sounds nice," they heard Hideki reply before he let out a loud a loud breath. "You ready?"

"Uh huh!"

After the exchange, Mei shifted away from the door toward Yuzu, immediately seeking the blonde's hand, her heart pounding in her ears as her fingers locked with Yuzu's. She could feel Yuzu's hand shaking which caused Mei to squeeze even harder. If Yuzu was in pain, she didn't let it show as at that moment Hideki appeared, wearing a different shirt than the one he'd worn that morning. His knees and shins were severely scraped and he had a series of bandages wrapped around his left hand while in his right he held Airi's tiny balled up fist.

His face was turned down but it did little to hide the massive amount of bruising on the right side of his face but even that couldn't hide the fact that the older he got, the more his looks tended to stray from his father's and more toward his mother's. Though he would never inherit the deep purple of his mother's eyes, it was clear that outside of his height and more muscular frame he would always be more his mother's son than his father's.

Upon seeing him, Mei's hand immediately left Yuzu's, her feet carrying her toward their children with Yuzu right behind her. Their faces filled with concern as Mei lifted Hideki's face and let out a low sigh of concern when she saw that not only was his eye slightly swollen but he also had a massive gash in his lower lip which had caused it to swell to almost twice its normal size.

"Oh, Hideki," sighed Mei, resisting the impulse to comfort her son by caressing his wounds while Yuzu's eyes widened at the injuries that plagued their son's face.

Neither Mei nor Yuzu knew what to say, but apparently, Hideki did as his mouth spread in a grim smile as he said, "Hey, guys."