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Chapter Text

The ice clinked inside the glass as it was slammed down, making small droplets of residual whiskey fly and splatter on the glossy counter top. The sound rang like a small bell amidst light ambience music and the mumbling of the couple at one of the table. The young man and woman were wrapping up, filling out their check, ready to leave.

“Ahh, damn,” Renju sighed as Mama took his glass. She had been ready, pushing a new one in front of him half-a-second before he waved his hand clumsily and muttered, “Another... Ah, thanks.”

Mama ignored him. “Have safe trip home,” Mama said to the pair as they stood, donning their coats. She polished a glass while the young couple waved a drunken farewell. They left into the cold air, popping out their umbrella for never-ending trickle of rain. Their cheeks were rosy red, and the bell above the door jingled as it closed.

When they were gone, Date turned to his friend. A strange mix of worry and amusement colored his face. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” Date said, raising an eyebrow. Renju Okiura had drank six glasses to Date’s four. At least Renju held his liquor better than his wife, though.

“Forget it,” Renju said, taking a small sip. “I’ll go slow with this one.”

Date rolled his eyes. Sure, he thought. I give that about 12 seconds. Date downed his like a shot, pushed the glass aside, and waved Mama for another. He tapped his foot, letting the burn from the strong alcohol run down his esophagus before letting out a contented breath. Good stuff!

“Busy night today, Mama! I think you had about five customers besides us? Or was it six?” he said, grinning wide at his own joke. Ok, maybe he also neared too many drinks like Renju. “You think you’ll keep the lights on for a few more years then?”

“If you two keep drinking like this, I’ll never close.” Mama was large, her voice deep and sultry. When she spoke, Date felt relaxed and at ease. Indeed, she carried herself with a confidence he envied at times. Rowdy customers tried to find points of insult to dig into her, but customers soon learned that nothing phased her.

She’d still kick you out though. Mama never tolerated bullshit.

She always had a way of knowing when to be seen or not, when to speak up or when let the conversation play out.

“Didn’t really plan on it,” Date said. “But Renju here’s acting like it’s a special night. How could I decline!”

“Gah,” Renju sighed. He closed his eyes, and for a second, Date thought the man in the mussed up suit had fallen asleep. Which wouldn’t do, because Renju promised he’d pay for the cab to bring Date home. Date had just begun to wonder how he’d walk home sloshed, when Renju opened his eyes.

“It’s not an event. I’ll explain, but just… just give me a bit.” He downed the glass in one big gulp and pushed it away.

“You two know I have shot glasses, right? I can make you shots,” Mama chuckled, but even still, when Renju signaled, she pushed a glass across the table. Same big ball of solid ice, same whiskey filled half way.

“Actually,” Date said. “After this, I’ll take whatever Kirin you have on tap.”

“Real original, Date,” Mama chuckled, and then went to it. Date sipped at his whiskey.

“Look, Renju,” Date said, holding his glass up after and inspecting it. “If you wanted to ask me to be your side lover, just say it. I’ll consider it if you give me checking account acce—”

“Date, no, don’t… Not… Not now.”

“Get another drink in you, then tell me.”

Renju did, and Date finished his. The moment sat, protracted. He could tell Renju was working up the courage. His friend’s face looked grim, and Date couldn’t really find it in himself to be all that surprised by that. These past couple weeks have been heavy and dreadful, and he would hope that after all Renju has told him about Mizu—

“It’s about my daughters.”

Date dropped his empty glass before he got to set it down. It clattered, but thankfully it did not break. Mama almost forgot to close the tap, beer overflowing onto the floor. Quickly, she coughed, clearing her throat, and pushed the mug over to Date.

“Daughter, you meant. Singular. Wait, are you slurring that bad? Ok, maybe you are drunk, Renju…”

“No!” Renju shouted, definitely slurring. He shoved his head into his palms, pulling them down his face. He looked tired. “Daughters. Two. Two fucking daughters. That’s the problem.”

“But I thought you had only one. What? A lover? Did you have an illegitimate kid? You’re dropping this news on me now?!”

Mama set down the glass she had been washing. “Should I leave? Not going to lie, this is juicy, but also I’m not here for getting my bar burned down as a threat for me to stay silent on this, Renju darling. I know what your Kumakura pals can do.”

“No, no, stay. It’s… It’s fine. I’ll need more drinks anyway and… And…”

He paused, gathering his thoughts and his words. Date could see them build up behind the haunted eyes.

“Neither of them are biologically mine. They’re adopted... And Date? I need you to get them out of my home before Shoko and I fuck them up more than they already are.”

==§§==

It started at Aioen Orphanage, at least for Renju. As far as Bibi was concerned, it started from her own birth and never stopped. She and her sister Mizuki, unwilling subjects of the Horadori institute, frequenters of Chikara’s basement from Hell. It never ended.

Mizuki grew up, one year, then the other, but for Bibi, it was one painful day after another. How exhausting, to watch in pure vigilance near every moment of her waking life, and for someone who slept as little as she, her non-waking life was seldom. Yet, she still was a kid. Bibi, a hapless nine-year-old, yet still full of the flush of childish energy. Climbing trees, playing fantastical games of imagination, making innocent yet inconsequential mistakes.

Well, she thought of herself as Bibi. In truth, her name was Mizuki.  That name, however, she had surrendered to her sister, now three. Her charge. Her world. Her flesh and blood, although she was too young to see it in exactly those terms. The name Bibi was incidental, even, a nickname that Mizuki had called her so often that others around her began to use it as well. That was fine by her. Bibi found that the name made her feel warm because it came not from a mother or a father, but her own sister who survived and thrived every day because of her. The name reminded her that Mizuki was real.

They spent some time at the orphanage, other times at Horadori. In Bibi’s mind, the two places felt like two distinct times in her life, when really they blended together like a weird soup. However, by the time that Mizuki turned three, the experiments largely stopped. No one explained why, and Bibi, frankly, never asked. What difference did a week between experiments versus two whole months between make when there were adventures in their tiny square of dirty playground to be had?

That was, at least, what she tried to tell herself. At times, that was easy. Other times, trying not to look at Mizuki and remember that she had spent three years of her life keeping Chikara from doing the worst things imaginable to her felt immensely impossible. You didn’t not notice when you no longer woke up to a broken arm or a cut so deep you had to mind not popping the stitches and bleeding over one of the few dresses you owned. The nightmares didn’t just go away. Bibi knew on those bad days she would wait with baited breath to be taken away once again…

The experiments did stop though. Mr. Chieda or a kind looking nurse would not tap Bibi or Mizuki and bring them off. Not them or any of the children here. Bibi watched rosy cheeked Mizuki smile and play more and more, and Bibi could take part in the silly games. Kizzy, her friend, would join in lots too, and every day it became easier to tell herself it was all okay! She thought she could live like this forever, hugging her baby sister as she cooed in broken Japanese as she dug in the dirt for worms, Bibi talking to Kizzy about school.

Then Renju and Shoko Okiura showed up.

It was a bright day, about 10 in the morning. The odd thing was that not a single thing really signaled that today would be all that strange. Bibi returned to the orphanage’s main lobby, after shoveling down her breakfast, to get her shoes on to go play for a little. It was, after all, a weekend, and she had several ideas for how to best enjoy it.

However something was off. Something was missing. As she slipped her shoes on, she chewed on that, beating her brain to figure out what.

Then, she guessed it. Mizuki. Where was the familiar sight of the girl tailing behind, or the girl, already beating her outside? Nowhere did her blue-haired sister show herself. Not hiding among the shoe cubbies, not ducked behind the desk. Panic seized Bibi. She ran outside. “Mizuki?” Bibi called. “Mizuki?!”

Surely, she was just overreacting. Maybe Mizuki overslept, and Bibi hadn’t noticed. Maybe Bibi spaced out and left the girl chewing on her soggy cereal in the dining room. Maybe…

The receptionist approached. Hana Kunisawa, Bibi remembered. She volunteered here on weekends sometimes and, overall, kept to herself. She was wholly inoffensive sort, and yet this time, the calm look on her face made Bibi want to smack it off.

“Ah? Mizuki?” She said, apparently having heard Bibi’s shouts. “She… Right, right, a couple had come, looking to adopt. They apparently took an interest in Mizuki a week ago, and so they’re in the interview process with Mr. Chieda.”

“THEY WHAT?!”

The receptionist jumped, startled, but Bibi didn’t really care. She bolted back inside, nearly tearing the entrance door off it’s hinges. Hastily, she tore her shoes off her feet, flinging them against the wall. Her socks nearly made her slip as she rounded a turn.

Why hadn’t Mizuki told her? One week ago? One week ago, Mizuki had been talked to by a prospective family?

Of course Mizuki hadn’t told her though. Bibi wouldn’t have either. Couples come and go near daily, introduce themselves to some of the kids, and then never appear again. It was so routine, Bibi herself had never noted it. Of course, all it took was one though to come back, and suddenly that quick exchange of pleasantries became much, much more.

