"I don't know about this." The little girl had her doubts, didn't want to follow her twin's idea of where things headed. She didn't want to think about her mama being away from her. She had already been rejected once. And, for someone like Hoshino Ruby… Nay, for Tendouji Sarina, the idea that she'd be left behind by her mom again was…

She'd rather just drop dead again, honestly.

"There's not much we can do as we are." Aqua continued with his musings, none the wiser about his twin's thoughts. Being slapped by their mama hadn't affected him as much as it had Ruby. He'd changed, yes. Had become more reserved around Ai-chan. But, aside from the way he called her, the only important difference was how often he mused about her loneliness. "Think about it. We can't even go outside on our own yet. It's for the best."

"I don't know if I want to meet that guy." Ruby insisted, kicking her small legs while sitting on the edge of her bed. Staring at the floor while the clock ticked close to midnight.

"He saved Ai's life." Aqua pointed out like that automatically gave them all the answers. "And that's important to her."

"But is it, actually?" Ruby pouted, getting more angy the more Aqua talked about it.

"It is." The dryness with which he replied made Ruby stop and look at her twin. His expression was hollow. "It makes all the difference between life and death. Between us seeing her every day and only remembering her."

Ruby didn't have an answer ready for that.

"Ichigo-san will probably oppose it." Aqua continued after a pause. He sounded calmer now, but there was still an edge in his voice all the same. "But that's why I think we should help her come clean with him. Let us get in contact with Hikigaya."

"There's not much we can do." Ruby mumbled, feeling a little cold from what Aqua had said.

"No. But that's why we should be able to get in contact with as many people that can as possible." Aqua crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Ai will only listen to us insofar as she doesn't think things don't concern us, so if we can also influence Hikigaya, then we can probably help a little more in keeping things controlled. Ai's smart, she won't make another mistake like… This one. But I'd feel calmer if we could talk and help even if it's by dropping hints or steering things whenever necessary."

"That's… I guess that makes sense." Ruby let out a wary sigh. "He's gonna show up with his sister, right?"

"That's why I doubt Ichigo-san will let Ai reveal us." Aqua scratched his chin. "But, if push comes to shove, that'd probably create another path for us to act."

"What if she hates little kids?"

"That's…" Aqua frowned, giving it some thought for a few seconds. "Well, kids can be really annoying. That's also another form of manipulation."

"'Manipulation'…" Ruby caressed the word in her mouth. "Right. This is…"

"For Ai's sake." Aqua nodded. "We don't have to like it. Ai's life is at risk, so let's not hesitate to do everything in our power to protect her."

"Until we can do things by ourselves…"

"Exactly."

Ruby stared at her twin, worry drawn all over her face while the boy hardened his own features.

They were both dealing with all of this in their own way, huh.

"And if he's no-good?"

Aqua clicked his tongue.

"Ichigo-san and Miyako-san will have to see reason, then." He sighed, sounding far too tired for his four years-old body. "But I don't think it'll come to that. I was there. I have a hunch that he'll make at least a decent enough crutch for now."

Right. Aqua had seen it all happen…

"Hey."

"Hmmm?"

"Are you alright?" Ruby felt a little dumb asking, but it also felt like the right thing to do.

Aqua took a little too long to answer.

"Of course."

"Really?"

"Yes." Now, he took too little time. "But that doesn't matter. What matters here is Ai. So… Can I count on you?"

"For mama's sake?" Ruby huffed. "Always."

"Good." Aqua looked away, his stare far beyond the physical confines of their shared room. "Good…"

There were quite a few things that Ruby wanted to say, but they didn't sound right in her own mind. So she stayed quiet.

"And what if he comes with more people?"

That got Aqua to snap out of his thoughts.

"No way. The invitation was only for him and his sister." He sounded so sure that Ruby almost believed him. But she knew that wanting things to be one way rarely translated into them actually happening like that. "Why would he bring more people along?"


No matter how cute or heartwarming it was, the mother-daughter moment couldn't last forever. Eventually, everyone had to go back to the harsh realities that surrounded them. They couldn't run away from their problems forever, not from these particular ones.

"But we're alive." Ai patted her daughter twice on her small back, signaling that she'd release the little girl from her embrace soon. "We're alive and well, and dealing, and here. Which is what matters."

She eyed the young Hikigaya with the most serene expression she could muster. Letting the girl know that her animosity would have no effect on Ai, not with Ichigo-san and the twins here.

"It's the least we can ask for." The girl replied, unwilling to back down.

"Sometimes it's the most we can ask for." Ai finally pushed the little girl away, caressing the blonde head with as much care and sweetness as she could muster. With as much as her love as she could pour in that small motion while the kid stared up at her. "Sometimes it's all I could ask for."

