A turn on the lock. A push on the door.

"Hi, Maris Stella."

The cat yawned. She stood up from the rug to stretch herself while her owner yanked away her high-heels.

Not waiting for her cat to move, she crossed over the feline and shed the briefcase in her hand, which she rolled to flex her strained muscles, before she fell face down on her bed.

She sighed. That was the reality of Tokyo's office workers. You got the comfort of working behind the glass windows, but your job and hours were worse than an ant's.

"Mado-san, sorry to disturb you."

The voicemail could do anything it wanted. Good luck trying to wake a dead log.

Even if the mid-day sun rose on her, scorched or even burnt her, she would be too dead to feel it anyway.

"This is Nakajima from three-one-five."

Nakajima? Right. The nice lady two-floor below.

Try again when her brain was not shutting down.

Ten points for the attempt though.

"Your husband and children were waiting for you at your doorstep…"

Husband?

Her head snapped up. Her eyes refused to open, because those eyes were not supposed to open when she was dead, just like the rest of her body.

Her only systems which refused to cooperate—her ears, the traitors—decided to function just fine.

As a former ghoul investigator, that enhanced sense was a lifesaver, but not anymore when she had hung that uniform and became a low-life.

"So I invited them to my place. Please let us know when you are back. Thanks!"

Perhaps she should just go back and slay some ghouls for a living.

Or she could just drop by a convenient store and get some ear plugs next time when she was on her way home.

The voicemail had stopped. Her head dropped too.

Husband. Children. Whatever that message said. She did not hear a thing.

Yet after five minutes, she got up, against every muscle in her that was screaming in protest. With her eyes still closed, she went to the door and kicked into what she thought were some slippers. Not that she would care if they were not.

All she wanted was to get everything over with and jump back to bed.

A decision made under sleep deprivation was a bad decision. Hers was yet another number that boosted the statistics of that study.

True enough. When she showed up at her neighbor's doorstep, her poor neighbor almost had a heart attack.

She did not have to ask to know why.

By now, some of her hair must have loosened out from the braid she did a day ago. Together with her knitted brows that deepened the frown on her face, she probably looked worse than her grumpy cat.

Or a ghoul.

Her look was something she could not control. She was her father's daughter after all.

Still, she was the one who startled her neighbor. She apologized the best she could, but through her mouth every word somehow became unapologetic.

"Akira?"

The aisle from the entrance was short enough for her eyes to pick up the giant.

She never thought she would still be awake and her eyes had opened.

Her brisk steps to the man she had not seen for months were falling behind the intended tempo. To make it worse, her feet weighed a tonne on the floor. It was not so bad until… "Why are you here?"

I've missed you.

She ignored her brain's attempt to correct herself. He should know that she was never good at playing with words. So, he should not expect her try doing it when she had not slept for the last forty hours.

"Akira…" It was either his eyes just cast a spell, or the sleeping demon had stilled her.

Either way, that did not last long.

Their eyes dropped to the baby in Amon's arms. With his tiny hand grabbed onto his father's navy blue shirt, Little Yuya nuzzled to Amon's chest, secured and free to wander in his dreamland.

Who would not envy a baby?

"Mama!" The girl with messy hair ran to Akira and bumped into the latter's shin.

Oh, so there was her script.

The soft black hair on the baby and the long, curly blond on the girl were some hard to miss traits. With Chibi's calling her, Akira was forced to play the angry and unappreciative wife.

Akira knew that she should just ignore everything, but she could not, especially when there was a stick wiggling in the girl's mouth.

"What is it that you're having in your mouth?" Akira crouched and pulled the lollipop out of the girl's mouth. Chibi's sweet tooth would soon get bad if Amon kept indulging her.

"Mama! Mama!" Already at six, Chibi was only the size of a three-year-old and never learnt any new words.

That had to stop.

"Did you have to bring along the children?" If Akira failed to silence Amon before, she had succeeded now.

Had her neighbor not stepped in to mitigate, Akira would regret everything that followed. That kind soul even offered to babysit the children.

Both then returned to Akira's apartment.

Sitting face to face, with only a low table between them, they could tell each other whatever they want.

Akira made some coffee, because it was unlikely that she would be able to sleep anyway. "Sorry…" She grabbed her elbow. "I didn't mean to—"

"I should have called." He finally faced her. "I thought to give you a surprise."

She might have dazed out a little, but he did not give her a chance to explain.