She found the rooms where parents would go in with a child and a staff member to have talks like these. They were always private, always well cleaned. While they were not the most cheerful rooms, they always gave an air of professionalism to the adoption process.

This process, though, Bibi only knew vaguely. Something about trying to get an idea of the child’s temperament or something. Make sure the parent and the child are a good fit. What Bibi was about to do could ruin the chances of a kid being adopted, would scare a parent into thinking they were biting off more then they could chew. Which is exactly why she did it without hesitation. She threw open the door to a room from where she heard talking, and in a stunned moment, the scene stood still like a photograph.

Mr. Chieda stood near the back, watching. Mizuki sat uncomfortably in her seat. A woman with blue hair and a snug dress watched Mizuki critically, and a blonde haired man in a suit smiled gently at her attempting to lighten the atmosphere. They sat around a wooden table, seated on hard backed chairs. The room had a few childish drawings pinned up, old arts and crafts that never got removed. Above, directly across from Bibi, ticked a clock.

The man’s smile fell. All eyes shot to the door.

“I told everyone to not to tell her. Was I NOT clear?!” Mr. Chieda threw up his hands

“Who is this?” the blue haired woman demanded.

Her question was soon answered as Mizuki’s face lit up. “Bibi!” The little girl squirmed so much in her chair she might fall off, barely fighting the urge to jump off and run to hug her big sister.

Chieda sighed. “This, is Mizuki’s older sister. We call her Bibi; legally, her name is—”

“You can’t have her,” Bibi declared, stepping into the room and lifting her chin defiantly. She picked up and set down her little sister from the chair with deceptive strength, belied by her thin and small frame. Bibi had always been a later bloomer.

“We… can’t?” It was the man who spoke this time. “By who’s order?”

“Mine.”

“Ah, yes, an eight-year-old. What kind of organization are you running, Mr. Chieda, that allows such disruptions?” the woman said.

“I’m nine, actually,” Bibi corrected. “Come on, Mizuki, let’s—”

“Anyway, Mr. Chieda,” the woman continued, speaking over Bibi. “Considering al the factors, I do think I’d like to adopt Mizuki. What do you think, Renju?”

Bibi froze. Behind her, she heard Chieda sigh in relief. The small room filled with the tension. What’s worse, Mizuki didn’t even understand the gravity of it all. She pulled hard on Bibi’s arm to go outside and play, but all Bibi could register was the steady ticking of the clock on the wall.

Renju leaned on table. “Shoko, are you certain? We barely even spoke to the child.”

“She’s three. What can we learn about a three-year-old?”

“That she has a sister, maybe?!”

“Pssh, it’s fine. We wanted a child that was young, didn’t we? The blue hair, the age, the press will eat it up, Renju. Think about it. No one will even know she’s not mine.”

Bibi’s heart was cracking in her chest. No. No, no, no!

“Are you serious?” Chieda coughed in surprise. “If you are, I can file the paperwork and—”

“IS NO ONE LISTENING?!” Bibi screamed, shoving her baby sister behind her. “You can’t have her!”

“If they sign the papers, Bibi, they can.” Chieda at least pretended to look apologetic. This Renju man did too, but Shoko tapped on the wooden table impatiently, already scooting her chair back to go.

“N-No! She can’t leave!”

“But—”

It was then that it all seemed to click for Mizuki. The word leave. That she understood. Bibi could feel the girl’s hand squeeze hand on Bibi’s shirt.

“Leave? With… Bibi, right? Leave with Bibi?” Mizuki asked, looking up at Chieda with big, innocent eyes. Eyes that still thought the man as kind.

Shoko responded. “No, you—” Renju held out a hand, cutting his wife off.

“No, just you. Your sister would stay here and find another family. You would live with us. We’d be your daddy and mommy. I know it isn’t perfect, but I promise you’ll be happy.” The man smiled. He actually smiled. He hadn’t even moved from his chair and still looked the most calm of any person here. Bibi didn’t think the man’s smile looked genuine.

“No,” Mizuki said. “No, no, no! With Bibi! With Bibi ONLY!”

Chieda looked tired, worn thin. Bibi supposed the man had not prepared for a child to refuse an adoption. Usually, they were all snapping at the chance.

Bibi jumped on this moment. “You heard her!” Bibi shouted. She was sure all the yelling was carrying down the hall. She could imagine a few kids already stopping, listening, beginning to gossip. How annoying. “She said ‘No!’ and that’s THAT!”

Shoko’s face grew redder and redder. She looked ready to leap across the table and fight Bibi for Mizuki, and Bibi dared her with a glance. Against that scrawny, spoiled woman? Bibi knew she’d win in a heartbeat.

“Enough!” Finally, Chieda shouted, attempting to regain control. “Mr. and Mrs. Okiura, would you please calm. Bibi, would you please remember why you are even here. I will admit, I would rather you two be adopted as a pair, but this is an opportunity for your sister to have a happy life. A normal life. She would get an excellent education, would be cared for, and even make new friends. Bibi, you are a practical girl. I know you are. You are worried for your sister, but I promise. She is so young that she will cope well.” Bibi picked up on the hidden meaning of the last sentence. So young that she’d forget she even had an older sister. It made Bibi’s hear break all the more

“But—” She said, her voice cracking helplessly.

This time, Chieda cut her off. He held up two fingers. “You have two options, Bibi. Either keep up this tantrum and ruin what might be the best and even only adoption chance your sister might have, or two, you let her go.”

Chieda had lowered one finger, then the other with each choice. Shoko, in turn, leaned back into her seat, glaring icy daggers at her. Renju’s face sat unreadable and still. His hands were folded in from of his face, concealing everything below the bridge of his nose.

Time slowed. Even the ticks of the clock felt to come at sluggish intervals. To Bibi, it felt like the walls were closing in to suffocate her. No. No… This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be. Not like this. Nothing today even hinted at this. If she hadn’t seen the receptionist, she would have never even known. If she had waited to finish her milk at breakfast, Mizuki might’ve been signed away already. If she’d let herself sleep in just a couple minutes more, it’d all be over. One thing, then another, then another, fate itself lined up for her to save her sister, didn’t it? It happened all so fast, but there was no denying that every card fell into place right here, right now, and yet she stared down only two impossible choices.

Either let Mizuki go…

Or fail Mizuki. Fail to see her finally grow up outside of the shadow of Horadori.

In another life, maybe, she’d have chosen the second option. In her soul, it seemed right. The simplest. Maybe, in another parallel world, she had.

But the way Mizuki held her shirt, pressing against Bibi so close that Bibi could feel her small breaths and her chest rising and falling, Bibi just could not choose it. Mizuki feared being alone. Never, not once, had Bibi allowed her to be. Her sister was sensitive, and immediately she knew this Shoko woman was failing to see that. Always, always, Mizuki had tried to be good. Christ, the girl tried to befriend a feral stray dog the other day! Would this woman even appreciate that?!

The second option, Bibi decided, was the easy way out. Chieda, who Bibi knew was not an evil man albeit loose with his morals, did not mention the third as a kindness. It simply was not mentionable as it was simply cruel. Unthinkable.

“No,” Bibi said. For a moment, Chieda’s face fell in dismay, fearing she would refuse to let Mizuki get adopted. “There’s three options.” Bibi turned and looked at Shoko. Renju, she thought, would not be the one she needed to convince. “Take me too. Adopt me also.”

“YOU?!” Shoko scoffed. “You burst through doors, scream and shout, and seem to have no manners at all?! No, we came for one child, and one alone. You’re too old anyway, and would only cause trouble for everyone. Don’t be ridiculous. Chieda, the papers.”

Renju nodded slowly. “Shoko is correct. We wanted only one child. The press, on seeing you, would assume you’re some love child or worse. You do understand that this would not only hurt us and Mizuki, but also slander you as well? This is not an option at all. If anything, it’s for your own good, right?.”

Bibi shook her head so fast, it messed up her already unruly hair. “You aren’t listening. You don’t understand. I’m not asking to be your daughter. They don’t even have to know I’ll be living with you. No one will ever have to see me at all! I promise, you won’t even see me if you don’t want to. Won’t hear me, even! If you do, Mizuki will be happier, I swear. She’ll… She’ll be good! And I’ll be nothing! A fly on the wall! Less than that! Please!” The words ran out of her mouth desperately, pleadingly. Chieda’s eyes widened in horror. “I can be absolutely quiet. I’m OK with small spaces. I’m the best at hide-and-seek here! I’m already good at cleaning, sewing my own clothes, you name it. I won’t even be a kid you need to take care of. I’ll… I’ll be only as present as you need me, and not a single news reporter will even know. I don’t need you to love me, Mizuki just needs me!”

Shoko shook. Whether with rage or sheer shock, Bibi didn’t know. Renju ran a hand through his hair.

“Are you mad?!” Chieda shouted. “I would never agree to such a thing, Bibi! This is tantamount to child abuse. This is—”

“Bibi coming?!” Mizuki suddenly said, darting out from behind her sister, grasping Bibi’s hands. “Bibi coming with me?! Please?! You want to?!”