"I'm hard-pressed to believe that." The girl didn't sound surprised or moved by Ai's words, which made the idol smile a little.

"I wasn't always the star-child of Strawberry Pro, A-chan." Ai huffed like she had been told something ridiculous. Even though digging for memories before Ichigo-san found her diminished her strength.

"I told you not to call me—"

"It's hard as a kid on your own. You don't have money, you don't know how things work, and everyone else simply knows things. And they use it to their full advantage all the time." Ai kissed Ruby's forehead, making a show of taking her time with the kid before pushing her a little and reaching out for her twin. Willing them to swap.

Hikigaya.

Would he be alright with that?

Ai got up to her feet and moved toward Aqua instead of the opposite, crouching and placing her body in such a way that Hikigaya wouldn't have a direct line of sight of the kid.

"It's hard when people hate you, when you can't understand what you're doing wrong." Ai ran her finger between the boy's eyes, breaking his poker face with her touch. Seeing him feel her actions, react and change by the power of Ai's love. "When you do your absolute best, yet can't stop failing to get anywhere. When you don't get what people want, when all you can ask yourself is 'why? Why? Why?' but never get anywhere… It's hard to make an omelet without cracking a few eggs."

"The other idols." Hikigaya still didn't sound fully himself. But when Ai gave him a side glance, she found him struggling to stand up. Go back to his feet and rest his weight against Ichigo-san's desk.

"…Not what I was talking about." Ai looked away. Regarding Ichigo-san for a moment before letting her sight stray again. "Catching up to everyone was hard, finding my passion was hard. Having things I wanted to try out, seeing the pile of things that needed doing so I could get to them… All the impositions and exceptions I had to accept…"

She hugged the boy, letting him rest his face on her chest. He flinched and felt like he wanted to pull away for a moment. But after a couple of seconds, he let her embrace him and returned the hug.

"All for the children." The girl stated. But Ai had expected that angle already.

"All of this before my babies!" Ai chuckled humorlessly. She reached out, beckoning Ruby to approach again. And turned around so that the Hikigaya siblings could see her face now. "Of course, they're the cutest and brightest children in existence. Everything I do for them is no burden at all, no problem at all. And Ichigo-san thinks the same."

"We supported Ai's decision to have them since the beginning." Ichigo-san interjected, sounding a bit troubled about it. Ai knew he had always had his doubts about Ai's choices. "We've tried to give the twins everything they could possibly need. They're very smart, and make us very happy. I'd like for this to be very clear."

Hikigaya rested himself on the edge of the desk, getting a worried look from his sister when she stood up too. She looked ready to catch him, but Hikigaya was looking better. Pale, but better. More firm, so to speak.

His gaze was somewhere that Ai couldn't follow. Deep in his own brain, safe from her scrutiny.

"What… What is the point of this?" He asked like he was talking to himself. Like he was trying to piece things on his own, willing his brain to connect the dots by speaking out loud instead of acknowledging the rest of the room.

"Didn't I tell you already? I don't want to lie to you." Ai gave him her best approximation of an embarrassed smile that she could muster. "Hopefully, this will clear things out between us."

"This only gives me more questions." Hikigaya shook his head. Sounding more annoyed than weak.

"Yes, they're mine-mine." Ai looked at him with upturned eyes. Blinking a couple of times to magnify her cuteness.

"What?"

"I birthed them." Ai blinked a couple more times, grasping her hands in front of herself. "They came out of me."

"…Ai?" Ichigo-san sounded weirded out, so Ai had to look at the man to know what was up with him. He looked like she had said something outrageous.

The twins were also looking at her like they expected better from her.

"That's… Yes. I don't doubt that part." Hikigaya himself looked like he wanted to let out an 'uwwwwaaaahhhh…' noise. Like he was disappointed in her. "Otherwise, things would be wildly different."

Would they? Well, they wouldn't have to hide the kids if they weren't Ai's. They'd probably do more things, and Ai would probably be unable to love them.

"True…"

"We're just that similar." Ruby murmured. Still being heard because of how silent the office was otherwise.

"That's… That's the case, yes." The younger Hikigaya looked between Ruby and Ai. So the idol tried to mimic her little girl's expression, to little avail. "I didn't think anything about it when we saw the boy back at the concert, but the girl? I can see the resemblance."

"You saw Aqua back then?" Ichigo-san didn't sound surprised, but he still seemed to want confirmation. "Makes sense. This little guy doesn't usually act up without reason…"

That'd get him and Ai in trouble later, probably.

