Chapter 11

"So, things are going well?"

Yua was having an odd break. Normally she would be fussing over Suguru, and yet Satoru keeps beating her to the punch. In fact, it's gotten nearly territorial! Satoru has growled at Yua for getting too close, and as of late, Suguru is preferring Satoru over her! Yet… how does she tell Chusi this?

"Well… Rook has been asleep for the past day or so. I don't know what knocked him out but he is asleep now, I do check on him and yes he is still breathing…"

"I don't doubt that…" Chusi said with a big smile on her face. "Anything else?"

She paused. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Mochi in a while… ever since Rook fell asleep… Shin is out with his siblings, apparently Kenjaku approached him."

Chusi froze. "He did what?!"

"Shin said he didn't fight him, but a sorcerer did named Takaba… the name rings a bell for me in something, someone spoke this name before…"

"Isn't that Nao and Chiyo teacher?"

"Yeah, the one with the shikigami mouse!" she remembers that name now, but… why was he there?

"Shin told me that the shikigami took care of Kenjaku, he has never seen a sorcerer so terrified of a mouse before and yet… if that mouse scared Kenjaku it must be for a good reason"

She nodded to that. "How is Saitama?"

Her face soured. "He's starving himself." She said meekly. "I know he is, he hardly eats. Shin got him to eat a rice ball but that was it, he refused any more food. His siblings are worried for him. Despite the fact he hasn't been eating, he's not losing any weight."

Chusi nodded in sympathy for her. "I am certain things will correct themselves, I know they will." She said. "I feel bad for Saitama, but it's rather adorable. Ryomen feels for him too."

She paused to this. "What?"

Chusi's smile grew. "When Ryomen saw him, he said there was nothing wrong with Saitama, but he understood what he was going through. After all, Saitama doesn't look like his siblings the way he wants to right? Ryomen had that phase too when he was younger. Wanting to be a Tooru."

Yua nodded, but didn't realize that Sukuna was actually being considerate! "I will figure something out for him, at the same time. I know if I force it, I am only going to upset him and push my son away again. I just gained their trust, I won't blow it now" she decreed.

"Your son will be okay, besides, young dragons can go some time without a meal if needed. But just keep an eye on him…" she paused oddly. "I am wondering about something, with Kenjaku… was he following Shin and the others? Or did he happen to run into them?"

That's something she wants to look into, the last thing she need is to have Kenjaku eyeing her children like an outfit to wear! She will never let him have any of her children to be his shell! Not as long as she lives and breathes.

"I will definitely look into that, but I am curious as to why the teacher was there too. Is this teacher hunting Kenjaku as well? Or merely to toy with him? Sorcerers get like that when they find someone of interest…"

"Curiouser and curiouser…" Chusi said and yet smiled to it all. "Ryomen and I are talking about having more children!"

"PPpppfffff!" There goes Yua's tea. She had to cough some out before she could speak, and yet, Chusi smiled it off! "Sometimes I think you like that reaction out of people…"

"It is rather funny," she said. "But we are serious about more. Ryomen isn't so… committed to the idea,"

"I think he needs to help the child he has first before he has more… that's what I tried to explain to Satoru… but you know him, in one ear out the other…"

"But I also thinks he wants more kids, a big family and at the same time, he has everything he could want… in particular…"

"Don't… remind me, I already feel like the third wheel as it is." Yua warned. "I better head back and work on dinner. Thank you for the tea and good luck with Ryomen."

"Oh, I don't need it" she said and gave a very… odd smile.

The more Yua thinks about it, the more she understands why these two go together… and why jujutsu society didn't want such a union to occur!

#

In a few hours, the meal was ready. Yua had everything on the table and the kids soon followed their noses. However, there was a lack of husbands at the table. "Let me guess…"

"Dad already fed Pops." Shin explained. "Dad was making a massive amount of food earlier, I can only assume it went to Pops."

"That explains where all the noodles went…" Yua muttered. She peered about and found Saitama at least eating some veggies from the meal. "I better check on…"

BAM!

"DAMN IT!"

"Rook?" she muttered. The thud came from up the stairs, that swear sounded like Rook and yet…

There came a loud thud, like someone heavy moving upstairs, when they came down, the stairs moaned and squealed from the weight. She thought perhaps Suguru was on his way down, but, Yua froze.

The table froze.

"What?"

"Rook… hon… you had a growth spurt." Yua put bluntly. Yet… "How do you have clothing on right now? You at least tripled your size!" He out grew his father, Rook now stood nearly a half foot taller than Satoru. His body frame filled in and looked more like Toji's figure than that of Satoru's.