Sometimes, Mizuki seemed way too smart for a toddler. Almost as if she followed the whole conversation perfectly. The timing could not have been more perfect, and the girl didn’t even let up after. She kept on the pressure.

“Bibi comes or I’ll scream. I’ll scream really, really loud and I won’t stop and I-“

“MY GOD!” Shoko shouted. She darted up, the chair falling behind her. “What do I care?! You want to come so bad, fine, but only if you do exactly what you promised. You’re lucky that Mizuki is the youngest child here or I’d walk right out of here for this insulting display.”

Bibi smiled. Got ya, Bitch.

“But how can we be sure?” Renju said. “I’m none too happy about this idea, but Shoko is the one who I said could make the final call since she would do most of the raising. Regardless, you make a lot of promises, Bibi, but for all we know, you’ll take it back the minute we arrive home. You do realize this… This offer you’re making is not… easy, right?”

“Disown me if I fail then. Send me back. Kick me out. If I break my word, I’ll leave. Promise. Just give me a chance. Please. Please.”

Chieda was powerless. The boulder rolled down the hill faster and faster, and he failed to stop it at its slowest point. Now, it would go where it may, and whether it crushed him, the married couple before him, or the two children that had been left in his care, only fate could decide.

Renju looked at Shoko, Shoko at Renju. For once, the woman looked human as she sighed, sagging like a deflated balloon. With one, quick nod, Renju looked to Mr. Chieda, and said:

“Get the paperwork. I have an appointment at one o’clock I must keep.”

==§§==

Marble was silent besides for the heavy fall of rain. Not even Mama dared interrupt the taunt quiet. The whole story felt unreal, like a fantasy spun from a drunken man’s imagination.

“You… did… WHAT?!” Date finally shouted. His hands slammed the counter, sloshing some beer out of the mug. He cursed, shaking off his now damp sleeve.

“I never said I did the right thing.”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you didn’t say, Renju! You adopted a child, passed her off as if Shoko gave birth to her, and then HID A SECOND FROM EVERYONE?! Did she go to school? Did she even eat?! What the fuck, man?! I thought you two were shit parents before when Shoko told me what she had done to Mizuki, but now?!”

“I know…”

“NOW?! Now I’m calling someone. I’m getting those kids out of the house, right- the fuck- NOW.”

“WAIT!” Renju shouted, louder then Date. He was shaking. “Wait. Please. Just. Wait.”

The moment hung in the air, dense and thick. It felt sinister. Mama broke it only briefly with a tutting sound and went to clean more glasses. All, though, waited for Renju to explain himself, if he even could.

“You… You told me…” his voice was even more slurred. The story had taken him through 2 more glasses of whiskey. “That we’d need to speak about… Mizuki. About Shoko hitting her.”

“Of course we do. That girl cannot live like that!”

“Well, this is that…. It’s that talk. Right now. Date, would you please just… Would you take the two of them?”

Date froze. He took a huge gulp from his mug to buy himself time to process what Renju just said. When he set the mug down again, he turned to look at the man beside him. Nope, it still was not processing. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Take… The girls? I dunno, for a bit or something. They can’t stay there anymore. Mizuki, she… If we remove her from Shoko for good, she’ll be shattered, and she’s equally dependent on her sister. She’s so… So starved for love, attention, any warmth from her mother, and I… I…” He swayed, wiping another hand over his face. Was he crying? “If you call someone to take them away, the authorities might… separate the sisters. They don’t deserve that, not after all this. So, I thought, you. Date can help. Please, get them out of the house, away from Shoko. Fuck, get them away from me; I know I’m not blameless here.”

Mama sighed. She walked to the door and flipped the sign. Closed. Whether Mama actually was done for the day, or finally was able to move and ensure privacy, Date didn’t know. She turned the radio off a while ago.

“The other girl. Bibi. What did you do with her…?”

“She…. For a while she…” Renju took a deep breath and explained.

Date listened in both horror and fascination. The old idiom of “It was like watching a car crash” was applicable here, he felt.

Mizuki had grown up abused and neglected. This Date had known, had been piecing together over the past couple weeks. What Date didn’t know, was that Bibi always was there to deal with the aftermath. When Shoko hit her, Mizuki went to Bibi. When Shoko insulted Mizuki, Bibi again, right into her older sister’s arms… Yet Mizuki never gave up on her Mommy despite this, always returning for more abuse. Mizuki always went out with them, the daughter everyone knew belonged to this wealthy family, although by now Shoko and Renju had divorced.

This only left Mizuki and Bibi more exposed to Shoko’s wrath.

As time went, they grew lax with Bibi, Renju confessed. She’d run errands in plain clothes, and was allowed to go to school but under a different name so long as she kept a low cover. The forms to make sure Bibi was not traced back to them, Renju said, was done via his Yakuza connections. He said Shoko agreed, but Date knew Renju wanted Bibi to get an education more than his now ex-wife. Renju had at least known that he should feel guilty.

Otherwise, Bibi lived like a ghost. Renju laughed in a pitiful way when he said this, claiming Bibi might be the only good thing the two of them had done for Mizuki. Without her, Renju wondered if Mizuki would’ve ever felt any warmth at all.

Not once, Date noticed, did Renju mention how Bibi must’ve felt. Anytime Bibi had been mentioned it was in the context of Mizuki’s comfort, or his own small gestures to make himself feel less evil, less responsible for keeping a young girl locked in his house in secret.

There was nothing to be done. Finishing the dregs of his beer, he paid off his tab. His head felt like bursting.

That night, Date agreed to take in the two girls. That morning, with a wicked hangover and not an ounce of an idea of what he was doing, they moved into his shitty apartment. Not once did Date look back.

Chapter Text

Mizuki noticed the small size of the apartment first. When Daddy had told her she’d be staying with a family friend for a while, it seemed like some weird joke. She even wondered if Daddy meant they were going on a vacation, a thought bolstered by the tall building with many windows and doors that they had pulled up to. A hotel? No, an apartment complex, and it was nothing like the home she grew up in.  

The Okiura household was essentially a mansion, spacious and extravagant, but quiet too. There were rooms never used, corners haunted by shadows where lights rarely would touch. The only thing that kept the abandoned areas of the household clean were the maids.   

Here, it felt not an inch of the apartment remained untouched by the overhead light or the sunlight filtering through the windows. The apartment she entered with her big sister, Bibi, felt so small she felt almost claustrophobic. The bedroom Mizuki slept in felt bigger, and it wouldn’t hold a candle to her parents’ room. Only Mommy slept in that room now after they divorced, and she wondered how Mommy dealt with the size of it...  

Mizuki hid a touch behind Bibi, clutching the teenager’s plain, brown skirt, which went down to her shins. A hand-me-down, Mizuki knew, from a cousin who grew out of it. She herself wore a wrinkle-free, black dress and stockings. Her shoes were shiny, white flats that hugged too tight on her feet and made it hard to run and play. Bibi’s clothes always seemed more roomier and easier to wear, but Mommy and Daddy kept buying Mizuki new clothes that never ever seemed as free as the ones Bibi wore.   

She pulled her gaze back to the man before her. She knew what she was doing, trying to think of anything else but him. The room, Bibi’s clothes, the stiffness of her shoes, these things were better to toss around in her head than the myriad of reasons for why her Daddy had told her that she was leaving and how her Mommy refused to even look at her as passed by to the front door. Even Bibi seemed solemn as she left, guiding Mizuki out of the house to a waiting car.   

In that moment, when she realized Bibi was getting in the car with her, fear shot through her. Why was Bibi leaving too? Did Bibi do something wrong? Both of them? She knew she was adopted, Bibi had told her that long ago, so were they being sent back to the orphanage? The rule always had been that Bibi could never be seen outside with Mizuki. Preferably not with anyone! Yet, here they were, getting into one of the family’s black sedans, together. The driver could see them. Anyone looking in the car window could. The unprecedented suddenness of the situation felt horribly wrong from the start.  

So, what did this man want? Date... Date er... Kaname. That was it. She scooted more behind Bibi, who then reached behind to put a reassuring hand on Mizuki’s shoulder.   

“Well, er,” Date began to speak. He held out his arms wide. “Welcome. Um, mi casa es su casa.”  

“Why are we here?” Bibi spoke, her voice quiet but firm. She never yelled once in the years Mizuki could remember, but the firmness of her voice made Mizuki flinch. She never did good with yelling, and when her parents got in fights, she’d find solace from it with Bibi. When Bibi was mad, however, Mizuki had nowhere to retreat.  

“They didn’t tell you?”   

Bibi didn’t answer. She dared him to explain it. If they told Bibi why, Mizuki was never informed. For all she knew, her Mommy and Daddy got tired of her and felt Mizuki was too bad of a girl to keep around. The thought made her heart ache.  

The skirt. Think of the skirt. She rubbed her fingers on the smooth cloth, tracing its texture and occasionally frayed thread.   