"…Don't call him that." The younger Hikigaya sounded disappointed.

"It's his name." Ai defended the kid, furrowing her brows at the girl with little actual anger behind the expression. "I chose it."

"Yes, I can tell." Hikigaya Komachi stated.

"Really? Could've fooled me." Hikigaya Hachiman murmured at the same time.

Ai pressed her lips into a fine line, looking at Ichigo-san for backup.

The man couldn't hold her gaze and looked at the wall to his left.

"Everyone's a critic nowadays…"

"Do you even know how to write it?" The girl lifted an eyebrow at Ai.

Her brother didn't react at all. She would have thought he'd join in, given that he threw his own jab at Aqua's name himself. But he just… Wasn't present.

Ai felt her stomach clench a little. She didn't know what he was thinking about, and she couldn't know. Not when he was pulling back from the conversation like that.

"Yeah, of course." Ai still couldn't leave the flow, couldn't just power through. If it was about her, it'd have been fine. She was used to the jokes, to the not-quite-harmless quips. To the rumors, the ill-intended comments. She'd thought that Hikigaya was the same, Gotanda-san said no one perpetually looked that defeated without having to go through their own set of rejections; but now? When it was about her children? "Don't you? Looking as smart as you do?"

Unacceptable. Just like with Hikigaya's sister, Ai couldn't help being unreasonable here.

The girl put out her tongue and placed a finger on it. Ai didn't know what that was about, not even when she pointed down and waved her hand in a 'so-so' way.

"What?"

"It's lukewarm." Hikigaya's sister said. "Not hot or cold. Just… Lukewarm."

Ai chose to interpret it as an insult as well.

"Well…"

"Can you…?" Ruby spoke up, shyly putting up an angry expression toward Hikigaya's sister. And for a moment, Ai's whole body clenched. Ready to face the man that had almost died for her sake if it meant protecting Ruby. It was a bitter feeling. "Can you please leave mama alone? Please?"

Hikigaya looked at his sister, who had her own gaze squarely on Ruby.

Ai relaxed a fraction, pretending that she hadn't felt threatened for a moment.

"…Guess Saitou-san has helped you a whole lot here, huh." The girl finally mumbled.

"Mom's fulfilling her role well-enough." Aqua perked up instantly, glaring at the younger Hikigaya before Ai could even understand what she had been told. "She's our mom and we love her."

Ai felt smugness creep into her features when the younger Hikigaya could do nothing but pull back from continuing to get in the way.

"He's really smart." Hikigaya muttered, glaring at Aqua now. "Are you sure you're a kid?"

"Are you sure you're a man?" Aqua held his ground, no longer shying away from being seen by Hikigaya.

There were slight tremors in his hands, but he puffed his chest a bit and didn't look away from Aqua. Locked into a staring contest with the boy while he put his hands on Ruby, while Hikigaya rested an elbow on the shoulder of his own sister.

…Cute. These two looked like cats hissing at each other like in those silly videos on the internet.

Oyoyoyoyoyo…

"You should be asking that to the guy behind you." Hikigaya finally figured out what to say. Sounding incredibly restrained, almost physically clenching his own body to keep himself in place… Or keep himself from actually insulting Aqua.

"…" Huh. How strange. Why didn't Ichigo-san defend himself?

"That's…" Even Aqua looked a little taken aback, looking at the most adult of the adults present in the room.

"Leave Ichigo-san alone. He's done his best." Ai came to the rescue. Because someone had to.

"I could've done better." Ichigo-san gritted his teeth, making Ai look at him with furrowed brows.

What's with that? That regretful expression didn't suit him.

"Could you have, actually?" Ai titled her head, staring at him with as much intensity as she could without changing her expression.

His gaze wandered to the twins, then to the Hikigaya siblings.

He stayed quiet.

"Even if you could have…" Ai swallowed, pushing the ugly feelings into the deepest corners of her body. Not wanting to think about a world without the twins. "We've done things together for so long I'm having a hard time blaming you for anything. I'm here thanks to you."

"We're here because of him too." The younger Hikigaya interrupted. "Which… I guess it brings us back to the point, right?"

Right. Ai would let it slide just because her words didn't force her into the matter of the twin's birth.

"What now, right?" Ai smiled at them. A little more comfortable with the topic now.

"We can't exactly walk away knowing what we know…" Hikigaya looked away, still deep in thought. It kept bothering Ai, but she couldn't breach the topic without making things messier. Without inviting more unwanted topics to the table.

Hikigaya's sister looked at him with some worry.

"I think we're perfectly capable of walking away." She turned her face to Ai and Ichigo-san, ignoring the kids for a moment. "We deserve this much; we've proven to be trustworthy."

