Notes:
Hello everyone, here Vera bringing the continuation of the previous chapter.
Sorry if I didn't upload it before, I've had some hectic and busy weeks that have brought me from one place to another, but here it is, finally one more chapter of this story, one that I consider special for the plot since Yuta will have to make an important decision.
So sit back and enjoy one more episode of your favorite YutaMaki soap opera❤ and more because after this episode, a little time jump is coming, as well as more important revelations for the plot.
Chapter 29. The Okkotsu Decision
"Being a father is not easy."
Once Yuta left his room, he went into the bathroom and took a shower, he felt he needed to relax a bit, so he stayed there for about ten minutes.
After he came out of the bathroom already dressed and drying his hair with a towel, he went into the other room to get the folder he managed to take from Yurika. He had to check some things about that case, so he would go to the dining room to do it.
Yuta left the room and when he was about to reach the dining room, his foot collided with something that rolled a few steps away.
"What the hell?" said Yuta confused at first, but once he got closer to the object, he realized what it was.
He had accidentally kicked Yurika's backpack. Yuta was beginning to notice that she was a bit of a messy girl and would leave her things strewn around. And that had happened with her backpack.
From that pink backpack rolled out some of his daughter's belongings: such as her hairbrush, some dolls and various hair accessories, as well as other things that the girl was carrying. However, among those objects also appeared something unexpected, a very peculiar book that immediately caught Yuta's attention.
When he carefully lifted it, he noticed that several photographs fell from it, especially pictures of two children. At that moment Yuta understood what it was that he was holding in his hands.
It was the photo album of his children
"Yurika must have brought this without Maki's permission..." he said quietly as he noticed how more photos came out of the album.
He quickly picked up all the photographs that had fallen and went to the dining room table to arrange them. He knew that his daughter was going to get a severe scolding from her mother for taking such a valuable object out of the house. Still, Yuta dared to look at those mementos.
The sorcerer felt his heart grow very small when he opened the first page, which contained some photographs still stuck to its pages.
There was the first picture they had taken of his children. It was a photograph of those premature babies, inside that incubator or "crystal ship" as Yuudai had said.
His hands trembled as he held that photograph, while his tears overflowed and fell quickly at the sight of that memory, where he could see how small those two were, and how in their little hands they had the needles with which the serums entered their bodies and how in their little bodies there were wires connected to them to monitor them. On the foot of one of them, he could see a small medical bracelet, where he could see the date October 7.
"Yes, they were very small..." he said in a low, broken voice, feeling more tears flooding his eyes and then streaming down his cheeks.
At that moment, Yuta began to look in the dim light of the dining room at all the other photographs that had stuck to the pages, as well as the messy photos that had come out of the album.
There were photos of those twins both in and out of the hospital and in their later months and years.
One of the photographs that most caught Yuta's attention was one of Maki, sitting in a special chair in that hospital, where she was carefully holding her twins on her chest.
Actually their children were too young, perhaps in that photograph they were only days old as both were still wearing the oxygen probe, as it could be seen that Yuudai was the one who was connected to more wires that monitored all his vital signs.
Guilt began to consume him.
"Maki needed me by her side at this stage... I'm a total idiot for not getting off that train…" he said, tears still running down the corners of his eyes.
Yuta could see it, Maki's eyes in that picture were pure sadness even though those two babies looked more stable.
Yuta kept looking at all those pictures.
He could even see several photos where Yuudai was already alone in that incubator, and every time he looked like a healthier baby with less wires and bigger. There was even a photo where outside "his crystal ship" there was a tiny Christmas tree ornament. I could see it in every picture, that child looked like he was still alive and clinging to life.
"My little astronaut..." he said quietly when he saw that picture of his son.
He could tell that both Maki and Tsumiki were the ones who were with that child in the hospital the most, especially Maki was the one who was with her son the most.
"Maki didn't have an easy time... and yet she brought Yurika and Yuudai along for almost seven years..."
Yuta kept looking at the pictures. Some of them were of both babies dressed in matching clothes. There were even some more pictures that were taken in some park or aquarium where those two little ones were smiling holding hands.