Date’s arms fell. He shifted looking to the ceiling and then the floor. She felt a little sorry for him over his discomfort.   

“Did Mizuki’s parents sell us or something,” Bibi said, curtly. Her white blouse shifted as she did so, pulling up a little from Bibi’s wrists.   

Sell?! Mizuki thought in shock. The thought hadn’t crossed her mind!  

“What?!” Date exclaimed, eyes bulging. “What?! NO! Not at all! No! I thought they explained it to you! I’m not sure what the Hell to say!”  

“Renju,” Bibi said, “said something about it being better for us, but all I see is a scummy looking man in his late 20’s with greasy hair.”  

“Greasy?” Date said, hand picking up a lock of his hair and dropping it in dismay.   

Mizuki giggled a little, but when Date’s eyes flickered to her, she hid behind Bibi again.   

“Look,” Date sighed, chewing on a fingernail. “Why don’t you just take a seat. I’ll explain to the best of my abilities. Get comfortable.” 
 
Mizuki looked up to Bibi, waiting to see what her sister chose to do. Bibi did not move. “Explain first. I’ll decide if we sit.” ‘Or if we need to run,’ felt like the natural, unsaid other option.  

“Well, I will at least,” Date said, and for some reason Mizuki didn’t understand, she could tell Bibi relaxed a little. Date stepped back a bit and took a seat on his computer chair. With a huff, he leaned forward, and pushed hair back from his face. Bibi and him stared at each other across the whole apartment.   

Mizuki’s stomach growled.   

“Bibi,” Mizuki whispered. “I’m hungry...”  

“Later, OK?” Bibi whispered back. “Can you wait a bit?”  

Mizuki nods, but she was hungry. It was past lunch time, and she hadn’t had a bite to eat yet!  

“I do have food,” Date said. Bibi startled, looking back at Date and narrowing her eyes. Mizuki didn’t understand how he had heard their private conversation. She thought she’d been quiet enough... “But,” he continued, “I understand if you don’t want it right now. When we eat, you can like, um, watch me make it? If you’re afraid of poison or something?”   

“I’m not afraid of poison,” Bibi snapped. “Why would we be dropped off just so you could poison us?! I’m worried about—”  

“Look, let me stop you there for the sake of Mizuki, OK? Kid’s like... what? Eight? The more this remains a guessing game, the more you’re scaring her.” Date nodded his chin in Mizuki’s direction and her eyes went wide.   

“I’m scaring her?!” Bibi exclaimed.   

“Please,” Date held up a hand.   

Bibi stiffened, and then she nodded, allowing this Date to explain.  

“Okay,” the man said, taking a deep breath. Mizuki heard him mumble something, but the only word she caught was “Renju,” before he actually began to unfold why the two were brought here.  

“Your father, Renju, and I are friends. We’ve been friends for about 2 or 3 years now, maybe longer—my memory is a bit, erm, hazy—but we were out drinking one night.”  

Bibi clicked her tongue in judgment. Mizuki wished she wouldn’t. Mizuki didn’t want any more conflict or tension. It already felt so heavy in the room that she might cry.  

“Anyway,” Date said, pushing past the Bibi’s opinion on that. “We talked, and I learned the truth of what was happening to you two in that house. I certainly had my suspicions before, but when I learned about what Mizuki’s mom did to her and then that you even existed, I demanded something be done. This is that something that was done.”  

“What did Mommy do?” Mizuki said. Bibi looked down at her surprised, but Mizuki only watched at Date, head cocked like a puppy.   

“Seriously?” Bibi said to Date then. Her gaze was so intense that he squirmed under it. “You can’t be serious.”  

“What?” Mizuki looked up at Bibi then to Date. “What? I don’t get it. Bibi, why is him learning about you bad? What did Mommy do?”  

Date’s fist clenched and then relaxed. “I am serious. You cannot stay at that house anymore. Renju is too occupied with his company to take care of you, and your mother... Bibi, when I heard your mother hit Mizuki I couldn’t let this stand anymore.”  

Mizuki flinched. Her eyes went wide. “H... Hit?” Mizuki stammered. Her eyes grew wet. A tension built in her gut that travelled up and up her. Her heart hurt more than it did already, and she had to fight to keep from crying. She remembered the most recent night of it. How could she not? Mommy screaming at her for being a bad girl, and then the open-hand slap falling on her cheek...  

The pain jolted through Mizuki’s body, and when she came to, she found herself sprawled on her hands and knees. She had wished, then, for Bibi to come and hug her, but she knew Bibi could not. It would risk Bibi being taken back to the orphanage if she intervened, as Mizuki had been told. Either way...  

“N... No. Mr. Date, that was my fault. I... I wasn’t doing what she told me to, so she had to! I was a bad girl!”  

Bibi shook. An angry heat seemed to radiate off of Mizuki’s older sister. For some reason, Date just shook his head again.   

“Mizuki, you—”  

“SHUT UP!” Bibi screamed. “What do you know? What do you know of anything that happened in that house?!”  

“Nothing! I don’t know jack shit but the fact remains that a parent doesn’t slap their kid! A parent doesn’t keep a child hidden and threaten to disown them if they’re so much as SEEN! None of this is right, and both of your parents need some time to think about this!”  

“They aren’t my parents!” Bibi shouted back. “They’re Mizuki’s! I don’t care what the papers say, the deal was always that they were Mizuki’s! I watch her. I keep her safe. That’s all there is to it! We’re doing all we can!”  

Date’s two-colored eyes went wide. He looked at Mizuki, then Bibi, the whole time the shock on his face growing.   

“You,” he said, words slow as if feeling out this new discovery of his. “Do you two seriously think this is your fault? That this is all some mix up?”  

“Isn’t it?” Bibi demanded. Mizuki could only ride this flurry of emotions. Fighting back against it seemed impossible. Warm tears tricked down her cheeks, but she didn’t register them.   

No. In her head, thoughts whirred. How? How bad of a daughter had she been for Daddy to give her away? She had failed. Like a video game character, she only had so many lives, and she had wasted her last one. What had been the last straw? Was it when she hadn’t done the dishes on time? Was it when she stained her dress? Had it really been that night her mother slapped her?  

She didn’t know what made that night so different. Shoko’s punishment filed away in her head the same place as all the other times Shoko had hit her. Mizuki never could figure out what bad thing she did would set Mommy off, just that often it happened when her Mommy smelled like wine. She even hoped, someday, that hits would make sense, that the yelling someday would click into place and Mizuki would see what would make her Mommy happy. What could have made Mizuki a good kid...  

Mommy... Mommy, no, please. I’m sorry. I am. Don’t do this. Don’t!  

“Jesus shit... You kids have to understand, this isn’t your fault. This is Shoko and Renju’s fault, not yours. You both are literally just kids! How could any of this be your fault!”  

That didn’t compute. Mizuki didn’t understand the logical thread Date presented. It was her fault because the things she did made Mommy and Daddy angry and disappointed. This reality was simpler, easier to comprehend.   

Date continued. “But I couldn’t just... Report your parents for abuse... You’d never get to see them again, and the idea of that... It wouldn’t be fair. You love Shoko still, despite all of that... Isn’t that right, Mizuki?”  

It took a moment for Mizuki to register Date had spoken to her. Her gaze had gone glassy and blurred as she traveled along her memories for any sign of what caused this. When she realized his attention was on her, she snapped back to reality like a rubber band and gave him a quick, fearful nod. “I wanna go home,” she said. “I want Mommy.”  

Date winced. “I know,” he said softly. “And that’s why I gave Renju this option. This doesn’t have to be permanent. I doubt it will be, but I couldn’t just let things continue as they were. Renju and Shoko just... They need some time alone. To think on what they’re doing wrong as parents.”  

Bibi looked to the floor.   

“Look, geez, it’s just I know,” he then said, “that if this kept on, it wouldn’t be Renju’s decision. Or Shoko’s. Or even mine. Eventually, it would be the police. And then you’d both be taken away. You’d never see Shoko or Renju again. Bibi, you know what that’d do to Mizuki. You know that would do more harm than good. Come on, Bibi. You’re a reasonable kid. You can see through the bullshit, right?”  

Bibi didn’t respond at first. She shook, fists quivering tight. The two of them exchanged a look that Mizuki couldn’t parse, and then something on Date’s face shifted. They had both spoken without words in a conversation and left Mizuki out of it. It only gave the little girl more questions.    

“Bibi?” Mizuki asked, tugged the older girl’s skirt. Bibi jumped as if startled. “Bibi? What does that mean? What would it do to me?”  

Bibi’s expression softened at Mizuki. Gently, she pried Mizuki’s hand off her skirt and knelt facing Mizuki.  

“Bibi?” Mizuki asked again. “Why... Why are you crying?” Mizuki was too, which she did a lot, but Mizuki only recalled a couple times seeing Bibi cry.  

