*ring ring*
Ren Amamiya's cell phone blared loudly, once again reminding him that the heavenly bliss of sleep was ephemeral.
His hand fumbled on the night table next to him, pressing the touchscreen wildly. He shifted his position on the bed and settled back to sleep.
Ren loved the few extra minutes of sleep he was able to steal. It almost made up for the cruelty of waking up. An idyllic, but infinitesimally small amount of time passed.
*ring ring*
Ren's eyes opened.
The good times never last.
"Ren, turn the alarm off. Stop putting it on snooze." His wife mumbled.
"Sorry honey." He did so and shifted his position in bed again, lying on his back staring at the ceiling.
His stomach churned and roiled. His heart felt like it was turning in on itself. He held his breath involuntarily.
Don't ask it. Don't fucking ask it. If you don't know about it, it goes away. Ryuji lives like this and he's one of the happiest people I know.
"She's awake." His wife's voice held no mercy or compassion for Ren's torment. The soft glow of the baby monitor cast light on her face. Her crimson eyes were pools of deep exhaustion.
Ren closed his eyes. "No, she's not."
Makoto wished she could believe her husband. How deeply she wished for it.
As if on cue, their daughter cried out.
Ren climbed out of bed, his joints gently popping as he did so. He stretched out his back once he fully stood.
"Still hurting?"
"Yeah. We should probably go mattress shopping today or tomorrow."
Makoto nodded as she brought out a few board books from her night table.
"Tae finally convinced you?"
"She said I could spend a hundred thousand yen on a new bed or I could sign up for dialysis right now with how much ibuprofen I was taking."
Ren rolled his eyes and walked over to their daughter's room.
One of the innumerable things Ren loved about Hana Amamiya was how shemeltedhim. All his tiredness, his guardedness, his sarcasm washed away in her presence. It was almost overwhelming.
It was something most people did not get to see. Makoto saw this side of him the most, but not all the time.
Hana saw this side all the time. This part of Ren was her father. Ren knew it would change, better than most. He knew that one day she would grow and become her own person with her own beliefs and foibles. That one day they would hurt each other, as humans do when they get close. That her persona, that mask that would help her navigate the obstacles of life would emerge.
Not today though. Today he was just a lame old dad singing songs while he changed his toddler.
I hope you stay like this as long as possible, kiddo. I've never had so much fun.
When he finished changing Hana, the little girl stood up and toddled over to her father. She grasped on his shoulder and looked at him with determination.
"Up." She said with complete and utter confidence. Didn't he know? She had places to go and people to see.
Ren smiled so hard it hurt. "One dada rocketship, here for Hana. On the way to the Mama Moon!"
Hana giggled as her father lifted off and spun her in his arms.
Ren narrated their epic space journey as he entered the master bedroom. "We're dodging the asteroid field, flying through the nebula, slingshotting around the black hole and here we are at the Mama Moon!"
"Moon!" Hana exclaimed before erupting into a fit of laughter as Ren deposited her next to Makoto on the bed.
"Did Daddy take you on his rocketship again? Did he get you all worked up so now you don't want to read with Mommy?"
Hana nodded. Makoto didn't have the energy for a Niijima Death Glare so she gave him a knowing look.
Thankfully having a 1-year old presented multiple escape options.
"I'll go get started on breakfast!"
Ren sauntered over to the kitchen, ready to make his usual family breakfast of omelette rice. His phone rang again. He picked up without looking at the caller ID.
"Hello?"
"Hey Guinea Pig, glad I caught you early."
"Tae! We were just talking about you."
"Ask and you shall receive."
Ren grinned. "So what's up?"
He heard her sigh over the phone. "Don't let this go to your head…even though I know it absolutely will. You got the grant."
Ren dropped the egg he was holding. He didn't hear it splatter on the floor because blood rushed through his ears. "The KAKENHI grant? Are you serious?!"
"Deathly."
"Wait, is this a prank? Shouldn't Oyamada be calling me about something like this?"
Ren could hear Tae's voice inflected with a smile. "I'm a little offended, Guinea Pig. Why can't a mentor congratulate her protégé on such a momentous occasion? Honestly, I told Oyamada that I wanted to be the one to give you the good news."
He put the phone on speaker while he cleaned up his mess. "Mhm." His mind was reeling from what this meant.
"Some bad news though. Oyamada wants a full PR campaign for this. We're talking interviews, Diet members coming by, swanky dinners. You'll be the town whore."
"One of the best moments of my life and you're slowly ruining it."
"I've got to keep you humble. Go celebrate with the family and friends. You earned it. I'll see you at work on Monday."
Click
Ren finished cleaning up the remnants of raw egg from the floor. He sat down and stared outside the window to their home.
It's finally happening. After all this time. After everything we went through. The things we do won't need to be in the shadows anymore. We can make the world better. We can help people. Our justice…
His breath hitched.
It doesn't have to be just ours anymore. It can be everybody's justice.
The smell of smoke brought Ren out of his musings.
"Oh shit!"
Ren turned off the stove but it was too late. The eggs were fried to a crispy black and stuck to the pan. He thought about how to salvage it when the smoke alarm went off.
"FIRE! FIRE!" The horrible machine bleated. It's cries alternated with a piercing alarm.
"Ren! What's happening?!" Makoto called from their bedroom.
"Dada!" Hana also wanted to know.
Ren turned off the alarm and set the kitchen fan. He ran his hand through his hair.
"Hey." He walked into the bedroom to quizzical looks from his wife and daughter. He sat down on the bed in a heap.
Makoto looked at him expectantly. "Well?"
He smiled. "I got the grant."
His wife's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God. Honey, that's amazing! No, it's incredible! No, its..its…" Makoto struggled for the words. She settled for hugging and kissing him.
"I'm so proud of you, love. This is everything you've worked for."
"Everythingweworked of us.I just submitted a research proposal." He corrected.
"But you're our leader. You saw where this could go." She brought Hana over to them.
"Come give Daddy a kiss and hug. He did an amazing thing."
Hana crawled over to her father and gave as big a hug as her little arms could squeeze and mashed her face into his as her version of a kiss.
Best kiss ever.
"So, that's why Dada ruined breakfast. I think we should go swing by Leblanc and have a celebratory brunch. Let's see if the others can join."
Makoto checked her phone. "We've got to leave now so we don't mess up her nap."
"I'll get dressed and text the others."
Ren sent off an invite to the others. Surprisingly, everyone was actually free.
He then made another call.
"Hey Takuto, they gave us the grant."
"Wow! Alright…um…"
"Takuto, who are you on the phone with? Come back to bed…" A female voice cut in with a sultry tone.
How the fuck they got together I will never understand.
"We can talk later. Tell Becky I said hi."
A/N:I'm hard at work on my other fic, but this is something that I've been noodling over for a while. Persona has that magical ability to just capture the passion, wonder, and joy of adolescence. I decided to see if I could use it to speak to adulthood and things I've observed as I've become an old man.
Enjoy! Always love comments and thoughts.