There were even some photos that he surmised, may have been taken by Tsumiki or Nobara where both children were wearing twin-themed costumes such as "thing one and thing two" or children's movie characters.
He continued looking through the photographs that had come out of that album, one of those photos that caught his attention, was one where those two children wore their first kimonos in some ceremony in a temple in Kyoto, with Maki and Megumi. Each one carried one of the twins in their arms, clearly simulating the family those little ones needed.
There were also several pictures with their other friends, where even Toge and Itadori were playing with those children. Like Nobara painting Yurika's nails or Megumi spending time with Yuudai reading a book.
And there were even photographs where all of them accompanied those little ones to various festivals like the big family they were.
There were actually many photos of unforgettable moments of those children, such as of their first steps, as well as of their first meals, noticing how Yurika was very messy when eating and Yuudai seemed to be the quietest one.
There were even some pictures where Mai was with her nephews and nieces, but especially she was hugging Yurika a lot and even shared a set of clothes with that beautiful baby.
There were also photos of their recent school years. There was one where her children were standing next to Maki at their elementary school homecoming event, wearing their uniforms and behind them a large sign with the phrase "Happy start to the school year
Just as there were many more school photos, such as of Yurika at sporting events and Yuudai at some school event where they showed off their medals and awards.
As well as there were photographs of her various birthdays, which apparently were all themed because in the six photos she found of them, she noticed that some of those parties were in children's character costumes.
Seeing all those memories, unleashed too many feelings to Okkotsu, and more to see all that happiness and moments that were taken away from him in an unfair way.
"There are so many things I missed with you two... and that was mostly my fault... I should have gone back to the first one... I should have just gotten off the train and gone to look for Maki..." he said still with a hurt voice, while looking at the most current pictures of his children.
It even hurt him to see those photographs where Megumi played the role of Yurika and Yuudai's father, since in some memories, the bearer of the ten shadows was holding the hands of those two children, as well as hugging them, and even accompanying them in their first steps and even in certain school events.
Fushiguro had really set the bar high as the adoptive father of those two. And perhaps, knowing that he was their biological father might disappoint them.
"What must I do to be the father they want? If all they know about me is that I left before their birth..." Yuta brought his hands to his face while crying.
The question of What is being a good father? crossed his mind painfully. He was so lost in his sad thoughts that it was the sound of the doorbell ringing that brought him back to reality.
Yuta got up from his chair, wiped his tears with his hands once more and went to the door as that doorbell rang again.
The sorcerer opened the door and his heart wanted to stop when he saw the person standing outside his apartment.
"I'm home!" said Maki with a big smile, which faded into a grimace of utter confusion when she saw Yuta's face all red and wet from crying.
"Are you all right?" she asked, but the next thing surprised her, as Yuta hugged her tightly.
"Don't tell me, the children have already made you cry, haven't they?" she said with a smile and drawing that conclusion because she already knew how naughty her children could be, "They have already made several nannies cry too"
"Maki san..." said Yuta with a broken voice- "Seriously, you are a great mother... forgive me for not having been with you and our children in these seven years... I don't know how you did it... only one afternoon was enough for me to try this parenthood thing and..." he could not finish speaking because he started sobbing.
Maki sighed and hugged him. She guessed that maybe it was his "recent fatherhood" that made him like this.
"Being a father isn't easy, is it?" she asked with a smile.
Yuta just shook his head no as he continued to cry.
Maki sighed and little by little she was undoing the embrace.
"Come on, let's go inside and then you can tell me everything that happened"
After a few minutes of deep breathing and finally calming down while standing in the foyer of that apartment.
Yuta invited her in, even surprising Maki by giving her a pair of slippers so she could comfortably enter his home.
"Earlier, the children and I went shopping and bought you some slippers to make you feel at home" Yuta explained.
"How kind of you, thank you" said Maki, taking off her sneakers and putting on her other shoes. She also left her sports bag there at the entrance.
Maki began to enter the apartment, she was in an enemy zone, but even so, she could not help but be amazed by the luxury that overflowed that place.