“I’m sorry, Mizuki,” Bibi said. “I’m sorry...” Mizuki found herself pulled forward, wrapped tight in her sister’s arms. Bibi’s body shuddered, and a shaky breath left her followed by a sniffle.   

“Sorry? For what?” Mizuki’s voice wavered. The tears were beating down the door and threatening to bust loose.  

“We’re going to be staying here for now, OK?” Bibi said. It didn’t answer Mizuki’s question.  

“What about Mommy?” Mizuki asked, desperation rising. “What about Daddy? Bibi, what’s happening?!”   

Bibi only squeezed her tighter. “Sshh... It’s OK. We’ll still see them sometimes. I’m so sorry, Mizuki. I’m so sorry...”  

“Why?! Why are you sorry?!”  

“No one will hit you again,” Bibi whispered. “I’m such an idiot. No one. No one will hurt you. You’ll always be safe... with me.”  

Mizuki broke then. None of this made sense. No one was answering her. The world was going by too quickly, and she was scared and anxious and guilty. It was too much for her to bear.  “I WANNA GO HOME!” she shouts. Wails of pure despair follow, the dam burst. She buries her head in Bibi’s shoulder, tears soaking her older sister's blouse as her body is wracked with uncontrollable sobs. None of this made sense. None of this seemed right. She loved Mommy. Loved Daddy! Why was Bibi acting like things were wrong?!   

But she couldn’t ask... Her cries stole her words from her. All she could manage were pitiful, sorrowful sobs as she felt her whole life crumble beneath her. This, she knew, was all her fault. If only she’d been better. If only she had been a good girl. Mizuki wished desperately to be worthy of her parents’ love, but now she knew she’d never be. It was too late. It all was too late.   

Still, despite this, she had Bibi. Somehow, despite everything Mizuki had done, Bibi still hugged her tight and whispered sweet reassurances. She didn’t deserve this, Mizuki knew, but she felt too broken to push it away.   

Date stood. He moved to the small kitchen space and popped open the fridge. The things he did there were a dull knowledge for Mizuki. She remained only vaguely aware of him, focused instead on the sheer comfort of her sister’s arms. It was all too much... Her body couldn’t handle this. Her brain felt as clogged as a traffic jam...  

But Bibi... was so warm....  

==§§==

Soft fingers traced delicate rows in Mizuki’s hair. She whimpered, shifting and pressing against the warmth her head rested on. A savory smell filled the room mixed with the familiar scent of someone she loved.   

What a strange dream , she thought. How her mind could have fabricated all of that seemed so bizarre to her. Dreams, though, were often unpredictable. Maybe it wasn’t all that surprising that it would shape something like this.   

“.... doesn’t change anything.” Mizuki heard the familiar voice of her sister speak, low and grave.   

“I don’t expect it to.”  

For a moment, the second voice didn’t seem real. It hung in her ears, drifting and dancing without any context or purpose. It was deep, a man’s voice, but not Daddy’s. It tugged on the dream... The dream that just wouldn’t fade from her memory as dreams usually did. The dream that—  

Mizuki bolted upright. “MOMMY!” she shouted, panting, chest rising and falling in panic. Her eyes darted here, there, everywhere, looking for Shoko to no avail. She wasn’t home. It wasn’t a dream. She saw brick walls, a huge sound system, a rickety bed...  

A man with blonde hair standing beside a pot on the stove, and it wasn’t Daddy.   

She found herself on a couch. Behind her was Bibi, face frozen in surprise and hand outstretched but unmoving as if debating touching her. Things began to click into place then. She had fallen asleep while crying and woke up on her big sister’s lap. Her hair and back felt sweaty, her face gross.  

“Mizuki,” Bibi said. “You OK?” Only then, as if the stasis spell had been whisked away, did Bibi put a light hand on Mizuki’s shoulder.   

Mizuki gulped. The room was warm, warmer than she was used to. “Y-Yeah. Just a bad dream.”  

“Food is almost ready. That’ll wake you up, OK?” Date said and turned back to the pot. Mizuki, slowly, brought her hand up to her cheek. Hearing his voice then reminded her of what had been said earlier, the mention of her mother slapping her being a reason she was here now. It hurt dully at the touch. The bruise had mostly healed, but makeup hid it entirely.   

She’d gotten pretty good at doing that.  

“When can we go home, Bibi?” Mizuki asked, turning to face her sister. The old couch creaked as she shifted.   

Bibi looked away. Her hand fell.   

“Bibi? Why are we still here?”   

Date turned from the pot again, brows furrowed. “Mizuki, don’t you remember? You’re staying here for now. I mean, I know the place is small, but we’ll make do.”  

Bibi’s face contorted. Her eyes focused on something, but Mizuki ignored it, saying “What do you mean though? How long is ‘for now?’ I want to go back to my room! Where am I going to sleep? Where—”  

Mizuki had missed her older sister leaning forward on the couch as she spoke, but she cut off when Bibi stood. She stared at something on the floor... peeking out from under one of the speakers.   

“H-Hey! Don’t look there!” Date said, letting the spoon go in the pot with a clank. Hand outstretched, he crossed the distance across the apartment to the speaker, but not before Bibi bent down and picked up what looked, to Mizuki, to be a magazine?  

“Hey, what the fuck?” Bibi said holding it up by its corners. A disgusted look flashed on her face.   

Bibi cocked her head, and Mizuki squinted to try and see what it was. Was that girl in a bikini? Was it one of those sports magazines or something focused on swimming? Date snatched it though, grabbing it from Bibi’s hold.  

“Be gentle!” he scolded. “It’s a limited edition!”   

“Oh my God!” Bibi said. Shorter than him by almost 2 feet, the fourteen-year-old still met him eye for eye. “You really are a perv!”  

“What?! Am not! I’m a collector!”    

“No way. No WAY am I going to let Mizuki be in a house with those lying around!”   

Mizuki watched the back and forth like a tennis match, jaw dropped at the sudden change of tone for everything. She wanted to ask what that magazine was, but Date had hidden it. She’d been taught not to pry.   

“They’re not just lying around! I hid them!”  

“Apparently not well if they’re just sitting there underneath the sound system!”  

Mizuki slid off the couch. By the door, she saw both her and Bibi’s suitcases. She didn’t even know they were packed for her by the time they left, so she didn’t think her favorite clothes made it in the one designated as hers. Maybe she could go home soon and get those? If she’d ever be allowed home again. The thought hung there gloomily, but she shook her head to dislodge it and looked to the kitchen.   

Steam rose from a pot, and she went towards it, blocking out the arguing behind her. It wasn’t hard to do, and given the mood in the room, she didn’t really feel scared of their elevated voices. If Bibi could hold her own against this Date guy, then maybe he wasn’t that scary. She hoped, at least.  

The pot sat too high for her to look in, so instead she went to the fridge. Aside for a few errant veggies, there was just beer and meat in here, and even those seemed poorly stocked. Curious, Mizuki grabbed a can of beer from the fridge. She had no intention of drinking it, but the weight and shape of it just made her reach for it. The chill felt good on her fingers. Like a can of soda...  

“Noooo nono. Not for you. Not for you!” Date swerved in, and suddenly Mizuki found herself in the shadow of the man. He grabbed the can from her hand.  

Mizuki recoiled, wincing. “Sorry. Sorry...” She stepped backwards, but her foot clipped the corner of one of the suitcases. She fell so quickly she hadn’t even the moment to catch herself, and she landed on the floor hard. Pain shot up her butt and back, and she winced from it. Her lower lip quivered, less from the pain, more from the shock and suddenness of everything that had transpired overwhelming her emotions.   

“Ah! Mizuki!” She heard Bibi exclaim, but Date was there first.   

“Shit! I’m sorry. Are you OK?” he said, crouching.  

In those flustered moments that occurred beat for beat without pause, an instinct took over, Mizuki immediately pushed herself back. Her butt still hurt, but getting out of reach of the man overwrote it. Then, her reflexes went on to the next step.   

“Sorry. Sorry. I didn’t mean it. Sorry. Please, I wasn’t going to drink it, I promise I wasn’t!”   

Finally, Bibi had reached the scene, and what a scene it was. She slowed, standing nearby and looked at Mizuki sadly. Date held the beer lightly at his side...  

It was only then that Mizuki realized she had braced herself as if Date himself would start yelling... Would start hitting. When neither happened, she lowered the arm that guarded her face and swallowed hard. Quiet filled the room.  

“Mizuki...” Bibi said.  

Date nodded as if this confirmed something and stood. The fridge door opened. He put the can inside. It closed with a thud, the faint whisps of the chill sweeping out from it after and making Mizuki shiver. He moved to the pot next and stirred it. Bibi knelt and put and arm around Mizuki, pulling the eight-year-old close.   

“Sorry,” Mizuki whispered. “I made him mad...”  

“I’m not mad,” Date said. Mizuki jumped, not expecting him to have heard that. “I’m thinking. That’s all.”  

“I really wasn’t going to drink it...”  

“Not thinking about the beer.”  

Bibi spoke then. “I know I shouldn’t have let it go this far.”  