"Please don't." Ichigo-san sighed. "We meant to show you as a display of trust, so we could start working together. I think we can make this work."

"There's nothing here, though." The girl frowned only at Ichigo-san now. "We gain nothing except more trouble. Being 'in the know' just makes things more difficult for us."

"Does it? You have a very strong card to play now, something of a board-leveling move." Ichigo-san retorted. "I'd think it's worth at least considering our offer, now that the field is level."

"This isn't the cold war, Saitou." The older Hikigaya interjected with his arms crossed. "You don't just assure the other that fighting will destroy both sides and expect a compromise. It really doesn't work that way."

"I'm afraid I must insist all the same."

"But why?" Hikigaya looked even more troubled now.

"I told you already."

"I want to make your life better." Ai added.

"Yeah, very…" The younger Hikigaya stopped herself with a sigh. "That's not the point."

"It is, though." Ai pulled her children closer to her. Placing a hand on their shoulders. One for each kid. "Isn't this enough? Enough fighting? Enough trouble?"

"We can avoid trouble on our own." The girl stated.

But I don't want that.

"But then…"

"…Nothing is resolved." Hikigaya spoke up, still not looking at anyone in the room. "And we keep dancing around, waiting for the other side to make their move."

…What? Okay. Yeah, sure. Ai could roll with that.

"Exactly." She nodded with a smile on her face.

"Onii-chan…" The younger Hikigaya looked very lost, like her brother was betraying her. "There's no need to dig ourselves deeper into this."

"I…" Hikigaya tilted his head, eyes looking at nothing in particular. "I gave Hoshino my word that I'd be here for her."

Ai had to hold back her expression, fight against the overwhelming sense of victory threatening to show her ugly side in front of her children and Hikigaya's sister.

"…" The younger Hikigaya snapped her face away. "You're being taken advantage of again."

"If he's with you, shouldn't that be fine?" Ichigo-san cut through that conversation before the younger Hikigaya could play her angle of being disappointed in her brother. "Do things at your own discretion. We don't want you to be targeted as another link close to Ai either. That'd be disastrous."

That… Didn't sit well with Ai. But, hey, she could make it work.

"Your friend will be around too." She spoke up, remembering how insistent the guy had been about the big boobed girl's feelings. "You wouldn't want her to 'fall in our clutches', right?"

"Heh." Hikigaya shook his head, his lips twisted up into a weird expression. "I guess not."

…What kind of reaction was that?

"Okay?"

Hikigaya stared at Ai with eyes filled with a strange mixture of feelings.

"Her well-being is a priority, after all."

Those words… Ai looked away.

Hikigaya chuckled.

"Onii-chan?"

"Nothing." The older Hikigaya placed a hand on top of his sister's head. "It's just that we've come to an understanding."

"Really now…"

"Ugh…" Ai hugged her children on their head.

"Mama?"

"Must be something they discussed elsewhere." Aqua elaborated, sounding pretty calm for the way things were heading into a strange topic.

"That's… I don't like that." Ruby replied.

"Me neither." Ichigo-san placed a hand on Ai's shoulder.

It felt weird. Like… Did he have to do it in front of Hikigaya?

"I'd like for things to be clear going forward, open up communication more." He elaborated, and it felt like he was talking solely to Ai here.

"Which reminds me." Hikigaya screwed his eyes shut. "What do you want Komachi for, again?"

Ichigo-san gave them a crooked smile.

"I think I can make her famous. I just don't know how yet…"

"I'll not sign anything that doesn't let me walk away whenever I want." A-chan stated solemnly.

"…Right." Ichigo-san deflated a bit.

"And…" She pointed at Ai now, looking at her like she was a minor inconvenience. "No calling onii-chan here without me."

"Why are you pointing at me, though?" Ai couldn't help asking.

"Because I'm saying this because of you." The girl clicked her tongue. "Wait. Are we gonna babysit? Is this what this will be about? We end up as glorified babysitters?"

Even Ai cringed a bit when Ichigo-san didn't answer immediately.

"Well…"

"Unbelievable…" The girl shook her head.

"We're not some pest in need of dealing with." Aqua frowned at the girl.

"And we don't want to be around you either." Ruby added.

The girl had no choice but to take those words, because otherwise she'd be an adult fighting two four years-old kids.

"…That." Ichigo-san sighed. "I don't think it'd be good to separate them from Ai too much either."

The younger Hikigaya looked super uncomfortable, like she'd turn everything down if it was up to her.

She could only sigh in resignation when her brother didn't say anything.

"…I understand."