"It seems that you have a good life and some luxuries thanks to being a sorcerer, right?" she commented, looking at how big the place was, as well as the fine furniture that adorned the entire apartment.
Yuta scratched the back of his neck.
"Something like this... even if it's huge and luxurious, sometimes I feel very lonely here"
"I imagine, although it seems that the children have already given it their touch, haven't they?" she said, looking into the living room, since there she found several toys on the armchairs and others scattered on the floor.
"Hehe yeah, Yurika and Yuudai have given some life to this place" commented Yuta with a big smile.
"Where are they, by the way? Aren't they going to see a movie?" asked Maki, putting her hands on her hips.
"They already went to sleep" Yuta scratched the back of his head again, hesitating whether he should tell him what had happened with the discussion of those little ones. Even so, he decided to lie a little "They were already falling asleep in the middle of the movie since it was an exhausting day and they had better go to sleep"
Maki smiled a little.
"I imagine and even more so with this cold rain, they get sleepy quickly"
At that instant, something caught her attention, and that was what was on the table. She quickly recognized it.
"Is that our photo álbum?!" she asked with a grimace of annoyance.
Yuta quickly reacted.
"I'm sorry... it's just that in an oversight, I kicked Yurika's backpack that was on the floor, and this album came out of it" he explained looking at the photographs on the table, "I tried to arrange them since some of them fell out of their pages but..." sigh with a picture of his children in his hand "I took the audacity to see a little bit of our family's past..."
Maki approached the table.
"That girl always does whatever she wants and doesn't follow rules!" she smiled slightly, "I wonder who she inherited that from? Because it wasn't from me!" she said sarcastically.
Yuta looked at him and also smiled at that comment. Then his gaze returned to the photographs.
"So you were crying about this?" asked Maki, picking up a photograph of her children, in which Yurika and Yuudai were younger.
Yuta was ashamed to admit it, but he still spoke "Yes, I was crying when I saw everything I missed in these seven years... besides, I just realized that I have a very high bar. Fulfilling the expectations that Megumi left as his adoptive father, it will be very difficult to overcome" he said in a sigh of total sadness.
"Did the children bring up or say anything about it?" asked Maki curiously.
Yuta lowered his shoulders. He bit his tongue as he had spoken too much.
"Something like that... they rather talked about how good Megumi was as their father. As well as about you they said many good things," he smiled, "Especially that you are a great mother, loving and that you always saw for both of us"
Maki felt proud to hear that and a big smile appeared on her lips: "My children..." she said with total affection.
They both continued to look at those photos some more, until Maki's attention was drawn to a folder underneath the album, which she carefully took out and noticed that it had some pages.
"What is this?" she said curiously once she opened the folder and was about to read it.
But Yuta stopped him, putting his hand on that sheet, "I'm sorry Maki san... but this is something from my current job..." he said with some seriousness.
"And what was he doing under the photo álbum?" asked Maki, squinting her eyes.
"I was going to check something about the case we are investigating, but I got caught up in looking at the photos of our children" he said without taking his eyes off her.
"And do you think I could take a look at your work?" asked Maki curiously. She wanted to know how much they had discovered about her.
"I'm sorry Maki san... but it's something I don't want you or the children to see..." Yuta said seriously.
"And why not?" Maki put her hand on her hip while with the other she still held the folder, "Don't you think an outside opinion could help you solve the case?"
"I just don't want you to see the cruelty with which this murderer is killing his victims..."
Maki twisted her lips slightly, though inside she had a smile as it seemed her work was being taken seriously.
They both stared at each other without letting go of that folder. Seriously Maki was dying of curiosity to know what information Yuta already had about her, but at the same time, she didn't want to insist and more than that could raise suspicions. So she had to continue acting like a "normal" person.
Maki dropped the folder, "Okay, but if you need help on this case or an opinion, you can let me know, okay?" she crossed her arms over her chest.
Yuta sighed with relief. He still had to be careful about what he left in plain sight around his apartment "I'll keep that in mind"
"And..." Maki looked at that apartment, "Aren't you going to give me a tour of your home? Do you think you could even take me to see the children?" she said with a slight smile.