“I’m not blaming you for that. Again, how is any of this your fault? Blame rests on the adults.”  

“I should’ve stopped them. I should’ve made sure it did not end up like this. I...”  

They were talking over her, Mizuki knew. They snuck carefully around concrete words so that Mizuki would not be privy to the truth of it. She wasn’t stupid... She knew this song and dance.   

“I was supposed to protect her and now you’re sitting there thinking all kinds of things about that, aren’t you?” Bibi said bitterly.   

“Again, why do you think I’m blaming you? You’re literally 14. Geez, no, I’m trying to figure out how to deal with this.”  

“You don’t have to deal with anything. Just keep things besides beer in the fridge and get rid of the stupid porn mags and we’ll handle ourselves. I can take care of her. We don’t need you. We’ll be fine.  

“Christ, would you stop arguing with me?”  

It struck Mizuki then. How long had it been since she heard Bibi argue? How long had it been since she’d heard Bibi say this much in general?!  

“I’m not arguing. You’re a stranger who has no idea what he’s getting into!”  

But, instead of responding to what Bibi said, Date did something stranger. He pointed at the couch. “Sit.”  

“What?” Bibi demanded. “You can’t just boss us around now!”  

“Sit.” Date said, voice remaining neutral and constant.   

The stand-off began. Bibi staring at Date, Date Bibi, and Mizuki just wanting to go sit to stop this back-and-forth...  

Bibi blinked first.   

“Ugh, fine,” she groaned and stood, helping Mizuki up with her. They made their way back to the couch and sat. From behind, Mizuki heard a click and then a clank, but she was too occupied looking down at her own shoes to look at Date to see what he was doing.   

Then, he returned. The sound of two soft thumps in front of her made her head rise, and there sat two bowls, steam wafting from the tops. Both Bibi and Mizuki stared at the bowls in disbelief. It was another thing to know he had been cooking dinner, it was another to see it in front of them. Stew...? An odd choice.  

He sat down on the chair with a huff.   

“I’m not your enemy,” he said. “I know you’re both scared and anxious. I get it. But I didn’t agree to this to just proceed business as usual and stuff. I don’t even need you to like me, but just to get to a point where you can live normally. Either way, it’s all one day at a time, right? We’re not going to get where I’m hoping fast, but we can start with this. A peace offering.”  

Mizuki just stared at the stew still, processing.  

“You’re a weird man...” Bibi muttered.  

“I mean, you’re one to talk,” Date countered, leaning back. “I swear, that agreement you made at the orphanage took some balls.”  

“You know?!”   

“Renju told me as much as he could. I respect it, Bibi. I really do. I gotta wonder how much worse things might’ve been for Mizuki if you hadn’t made that deal. Still, Renju should’ve fucking known better than to take that. In all honestly, neither were ready for a kid. They were stupid to even try in the first place. Regardless, that’s over now.”  

“O...ver?”   

Something in Bibi’s voice shook.   

“No more hiding. No more pretending to not exist. And no more threats of losing your sister. That ends today.” Date said.  

“But... Mizuki, she...?”  

Mizuki shifted uncomfortably at her name being used. For comfort, she leaned on her older sister’s arm.  

“Will be safe. And you can still make sure of that all you like. Don’t let me stop you. My point is though, there’s no wrong way to exist right now. I’m not sending you back to the orphanage. You can yell at me all you like, and that won’t change.”  

He was greeted with stunned silence. Mizuki didn’t feel OK to eat. The food tempted her. Her stomach growled. Still... This wasn’t the same food she knew. This wasn’t the same house. Eating felt wrong, and Bibi sitting stunned as she was further dissuaded Mizuki.   

“Look, I know I’m like... Not the best person to be looking after kids, but I’m gonna try, you know? So...”  

Bibi had the look of someone who just had her whole life shaken loose. Mizuki’s older sister just stared at Date, making the man shift in unease. Mizuki opened her mouth to tell Bibi to at least say something (she was starting feel a little bad for Date), but then closed it.  

Just for a moment, Mizuki thought she saw tears in Bibi’s eyes once again, but as soon as she saw them, Bibi turned and grabbed the bowl. She began to wolf it down, until she stopped.   

“Hot. Hot...” she muttered, fanning her mouth, but she soon began eating again regardless. Mizuki smiled. Maybe... Maybe things would be okay. She reached for her own bowl and cautiously began to eat. Slowly, at least, and blowing carefully on the spoon with each bite, but she did eat. Date smiled.   

“Seconds!” Bibi said, panting. Her eyes were watering, but it was now impossible to tell if that was the tears or the burning of the heat from the food. She held her bowl out to Date.   

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Date barked. He slapped his legs, chuckling beneath his breath, and then he stood, took her bowl, and went to get the older girl seconds. Mizuki had hardly gotten through a third of hers.   

She looked around the room as she ate, taking things in more closely than she had before... Then she realized something. “Mr. Date?” Mizuki asked. “Where are we sleeping?”  

“Err.... I was going to say the couch but....”   

“Surely you don’t expect us to cram on this ratty thing?” Bibi said.   

He brought the food back, but as he did so, he almost seemed to sag in sorrow. “I guess you can have the beeeed...” he whined, but certainly not seeming too thrilled.   

Bibi, though, grinned. Mizuki watched that smile in awe... A smile. A laugh. Given how terrible things seemed, the moment hung in the air blissful and sweet. In that short burst, she saw family. The idea was gone as soon as it came, a foolish image that made little sense, but all the same it struck her. Things would change, and as long as Bibi smiled, Mizuki thought she could try to change also.  

Chapter Text

Date nearly screamed when he got home. Instead of a high-pitched wail, he let out an audible gasp followed by an “OH GOD!” and almost slammed the door to run away.  

Of course, slowly he opened it again, feeling like a fucking idiot, because, of course, there on the ground, was a 14-year-old and an 8-year-old sitting there on the floor. Scattered on the coffee table were papers and books; two backpacks they discarded by the door were laying open.  

“Date, what the Hell?” Bibi said, raising an eyebrow as she sat by her sister, who looked at him with a much less judgmental expression.  

“Huh? What? Nothing. Thought I saw a spider. Yeah. Spider.” Date punctuated this by waving his hand as if to swat away a web. He definitely did not just jump nearly completely out of his skin because he had forgotten for a moment that he had two girls now living with him. Most certainly not because he had just gotten home from errands he ran after one of the grimmest days of investigating he’s had to do for ABIS yet and thought for a brief moment the two literal children in his home were secret Yakuza agents sent to kill him.  

Your imagination is running wild again, Date.  

“Shut up,” Date responded to Aiba.  

“I didn’t say anything!” Bibi exclaimed, not knowing about the little, talking AI in Date’s eye socket 

“Not you.” 

“Then who?! Because Mizuki certainly didn’t say anything.” 

“No one! I said it to no one!” 

“I have math homework,” Mizuki suddenly interjected, holding it up and derailing the conversation. “Bibi’s just checking it for me.” 

It had been a week since Bibi and Mizuki had moved in with him, and it seemed all three of them made progress together. Bibi, Date noted, had gotten more trusting of him at least, something he attributed to his excellent skills with children.  

Or she no longer sees you as a threat, Aiba pointed out, and Date had to bite back a retort.  

Further, Mizuki, began to speak more and more. She never said enough for Date to grasp onto for a full conversation, but still, she gave bits and pieces that let him know she at the very least wasn’t living in a state of shock. Most of the time, she spoke through Bibi, as if Mizuki wanted to filter her words by her older sister first. Date was OK with that. Whatever worked. The space was too small for Date to tackle every single habit these kids fell into and risk creating sparks. The way he saw it, he didn’t take Mizuki for the type to throw tantrums, but a suspicious 14-year-old? Date was on alert to say the least.  

Further, the more things developed, Date began picking up on a pattern in the girls, perhaps with how they are dealing with the sudden changes. It was just a hunch, but at the Okiuras', Mizuki must have been the one to speak for Bibi. Who else would advocate for her but her younger sister? Sure, Date didn’t think it’d often work to get anything for Bibi, but Mizuki almost definitely would’ve been the voice to try. After all, Bibi wasn’t supposed to be seen or heard any more than necessary. However, here at his apartment, it seemed Bibi spoke for Mizuki instead. The best way to protect her younger sister had gone from remaining in relative obscurity to vocalizing and speaking up.  

“Right. Homework. That’s good?” Date asked, stepping into the room. Carefully stepping over the backpacks, he dropped a large, paper shopping bag he had been carrying onto the kitchen counter as he moved to the rack of jackets.  

“Where were you?” Bibi asked. “Like we just wake up in the morning and you’re gone, then you’re back after we get home from school.” 

“I mean, not always after you get home, right?” 

“I think you were here once before we got home, and by then, you were asleep on the couch, napping,” Bibi said. “Are you sure it’s OK to just leave us alone like this?” 

“I’m sure it’s fine. I know you’re independent, Bibi.” 