"Great." Ichigo-san grinned. "Pleasure to come to an agreement."

"You're so lucky onii-chan is a pushover when it comes down to problematic girls." The younger Hikigaya growled.

Ai and Hikigaya eyed the girl at the same time.

"Excuse me?" Ai asked with the most expressionless tone she'd used since… Forever?

"Stop making me sound like a freak in front of literal children." Hikigaya sighed. Sounding only barely concerned about the things his sister was saying.

"Mama's not problematic!" Ruby slammed her little foot on the ground.

The younger Hikigaya looked at her with some pity.

"How old are you, sweetie?"

"Four! Why?!"

A-chan looked at Ai now, smugness radiating so much from her whole body that she didn't even bother asking Ai the same question.

"…Twenty."

The girl nodded sagely.

"I see…"

She then turned her face to her brother, shrugging with the same finality as someone who had seen a car be thrown into the air by a tornado and seeing that natural disaster approach them in their lonesome.

"How does he do it, ladies and gentlemen~?" The girl murmured before regarding Ichigo-san directly. "I want to take the contract you make home, we'll come back to sign it at a later date."

Ichigo-san deflated again.

"And you?" He looked at Hikigaya, maybe hoping that he'd back him up a bit.

Hikigaya stared holes at Ichigo-san in return.

"I want some cash, actually." He smiled solemnly at the man. Like he'd reached enlightment in this conversation. "And to see Yui-san's contract as well, see that you're being fair to her."

Ichigo-san covered half of his face with his right hand, frowning so hard that Ai could see the expression lines that he'd get when he got old.

Older.

"Right. Go to Miyako, then."

"Pretty funny how everything is figured out by her." Hikigaya shook his head. "Then, we'll take our leave."

"Eh? No way." Ai separated a bit from the twins. "That's it?"

"There's not much else for us to talk about." Hikigaya shrugged, looking away from Aqua. "My priority right now is Yui-san."

Ai didn't like the sound of those words said in that order.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Hikigaya stared back like he'd seen something mildly disgusting in front of him.

They'd gone through this back when they first met, but Ai really didn't like being subjected to that stare. She liked it better when he was flustered or irritated, when his features were softer and wholly centered on her.

"I thought this was a big deal." Ai motioned to her kids, trying to not make a huge deal out of stopping him. "…We even dragged your sister and stuff."

"Ah, well…" Hikigaya looked away. "I guess I still need time to process all of this. Make sense of things."

That… Okay, yeah. He felt like a very slow person, yes.

"I see…"

"Besides…" Hikigaya regarded the twins again, his gaze less wavering now. "They're just kids."

…Just kids?

"Right…" A-chan sighed. "Whatever was said here…"

"Mhm." Hikigaya agreed even tough his sister hadn't completed her thoughts. "It wouldn't be fair."

"Hmmm…" The younger Hikigaya looked away.

"…I don't get it." Ai had no choice but to acknowledge the fact. Because her main mission was understanding Hikigaya, understanding the way he felt and thought.

"They're not at fault here." Hikigaya stated after a moment. "They're just… Here. There's nothing wrong with wanting to protect them."

"I don't doubt the results." His sister added. "But I question the methods."

The older Hikigaya took the first step. Walking so close to Ai that she expected him to do something, touch her in some way. Acknowledge her importance.

He didn't. Instead, he just nodded in her general direction and opened the door for his sister before leaving the office himself.

Ai found her feet turning to give chase.

"Wait!"

She crossed the threshold, making both siblings stop and frown at her.

"What is it?" Hikigaya asked, voice controlled. His sister was still glaring.

"…" Ai didn't really know what to say. "See you around?"

A-chan scoffed.

"Of course." Hikigaya nodded, expression filled with seriousness.

Ai smiled a bit. Feeling oddly reassured by the way he replied.

"Ah. Come to think of it." He rubbed the back of his head, changing his whole-body language to one of awkwardness. "I didn't want to mention it because of 'them', but… What about the father?"

Ai felt cold inside.

"…What about him?" She replied with practiced ease, holding Hikigaya's inquisitive stare without giving any ground.

"I see…"

"What? But I didn't answer the…"

"Does Ichigo-san know him?" Hikigaya interrupted her, looking serious again.

Ai looked away.

"…Goodbye, Ai-san." Hikigaya turned around. Preventing Ai from reading his expression any longer. "Please stay safe."

"…I'll try." Ai's shoulders dropped as she saw him go. She exchanged a look with A-chan, who had stayed behind for a moment. Studying Ai's reaction.

She looked a little sad when she left.

Ai would have preferred if the girl looked smug or satisfied.