"As I said, make yourself at home!" said Yuta with a smile, "As you can see this is the dining room, and here at the back is the kitchen"
"I hope you gave them something nutritious to eat!" she said, looking at the pots where there was still some food left, as well as some dishes in the sink.
"I prepared a recipe I learned abroad. Homemade mini pizzas" said Yuta proudly.
"It doesn't sound bad at all and I guess they liked your food, didn't they?" said Maki with a smile.
"I say yes, because they even repeated the dish" said Yuta, very happy with the dish he prepared, "There is still some homemade pizza and spaghetti bolognese left over if you would like to have it for dinner"
"Thank you very much, yes I would like to have some dinner before going to sleep. But first I'd like to take a shower..." She look at Yuta "Do you think I could use your shower? I really feel very dirty with all the sweat and I ended up a bit soaked by the rain, and to tell you the truth, I didn't want to use the showers at the gym because it was already very late and I just wanted to come with you as soon as possible"
"Go ahead, as I said, make yourself at home, Maki san. You and our children can use this apartment at your leisure and comfort" he said with a big smile as he walked to the living room, "Come!"
"Thank you" she said, following him.
Yuta took a few steps until he reached the living room, since it was only several meters away from the dining room "And this here is the living room!" he commented with a slight smile.
Maki looked at the cookies on the coffee table, as well as the ice cream cups, and even took a close look at all the toys Yuta had bought for them. By the way, she also noticed the tale that she knew was her son's favorite, which was on the sofa.
"It looks like they had a little fun" she said, taking a cookie and eating it as she looked carefully at the place, turning on her heels.
"Hehe yeah, kids don't run out of batteries too soon" said Yuta with a big smile as he remembered how they had played a while ago.
Okkotsu continued walking until he reached the end of the corridor "And this way is the rest of this place" he took the knob of the door at the end- "Here at the end is the bathroom" he opened the door showing that it was a spacious place
"As I said, you can make yourselves at home and use it without shame"
"Wow!, it's spacious" said Maki, looking at the shower and the whole place in general.
"You can use it without problem, even if you want you can leave some of the products you use here for your comfort when bathing, even, the children and I bought you some bath towels" said Yuta with a big smile and leaving the bathroom and showing the space that was on one side of it.
"And here, at the edge is the small service area" said Yuta showing the space where he had a washing machine and a dryer, as well as a small place to hang clothes and next to the closet where they kept the cleaning things, "Although twice a week some people come and take care of the cleaning of this apartment. But now that the three of you are here, I will ask them to come when you say so that they don't bother you"
Maki observed that area, looking at every part with great attention, trying to find some area where she could hide something from the view of others. She also noticed the towels, which she assumed belonged to her children, hanging on that small clothesline.
Although that last thing Yuta said caught her attention too much "So you have servants too, huh?"
"Hehe something like that, I guess it's an advantage of being a special grade sorcerer, to have cleaning staff sent to your home. But as I said, from now on, they will come to clean this apartment only when you tell me you want them to come. I want them to feel like kings here"
Maki smiled a little.
Yuta walked back a few steps to where there were two doors.
"And this one here is my room. The children are currently asleep in here" he said quietly, picking up the knob
But before entering, Maki pointed to the door opposite Yuta's room, "What's in here?" she asked quietly.
"That's an extra room we were using as a storage" Yuta opened the door to that room and showed Maki what was inside.
That room was also very spacious.
"I was thinking that this could be the children's room from now on" said Yuta with a big smile full of illusion, "I was thinking of furnishing it so that each one has a bed and some shelves where they can keep their toys. As well as the closet they can fill with their clothes"
"Wow, now you are behaving like a father" said Maki looking at that room. She took a few steps inside the room to see it better. Really, it was very spacious, almost as spacious as the room at home.
"It's just that now that I'm spending time with the kids, I've made a decisión"
"And what is this decision?"
"I really want to be the father you always needed and for that I also have to have their own space here in this apartment for you to feel comfortable. And more than like I said, I want to make up for lost time with you guys" Yuta said in a sigh. He really wanted to spend time with the three of them.