“You’ve known me for a week!” 

Date just shrugged. “Anyway, I’m up stupid early. I thought you’d be grateful that I don’t wake you up in the process of getting ready for work.” 

“He wakes me up,” Mizuki mumbled, eyes focused on the page of homework. She had her tongue poking out of her mouth as she thought through a math problem. “Sometimes I use that time after he leaves to, like, drink some water or go to the bathroom. Is that OK?” At that last question, she looks up at Date as if he’d genuinely tell her that it was not.  

“Of course,” Date said. He was so shocked that she asked that he froze putting his jacket on its hanger. “You can have water, Mizuki, you don’t have to ask.” 

“She means is it OK to get up at night,” Bibi said. “And yes, Mizuki, it’s fine. Focus on your homework.” She tapped the page that Mizuki left abandoned, and the girl nods, going back to work. Date remembers he still hasn’t put his jacket on the hanger. He let out a protracted exhale as he shoved the coat onto the hanger and then returned it with a clank. Asking to have water was silly, reminding him of when he was at a friend’s house and, as a guest, being too nervous to ask for a glass. Asking if she can get out of bed though? 

What the Hell? Truly, that phrase has been a running theme this past week.  

“Anyway, I must be a heavy sleeper then,” Bibi grumbled.  

“At least neither of you snore. I wouldn’t sleep a wink,” Date said. 

“Oh, now you’re a light sleeper too, Date? I guess I imagined you napping through Mizuki turning on your radio.” Bibi pointed this out while crossing her arms, and when Date opened his mouth to protest, she immediately spoke over him. “You didn’t answer the question though. Where do you go off to?” 

“Work? Duh?” 

“What kind of work?” 

“Work... Work.” 

Bibi massaged her temples. “Honestly, if I find out Renju boarded us in with some drug dealer I—” 

“Yeesh, what is this inquisition? I’m literally a cop, Bibi.” 

“You’re kidding.” 

Mizuki’s pencil immediately dropped to the table. “OH! Seriously?! You work for the police?!” She said, perking up and forgetting her homework for the moment. Of course, she was interested! What little kid didn’t think cops were cool?! 

“Well, that’s dumb,” Bibi said and stood. Clearly kids like Bibi didn’t think cops were cool.  

“I read a book once,” Bibi continued, walking around the table, “that said cops have a tendency to commit domestic abuse. Is that true, Date? Are we safe in here? Are you gonna—” Suddenly, Bibi let out a shocked “Oh!” before exclaiming, “What’s in the bag!?” 

“Don’t touch that!” 

 Date lurched forward, which, upon retrospect, was a huge mistake from the start. His foot made liberal contact with the wheel of his computer chair; then, falling forward, his torso made painful contact with the armchair; and it all concluded with his face making excruciating contact with the floor with a resounding THUMP! Mizuki and Bibi both stared in shock at him. Their eyes wide, their mouths agape, they looked on with awe at the magnificence and grace of this royal fuck-up.  

“Are you OK?” Mizuki asked, standing herself up slowly. Date groaned, pushing himself up on his knees, exposing a huge, red mark on his forehead that he rubbed tenderly.  

“Well... That... smarts.” 

For the time being, the bag on the counter was forgotten. Before Date could even open his eyes to process where on the floor he now found himself, he heard two different things. One from his left and one from his right. On one side, the thumping of socked feet as Mizuki came to stand near him. On the other, a snort and then Bibi’s raucous laughter.  

“And you’re a cop?!” Bibi exclaimed. 

“Look, I had a long day!” Date rationalized. 

“If you have a concussion, you should go to the hospital.” Mizuki worriedly pointed out. 

A trio of voice that spoke all at once, but the one that won out among the cacophony was Bibi’s. Because, after another pause to process what each of them had said, they began to laugh with Bibi hysterically. Even Date couldn’t help but join in the laguhter despite it being at his expense. Every time he tried to visualize his own accident, he ended up looking like one of the Three Stooges!   

“OK, scratch that,” Bibi said, still fighting off giggles. “I can’t see you being one of those cops committing domestic abuse. You can’t even walk straight! A light breeze could knock you over.” 

Date stood then, one hand clutching his side, the other brushing off his pants. After making sure everything was still in its right place, Date immediately made an attempt to defend himself, “I would not be knocked over by a light breeze. Maybe a very strong typhoon at the least. I get in more fights than you think.” 

“Now you’re a master of combat, eh?” 

“If you’re asking, then yes, I am!” He rebuttled and then stormed to the counter to pluck the bag off of it.  

“Date, Bibi doesn’t mean to be so mean...” Mizuki butted in. He wondered how long she’d waited to get a word in edgewise. “She just isn’t used to Mommy and Daddy being so goofy.” 

“Yeah, you’re a real clown,” Bibi followed up sarcastically, rolling her eyes, and returned to the homework-covered coffee table. 

“Look, I’m just not used to this place being so crowded. It’s already a tiny apartment as it is, so I’m tripping over all this stuff you keep laying on the floor and stuff!”  

“Technically, Mr. Date, you tripped on your own chair,” Mizuki pointed out, although she clutched the front of her skirt as she did so, making herself small with a sorry smile.  

“Ok, not the point. How do I know neither of you moved my chair or something anyway? I like my chair a certain way you know!” 

Mizuki’s face paled a shade. “A-Ah! Sorry!” Mizuki blurted, her lip quivering. “I... I mean I did... use it... earlier... but I didn’t...” 

“No, no, wait!” Date shouted, shifting into damage control, his hands waving. “I’m joking. I’m joking; I promise. You don’t have to apologize for just using my chair. Use my chair all you want. It’s fine .” 

Mizuki hesitated, as if waiting for Date to add something further, but then, reluctantly nodded that she understood. Still, she didn’t cheer back up, face still a bit drawn with worry. It seemed that even his assurances didn’t completely assuage the guilt. He sighed, now he himself feeling shitty. Tact, Date. Tact! He scolded himself mentally.   

Off by the coffee table, Bibi patted the floor by her. “Mizuki, come over here. Let’s just get homework done, OK? Date’s done being a clutz.”

“Hold up. Just a moment?” Date had wanted to wait to find a time to surprise them both with this, but now with Mizuki feeling dour and Bibi’s high from mocking him worn off, it felt like the best time. Spirits needed strengthening, and he found his heart hurting at Mizuki’s reaction. “Bibi’s right. You both do need to do homework, but, well... Can you two take a break? Just for a couple minutes?” 

“Sure, there’s no rush. What’s up?” Bibi asked. Putting out an arm, Mizuki sat, and Bibi wrapped it around her little sister’s shoulder. She was so small, Date noted, although Bibi certainly wasn’t all that much bigger given her age.  

Date cleared his throat. “So,” he started, and then rethink it.  

Well,” he tried again, but the sentence in mind didn’t seem right.  

Finally, “Look I was late today,” he said, toying with the bag in his hand. 

“We know. Was it because a jaywalker put up a struggle?” Bibi immediately stuck, but then seemed to realize the insults were spent. “Alright, I’m done. Sorry.” 

Date let the joke pass by. “Beneath my paygrade anyway,” he said, and then he held up the paper bag. It was about the size of a large laptop with a washed-out purple design on it. “I was late because I was getting this.” 

Mizuki cocked her head to the side. “You got something? For us?” 

“Yeah! Exciting right?” 

Mizuki smile a bit, which felt like a small victory, but Bibi being the voice of reason said, “What’s the catch? You’ve not known us all that long, yeah? Why are you buying us stuff?” 

“I mean,” Date lowered the bag. “It just seemed right to do? You are going through a lot; I figured it can’t hurt. Does there have to be a catch?” 

Bibi didn’t seem to be buying it. Mizuki, however, brightened a little more, which in turn allowed Bibi to let her guard down. He was noticing rather quickly how the two fed into each other’s energy. Separate, he thought, they’d be a unstable swing of emotions, but together, they balanced out, following each other’s lead till they reached a more moderate set of feelings. Odd how intensely close they were, seeing as Bibi was a whole six years older. The gap normally would create distance in a sibling relationship, but not in this case.  

They needed each other to survive, Date. Is that so odd? Aiba asked. 

No, I suppose not.   

Either way, Bibi clearly was taking first steps for Mizuki here, testing waters.  

I wonder, Date... Are her jokes a way to try and push you? She may be trying to find your breaking point to see where you’ll react as they’re accustomed. Then, when fallout from her actions do occur, she’ll take the brunt of it, sparing Mizuki the harm of the unknown.  

You think she’s thought this all out? Date asks, shocked.  

No, it is likely more subconscious. I am sure the Okiuras did a better job of establishing the boundaries for Bibi than you are.  

He figures he should take that as an insult but decides being a shitty disciplinarian was probably not the worst thing to be shit at in this situation. Well, be that the case, then Bibi might be surprised that all her jabs have actually done nothing to deny her the gift for her he now held. 

“Bibi’s first.” 

“You can do Mizuki’s,” Bibi said. “I can wait. I’m sure she’s excited.” 