"Oh, Oji suggested it." He explained and took a seat. "He suggested with the way I have been training to have some sets of clothing on the side. He said 'go with articles at least 3 times your size and get some bigger ones too just in case'… Jeeze, I didn't think I would have gotten this huge!" he laughed.

As Rook ate, she found Saitama peering at him with great interest. Almost as if to marvel at him… wanting to be like Rook.

"By the way, has anyone picked Mochi up yet from Hoshi's place?" he asked.

"Why would she be at Hoshi's?" Yua asked.

"Well, she wasn't there by choice, just before I passed out the other day I sensed Hoshi in her room, I could smell him. But then… I got so tired I passed out. I just woke up so I figured she ain't here."

Yua froze to this. "Is… Hoshi kidnapping her?"

"Safe keeping is more like it. He might be in a hoarding stage…" said Saitama.

"Hoarding stage?" the table asked, even Yua was curious to this. At the same time… concerned.

Saitama nodded. "Lady Tiamat let me read books about dragons, so a hoarding stage is when a young dragon gathers everything it values and brings it to its nest. It is usually to impress a mate, and at the same time, it's their way of branching off from their family and starting their own life."

"A right of passage… and yet he is taking Mochi?!" she demanded.

"Nothing crazy is happening with that," Rook insisted as he loaded his plate once more. "Hoshi is a sound mind, at the same time, he is also aware of your family history. It's not dragons he is trying to protect her from… but sorcerers who want to abuse the family ability… Someone tried once before,"

"Yeah, and uncle Tanso crushed his head in and made him a familiar…" said Shin.

Yua paused to this oddly, perhaps it's that dragon mindset she has since normally she would be freaking out over this. And yet, she also knows Hoshi well. He wouldn't dare harm Mochi or force her against her will… his mother would kill him!

So would she if it came to that…

"We should go pick her up then…"

"Honestly mom, call her and ask." Said Rook. "She isn't in danger, in fact, she may just as well be in the safest place. Since not only is Hoshi looking after her, Mochi told me Naoya is bending over backwards to make her stay…"

"Tsk, of course he is. He know if Mochi and Hoshi get together and have children, they won't be dragons but very over powered sorcerers." Yua decreed. "And they would be Zen'in…"

Rook snorted a laugh. "No they wouldn't, they won't even be Fushiguros. Hoshi already said, he is taking the Tooru name."

She froze once more. Why would Hoshi take the Tooru name if he and Mochi get together in such a manner? She didn't understand any of this, and yet the table was laughing at her!

"What?!" she demanded of her children.

"The look on mother's face! It's priceless!" Okimi snickered. "Hoshi is messing with Naoya! He knows that Naoya is trying to get them to get together in such a way because he thinks it will bring back his former clan. It's not happening, but Hoshi only told us recently he plans on doing that… but we can't tell anyone else"

So, it's to mess with Naoya… all in all a worthy cause!

"I will call your sister to make sure she is okay, and if she wants to come home I will pick her up."

"Apparently, she is enjoying herself there… she is making Naoya work!"

'Maybe that phone call won't be needed…' Yua thought.

The kids ate everything… well… Rook ate everything and then some. The others left as Yua had to cook up more food for him after that, he was hard to feed before but now… She may have to cook him a whole orc!

"So what has Oji been doing?" Rook asked.

"Well, I think he is slowly trying to help Ryoto understand his ability. Then again, Ryoto has been stuck with Megumi all day today, he's officially the babysitter on Wednesdays."

Rook paused to this. "For a reason I assume? Lady Tiamat doesn't manipulate people to do something rather out of their range without reason, right?"

Yua peered at Rook who bore a wicked grin… like Sukuna. "I swear the more you hang around your Oji, the more you start thinking like him… you got his smirk down I'll admit that."

He snorted a laugh. "Honestly mom… I know he is blunt… very blunt… but… he never lied to me. He always told me he saw potential and I never saw it myself… did you think I would grow this big?" he demanded of her.

"Hon, I barely remember how tall members of my family got, your father was an exception to the rule. But now… I have little doubt you have yet to finish… Start hunting more and bring the meat home, understood?"

Rook lost it in laughter.

He was crying as he laughed too hard but nodded to his mother. "Keep feeding me like this and I'll get as big as Oji!" he laughed.

Somehow, Yua felt that was going to happen at some point or another… at the same time, she worried, how is she going to feed this teenager of a son and a pregnant husband?