On the other hand, Maki's attention was drawn to those boxes and folders on the desk they had in there. She had a feeling that maybe there was some information about the case Yuta was investigating. But she decided that she would snoop through their contents later. So they both left that room to enter the other one.
"And as I said, this is my room over here" Yuta repeated quietly. He took the knob and carefully opened the door.
They both entered and saw that their children were still asleep on that big bed.
Maki approached them carefully and admired them sleeping soundly. Yuudai was still in his position, lying on his left side with his quiet breathing. He really was a very peaceful child even when sleeping. On the other hand, Yurika even in sleep was still moving too much. She was now with her legs and arms out of the blanket, as she was moving too much in her sleep.
Their mother was tenderdened by that scene, seeing them asleep and safe was what comforted her the most.
Then she kissed each of them on the forehead and that scene was watched by Yuta from the doorway. Yuta wanted to see that warm scene from now on for the rest of his life.
Maki carefully moved away from the bed to let them sleep and approached Yuta, who was still on the threshold, "We must let them sleep..." she whispered.
"Yes"
"Hey, and before I forget and we leave your room" Maki continued whispering.
"What is it?" asked Yuta in a very low voice.
"Do you think I could borrow a pair of pants or shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in? Please... I only have sports clothes in my bag and I don't like to sleep in them"
Yuta smiled at such a request, "Sure, let me find you something quick" he said quietly and approached his large closet.
Maki admired the large room from the doorway. She was even surprised at how organized the whole place was as she did not remember Yuta being so tidy.
Yuta pulled out a pair of black shorts and a navy blue T-shirt from his clothes, he knew those were the most comfortable ones he had.
They both left that room to let their children sleep in peace.
"Here you go, Maki san" he said, handing her the clothes, "I think it would also be good if we bought some clothes for you to have here"
"And where would we keep it? In fact, where would I sleep?" she asked with a grimace.
Yuta scratched the back of his neck "Well, you could keep your clothes next to mine here in my room and" his face turned a little red "I don't know if you'd like to sleep in my bed, too"
Maki laughed softly at this proposal, then planted a kiss near Yuta's lips "Looks like someone wants to play house, huh?"
Yuta was surprised by that fleeting kiss, even so he put his hands on her face and gave her a few kisses on the lips, which were reciprocated by Maki, "I just want" he said between kisses "To be with you and the children as the family we always should have been..."
Those kisses went on a little longer. It seemed that their lips really missed each other all afternoon.
Maki stopped him, holding him by the cheeks and catching his breath "We'll see about that... Well, let me go get my things to my backpack to take a bath and after that we can talk a little about everything that happened this afternoon with the children..." she said in a low voice and leaving him.
"All right, I'll go warm up your dinner while I'm at it" said Yuta with a big smile.
11:20 p.m.
Maki got out of the shower, dried and brushed her hair, which was left loose. She put on the clothes that Yuta had lent her, which were a bit baggy, but perfect for sleeping.
It even reminded her of when in her high school years, she would wear his T-shirts or sweatshirts to cover her bare skin after lovemaking.
Once out of the bathroom, she quickly peeked into Yuta's room to check if her children were still asleep and they were. Yurika and Yuudai were still comfortably asleep in that big bed.
Before leaving the hallway, she went to hang up her towel and as she made her way back towards the living room, she was tempted to go into the other room where Yuta had the case research and read some of those folders, but decided not to go in. Maybe she could do it another time. She thought.
Maki went out into the living room quietly, but before going to the dining room, she was overcome with curiosity to lurk around the living room.
She approached the shelf where Yuta had all his souvenirs of his long journey, which she began to look at carefully and curiously.
As she looked at those photos of Yuta around the world, she had several mixed feelings.
"What if I had gone abroad with him, all these places the four of us would have gone? Would the children have been happy? What country would they have been born in? Would I have been happy?" Maki asked herself mentally as she continued to look at those photos, "Maybe our life would have been different?"
Maki kept looking at those pictures until she stopped at one in particular. One that caught her attention quite a bit, since in this one, Yuta was with a group of people, which, she guessed were more sorcerers.