"I'm sorry to have upset you—"

She chuckled. This time, she caught him by surprise. "Sorry. I ruined it, didn't I?"

As always, he did not answer her.

She was not sure if he knew this, that she never intended to give him a hard time, even from the day they met and became partners.

Life itself was difficult enough. She did not need to or have the time and energy to invest in such nonsense.

"I'm happy." She smiled. She hoped that it looked like a smile. "Really."

Was that not convincing enough?

His lips were so close to curl before he dropped his head. "Actually, Akira… I've been offered a job as an instructor at the TSC." His eyes drifted. "It pays enough to cover the shelter and the kids' expenses. I'll just have to put in a few hours per week. So," He glanced at her, "you can quit your job." He just stopped and looked at her. "What do you think?"

That long babbling took her awhile to process. She guessed the caffeine had stopped working long time ago. So, he took the job, and "You want me to quit my job?" That was probably not the point.

His back pricked. "I… I don't mean to interfere with your life."

Yeah, life. There was hardly any. With the job she had now, she hardly remembered who she was anymore.

She rose to her feet. For some reason, he felt that he had to speed up his explanation. "You have been working very hard and I just—"

It was quiet again. Akira could get used to that.

Those years without him, she had accepted that she was the odd one. She picked up diplomatic speech and compromised. Everything she did was just so that she would not be left out again.

But that kiss was not it.

She slowly opened her eyes and pulled away just enough to see his face better.

He was dazed. Perhaps he had hit his head when she knocked him down earlier?

Could anyone blame her though? It was frustrating enough to have fallen in love with a giant. She had to take any chance she had to reach him.

If he decided to defend himself, that was probably the time to do so.

That was it. If he had nothing else to say…

She leaned down and took his mouth. He did not protest. Instead, he pushed his tongue into her. Taken aback at first, she quickly relinquished any control she had to him.

She was pressing onto his chest until he made her a mere feather when he turned them over.

She did not know how he managed to be on all four and yet leaning so close to her. Her brain could not think.

If he slipped or yielded, his weight alone could collapse her lungs, but that was one risk she was willing to bear.

Her hands raked through the hair behind his ears and swam down to his shoulder blades. His lips sealed her mouth tightly, not allowing the slightest seam between them.

There was nothing rational to what they were doing. They were no longer some ghoul investigators. They did not need to think of the repercussions.

In fact, she started to like that part of him, when there was nothing holding him back. Behind that bright and shining light, Koutaro Amon was just a mortal man.

Until his lips detached from hers.

She stared at him as he pushed himself up. She should have known that would happen… "Am I that unappealing?"

Her question again struck him. "I—"

"Relax. It's just a joke." It was not funny, but it helped clear the air.

"Sorry, Akira. I don't think we should rush this."

She lost count of how many times he had apologized to her. It was either she had been too tired to keep count or that she had already given up. "You and your righteousness..."

He did not say anything. He probably was going to just let her retaliate him with insults. She wanted none of those.

She just wondered what she did to hit that jackpot, for finding a man who would reject a woman. "I'll wait." That was all she did to salvage that puny pride which remained in her.

His eyes followed her as she stood up.

Looking down to him, she kind of understood his perspective of wanting to be a savior.

Or at least she tried.

"Just… don't make me wait too long." There was no guarantee how long she would last. It was hard to embrace the Sun when she was small and flammable.

She probably kept on burning until nothing was left of her.

"Let's go." She went to the door. "We have to get Chibi and Yuya."

"Right." He got up and followed her.

Walking with him side by side, she looked up to him. Her neck still hurt every time she had to look up like that. Of all the men she could find, why did she have to choose him?

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just thinking about a fool, about one hundred and ninety one centimeter tall." Though she was a bigger fool, he did not need to know that.

She covered her mouth when she saw his face blacken and still. It was hard to keep her voice down while her stomach convulsed against her.

She blinked then looked at him again.

Was that the reason?

"What is it this time? Will you stop making fun of me?" He was sulking, but she tried not to laugh.

Instead, she took his hand to make a deal. "Alright."

Four years before. Six years after. That was the price for loving Koutaro Amon—her tall guy with a big heart.

Because that big, serious slowpoke was the only one in the world who could make her laugh.

A/N

I tried to upgrade the rating, but Amon, the moral police, stopped me.

Now you understand Akira's frustration.

I'll try again in the future. Perhaps I will have to drug him.