She take the photo and stare at it.
A strange premonition came to her mind when she saw a certain woman very close to Yuta, one with long, light-colored hair tied in a ponytail. She was a woman with a fine and beautiful face, as well as a slender figure. She was a very attractive woman.
"Could it be she?"Maki mentally asked herself while biting her lip. That thought bothered her so much that she abruptly left that photo in its place. Something inside her told her that "that" was the woman with whom that idiot slept abroad.
" I hope I'm wrong this time" she said to herself mentally.
She sighed in annoyance and decided to walk away from there and go to the kitchen to stop thinking about her. But they say that women have a sixth sense and even more so in detecting "who the other woman is."
But Maki did not count on the fact that this feeling was true and her suspicion would only be confirmed later.
The dining room light was on and under it was Yuta, who was sitting on one of the dining room chairs, still looking at those pictures.
"You seem to be very amused with that álbum?" she said, sitting to one side, observing how Yuta had already served her dinner.
"I am..." he sighed, "I'm just looking at everything I missed out on by being gone for seven years" he said, holding a picture of Maki when she was pregnant.
Maki also looked at that picture "What a memory..." her voice sounded a bit melancholic "in that picture I would have been about six months of pregant" she said taking a first bite of that mini pizza. She was even surprised at how delicious it tasted.
Yuta smiled a little at that memory "You looked very beautiful when you were pregnant..."
"Thank you, but it wasn't a very "nice" pregnancy to say the discomforts were double and well... the rest you know... I would say it was a very sad pregnancy" she said with a grimace.
"I noticed that you hardly took any pictures of yourself when you were pregnant" said Yuta, turning over the other pages, "I'm saying this because almost all the pictures in the album are of our children"
Maki shrugged as she ate some more. She swallowed and then replied to that.
"I didn't have time to take pictures of myself since I had to work to be ready for when Yurika and Yuudai were born. Actually, those few pictures of me being pregnant were taken at the time by Nobara, Tsumiki and Mai. They agreed to "have memories" but I didn't feel like it..." she sighed and took that picture where she was with her little babies in the hospital "But I thank them for having done this, because if not, I had never taken any picture of our children"
Yuta smiled a little at that answer and continued to look at the photographs in silence.
Both were silent for a moment, but that silence was broken by Yuta. And more than a question, it tormented him and he really wanted to know her answer, while she finished eating.
"Maki san..."
"Yes?" she said with her mouth full as she continued to eat her dinner.
"Do you think I will be a good father to Yurika and Yuudai?" he asked, putting down the photos in front of him and staring at her.
Maki left her plate half-eaten and sighed at the question.
"Did they say something bad about you?"
Yuta shook his head.
"No... but I've been thinking for a while now about whether I will be a good father to our children and more than... I don't know how they will take this news when we reveal it to them"
Maki lowered her shoulders.
"In that case, we'll only know when we tell them the whole truth..."
Yuta smiled a little.
"And I hope that will be soon. Maybe once they get to know each other I'll tell them I'm their real father"
Maki raised an eyebrow "Aha, and how do you plan to tell them once they trust you enough?"
"Well, I don't know. What if I tell them by impressing them? I don't know how with some trick with my cursed technique?" he said with a slight smile.
"I don't think it will work" commented Maki, putting more spaghetti in her mouth.
"What if I tell him with puppets?" Yuta said excitedly.
Maki let out a light laugh, "Okkotsu, they are not 4 years old anymore. It would have worked if they were younger" she smiled leaning her face on her hand and her elbow on the table.
Yuta lowered his shoulders.
"Then it's not like telling them..."
Maki took him by the hand.
"Don't worry about that right now, we will find the right occasion to reveal it to them, besides, they like you very much right now being only their friend and ideally we should continue like this just a little longer until we find the right way to reveal the truth to them"
Yuta looked at her hand on his. He felt supported somehow in that instant and maybe she was right. They had to give time to time.
"Yes..." he said with a smile as he took his beloved's hand with great affection.
They both exchanged a sweet smile, while their hands were still clasped together.
Maki then realized how close they were. She felt she had to control herself, especially since she was with the "enemy".
Maki cleared her throat and continued speaking "Besides, you're lucky they're getting to know you now that they're kids" she said with a smile, releasing Yuta's hand and starting to pick up her used dishes from dinner.
"Why do you say that?" asked Yuta with confusion.
Maki stood up.
"Because if you had known them when they were teenagers, they would have hated you for leaving and coming back like that without further explanation, and it's obvious that our children will be troublemakers" she said proudly.
Yuta smiled at that, returned his gaze to the photos while Maki went to the sink and washed the dirty dishes that were there at the time.
That atmosphere pleased Yuta, as everything felt very homey. And more than that it was something he longed for from the bottom of his heart.
Because they say "Home is where your heart is" and her heart was there, with her family finally reunited.
The sorcerer closed the album, stood up and approached Maki, hugging her from behind.
That surprised this woman, who gave a little jump on herself, but did not push him away, on the contrary, she felt that both their intimate encounter that afternoon, as well as that little talk had brought them too close.
"Thank you Maki San..." he whispered, placing his chin on her shoulder.
Maki turned off the water tap.
"Now why are you thanking me?" she said, running her wet hands up and down his arms.
"For everything. For giving birth to our children and for taking care of them for seven years in my absence. But, above all, I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be with them this afternoon and to get to know them better"
"On the contrary" she said with a smile and turned around to face him, "Thank you for taking care of them this afternoon. You seem to be a good babysitter" she gave him a soft touch on the nose with her index finger.
"And after this afternoon, I'd like to take care of them more often. If you want" he said, looking into her eyes and placing his hands on her cheeks.
"Well, I don't think there is a problem with that... so you could spend more time with them and I could go to work knowing that you are taking care of them," smiled Maki. It looked like she was putting some kind of plan in motion.
"I would love that... just as I would love" Yuta moved his lips closer to Maki's lips, which he brushed affectionately "To spend more time with you too..."
Maki blushed at those words, the air was cut off as she felt his lips on hers. The temptation and the temperature felt rising again as it had that afternoon.
She put her arms around Yuta's neck "Well... we had a good time together a while ago... Or have you already forgotten it? I should even remind you that you left some marks on my neck..." she said, starting to kiss him.
Yuta reciprocated the kiss, while his hands went to her waist "Of course I won't forget it...- he said between kisses -And I don't think I'll forget it for a while...I might even leave more marks all over your body..." he whispered with a seductive tone.
They both began to kiss each other with too much love and passion. The memory of that intimate and sexual encounter made them smile once their lips parted to catch their breath.
"And about "make-up sex" or as you called it "Kintsugi..." she said, her voice half cut off by a soft, low gasp.
"What's wrong with that?" asked Yuta, catching his breath, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Maki smiled at that question and shook her head.
"Not at all. On the contrary, you made me feel some things that I hadn't felt for seven years ..." she caressed his face, especially passing her fine fingers over her beloved's lips, touching them with delicacy "But there is something else...something important about that"
"What's up with that?" Yuta kept his hands on her waist.
"I just don't want us to tell any of our friends, okay?! said Maki staring at him with blushing cheeks, "I don't want others to judge us because we had sex again...after a long time..."
"Nothing will come out of my lips...but does that mean I'm already forgiven?" questioned Yuta with a smile.
"You idiot!" said Maki gently pulling Yuta's cheek, "You still need more actions from you for me to forgive you completely... among those actions is taking care of our children and how you get along with our friends... that could also include having more make-up sex like the one between you and me earlier..." she said with a smile, "Maybe that's the only way you will earn my complete forgiveness"
"Then I will take care of showing you how much I love you and how much I want to get you back with many more actions... both in everyday life" said Yuta with some mischief while his lips went down to Maki's neck "As in bed..." he whispered while kissing those marks that he had left her in the afternoon and that already looked more faded, this by her celestial restraint.
That made Maki tremble once again. Their lips sought each other again, joining in a passion-filled kiss while still holding each other tightly.
The idea of doing it again crossed both of their minds, but they still had to control themselves, especially since their children were a room away from them.
Maki slowly peeled her lips from Yuta's lips and looked at the digital clock on the oven. Noticing that it was already past midnight.
"I'd better go to sleep with the children" she said with a soft smile, "It's already very late"
"It's okay, my bed is your bed, so make yourself comfortable in my room" he said with a big smile.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes"
"That's fine. But where will you sleep?" she asked, taking a few steps back to face him and putting her hands on her hips.
"I'll sleep in the living room, especially since there are still some things I have to do" Yuta scratched his head a little.
"Okay. Then I'll let the man of the house do his job" said Maki, stroking her cheek.
"I see that you are liking the idea of "playing house" too, aren't you?" asked Yuta, taking Maki's hand and kissing it a little.
"I admit I'm enjoying playing mommy and daddy, but still" Maki gently pinched Yuta's cheek, "Don't get too used to it, okay? Because I won't make it easy for you"
"Hehe okay" Yuta replied with a slight smile.
After that, they both said goodbye with one more kiss. A deep one.
12: 24 a.m.
Maki lay down in the middle of her children, who seemed to have detected their mother, as they snuggled up to her sides.
Maki kissed each of them on their foreheads "Good night my children..."
The thought of the whole situation they were going through made her feel a thousand emotions. Especially because she was afraid that her feelings would betray her and even more because she knew that playing with fire was dangerous because she could get burned.
"What would Mai do in this situation?" Maki asked herself mentally, remembering her twin.
Sigh, Maki only hoped she could save her from that infernal clan and more that things would slowly start to get worse for both of them.
"Mai…" Maki whispered that name, before falling asleep.
Instead, Yuta stayed a while longer in the dining room, still looking at those photographs. That moment of solitude was interrupted when a message arrived unexpectedly on his cell phone.
It was a message from Katsumoto, who was warning him that they had found another victim of the sorcerer killer. And that they expected them to show up immediately even though it was already late at night.
Yuta sighed and turned his phone screen upside down.
"I think I have already made a decision..." he said thinking of his family. "It's time to take that advice and put it into practice" he said remembering the words of a certain albino.
He hoped he had made the best decision and that was that he would put his family first, while that case, he was going to delay it long enough until he was handed over to another sorcerer.
Besides, Satoru had given him that option and that's what Yuta preferred at the moment, to be with his children and Maki longer no matter who died in the process. But that would only bring consequences later on.
But also, there was one more victim, one who silently suffered just like that loving couple. One who lived a hell in her own home. And that was Mai.
Notes:
I hope you liked it, I will be reading your comments as always.
And tell me, what did you think of this chapter? 👀
In case you don't remember, in chapter 22, Satoru was the one who gave him this option, or as they say out there, he gave Okkotsu this good "bad" advice about delaying as much as possible this case and well, so he will do it as you could read, but it is obvious that this will bring some consequences. What consequences do you think this will bring in the life of this family? I will be reading your theories.
Well, as I said at the end of the chapter, Mai is also an important character for this story, so I'll tell you at once, the next two chapters will be about her and her life within the Zenin clan. I can only anticipate that there will be several important revelations for this story and the conversations that Mai will have with certain people will leave many people surprised.
But don't worry, we'll be back soon with the Okkotsu family, as well as soon we'll have more father-son moments, as well as one more "passionate reconciliation" moment between Maki and Yuta, as well as several outings of just those four as the family they should have always been❤ , so let's just say we'll see Yuta more in a "householder" facet in the next chapters.
Just don't despair, give me time and bear with me, please, I'm currently not having a good time out of here, but I'll try to bring the chapters as soon as I can. 🙏
Also, I want to thank all those who are still supporting this fic, seriously, an apology if it is getting too long, but as I have said several times, this is a long fic and you have every right to abandon the story in case you don't like it or are bored with it.
Even so, for those of you who follow it month after month, supporting it with your readings, votes and comments, seriously, thank you very much for all your support, I promise you will not regret this story.
Anyway, I hope you liked it, we'll keep on reading ❤
Vera wants them ❤
P.S. Take care of yourselves during this holy week and Easter for those of you who are celebrating or going on vacation.