To confirm this, Mizuki worried at her lower lip and nodded, only barely containing her energy behind a practiced patience.  

“Sure, Mizuki first then. I’m going to turn around, pull it out, then show you. Now, before I do, I’m not really used to buying gifts for kids. Sorry if it’s, like, not great. I can return it and, well, yeah.” Mizuki’s curiosity did not look at all subdued despite the warning. “Alright, alright. One second.” 

As promised, Date turned. The paper bag had been topped with crumpled up tissue paper, but nothing inside was particularly delicate. He let that fall to the side crumpled up. Digging around Bibi’s gift to get to Mizuki’s, he removed it, back still to the girls, and then returned the bag to the counter. “Alright. Ready?” He did a mental count to three in his head, and then, at three, turned.  

“Ta-daa!”  

In the immediate moment following the reveal, Date didn’t quite know what he had been thinking when he got this gift. In his hands was a bandaged, zombie-looking rabbit with three eyes and one huge giant tooth. Its coloring, blue and purple, reminded him of the color of bruises. Yet, at the store, it seemed like a great idea at the time. To pick just a Teddybear or a doll felt... disingenuous, and after all that happened, why would Mizuki want just a plain, old toy that you could get anywhere?  

Standing here now though, holding it like this, he felt acutely aware that it was perhaps the last thing either girl expected.  

“Right, well, um, I did warn you that I was bad at this and... When I looked it up, it said Addorabbit was pretty popular and uh," he trailed off under their gazes. Was it hot in here or just him?  
 
Mizuki then stood. Date didn’t know how to make sense of that. She came over next, and Date especially didn’t know how to make sense of it. Her hands reached out and took the rabbit, and he let her take it from him. She held the rabbit plush out at arm's length. He failed to notice the watering of her eyes, but he didn’t miss the smile that flickered on her face. Suddenly, all at once, she hugged it. “It’s so uglyyyy!” she said, voice quivering a bit. “Why’s it so UGLY?! AH!” Her voice shook more as she said that too, and finally Date realized she was barely holding back tears.  

Bibi smirked. “Not a bad choice, Date. Mizuki, come here and let me see!”  

Mizuki ran back, clutching the plush for dear life. She nearly skidded into a seat on the floor, holding it up for Bibi to see. “Look! Look! It’s weird like me!”  

“Way weirder than you,” Bibi said, pinching and bending one of its ears.  

“No way. It’s just as weird!”  

Date watched and couldn’t help but grin. He hadn’t heard Mizuki speak so loud and enthusiastically since... Ever. It made something in his chest feel odd. The feeling almost hurt, like a constriction, but it also felt strangely right. The words to articulate what this feeling was almost came to the front of his mind, but Bibi interrupted his train of thought.  

“Alright, not a bad choice, Date,” she said. “One sec, kiddo, let me get my gift, alright?”  

“Okay!” Mizuki said. Content, she bounced the rabbit on her lap, playing with its small, miscolored hands. Bibi patted the girl’s head as she stood and then went over to Date.  

“Hey, it’s a surprise, no peeking!” He began to scold, but suddenly, Bibi began to whisper.  

“Thanks. She left the stuffed animal I got her back at home. She was afraid to get it cause Shoko might find out.” 

“What?” 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m hoping I can get it back for her soon. In the meantime, this was a very nice gift, Date.” 

“Why didn’t she...” 

“Do I really need to explain that Shoko didn’t understand how to let Mizuki be a kid? She got her toys, sure, but what I got her? Shoko wouldn’t be caught dead with it in her house. You understand?” 

“Maybe?” Date said, although he was leaning to No. 

“ANYWAY!” Bibi suddenly overwrote the conversation as if it didn’t happen. “Where’s my gift.” 

Date, for a moment, couldn’t speak. Words failed him. Eventually, he found the ability to atleast force out, “Right. Your gift. Right.” 

He snuck a quick glance behind Bibi, seeing Mizuki burying her face in the Addorabbit plush. He only just caught a faint whisper from her, and even then it must’ve been enhanced by Aiba as the girl muttered into the cloth “Why are you so ugly? Such a stupid rabbit... gosh.” Yet despite the insults towards the rabbit's appearance, the child still seemed soothed by it.  

He focused back on Bibi. “Your gift. Uh, I want to surprise you too, so can you like,” Date made a shooing motion with his hand. 

“Ugh, fine,” Bibi huffed, although Date knew it for the act it was, and then went back to her seat by Mizuki. He didn’t understand that teenager, but it was very clear she didn’t want to bring all that up in front of Mizuki. She really was trying to be strong so Mizuki didn’t have to be.  

This is depressing, he thought. 

This is trauma, Aiba replied. 

“Alright!” Date said and turned for the bag once again. Again, he used his body to shield it from sight, pulling out Bibi’s gift with a little hesitation. Mizuki was one hurdle, but now Bibi was another altogether. What the Hell would she like? He didn’t know where to even begin. All he knew is she had centered a lot her life around her kid sister, and he didn’t want that to perpetuate forever. Or, at least, he knew it might perpetuate, but that didn’t mean Bibi also couldn’t find herself too. That, he decided, started with a blind guess for her present. If they laugh, so be it. He was a man, right? What’s a bunch of little girls laughing at him to his ego? Better than not trying at all, right? 

He turned around.  

“Holy shit!” Bibi shouted, and immediately leaped over the table like a coiled spring released. “Roller-skates?!” 

Date let out a breath of relief as she snatched them from him, leaving him, blessedly, emptyhanded. 

“Holy shit!” Bibi repeated, voice raising in pitch.  

“WHAA?!” Mizuki gasped in awe from her spot, leaning forward over the table. “Let me see! Let me see!”  

Bibi turned back to Date, her expression this strange mixture of disbelief and gratitude. “Why? This is way too nice. You serious?” 

“Is it really all that weird?” He asked, scratching his head. “I mean, they cost about the same as Mizuki’s and I just figured you’d want to try and go outside more now that there’s no risk of, well, you know.” 

“No, I mean, it’s just,” she struggled for the words, looking back at her sister who was still leaning over the table, but now looked a touched more concerned at Bibi’s hesitation.  

Again, Date made the connection.  

“Seriously, Bibi. No worries. Maybe pay me back by pulling the insults back juuuust a little bit.” He made a pinching gesture with his thumb and index finger to emphasize how little.  

Bibi spun, then grinned, a seed of mischief in that smile. “No,” was her simple retort.  

Date hissed, head falling. “Alright, that’s fair.”  

As if that confirmed something to her, Bibi nodded. She immediately bounced back over to Mizuki who had left her doll on the table to fawn over the in-line skates. 

“I wanna go try them!” 

“I wanna see you try them!”  

The two girls were positively frantic, and before he could even say anything, they took off. He began to go after them then, realizing something he forgot.  

“Mizuki!” The girl stopped, spinning to look at Date in the doorway. She bounced, waiting for the moment to bolt. “You forgot Addorabbit,” he noted. 

“OH! Right!” Mizuki gasped and ran back inside.  

While he had her, tough, he threw out one more thing, stopping her once again before she took off.  “Also! Can you please tell Bibi to go to the side door of my car and get her to wear the safety stuff in there? Your father will kill me if she hits her head.” 

With a smile and an eager nod, she agreed with an “I will!” Then, she sprinted out the door and was gone. She could hear the thud of feet slowly disappearing in the distance down old stairs.  

“Aiba... Can you unlock my car?” 

I’m not your key fob.   

“Please, I feel like if it’s not as soon as they try, they’re more likely to just abandon the notion all together.” 

I already did it. I’m still not your key fob.  

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.” 

Do you think it’s OK to not go after them?  

“They’re kids. They’ll be fine. What’s the worst that could happen?” 

It took a whole ten seconds between when he said that, and then the loud shout of “DATEEEEE!!” Mizuki’s voice came from the outside, growing louder as she ran in on quick feet. Date sighed, put his jacket back on, and went to check on these kids that he was just beginning to discover would become a demanding focal point of his life. 

==§§== 

It really hadn’t been a big deal. Bibi had simply fallen and scraped her knee. Mizuki, in a panic, thought she had needed to rush to get him. Of course, by the time Date arrived, he found Bibi sitting on a curbside, pressing her shirt sleeve, which she pulled over her hand, to the wound, hissing in pain. Mizuki, who had been babbling out excuses and justifications to cover for her sister, relaxed almost immediately when Date explained that the injury was simply nothing to fret over. He disinfected it, bandaged it, and ignored Bibi’s repeated insistence that she was fine as she winced every time a gust of air blew over the raw skin.  

Of course, when he asked Bibi why she didn’t have the knee guards on that he bought her, she hastily said she just didn’t see them on the car seat. They had been by the helmet, Date knew, but he didn’t press. At least she wore the helmet.  

That night, both kids were tuckered out. They got their homework done while Date stayed up late to write a report. Easy stuff, in all fairness. He’d have asked Aiba, who now sat in her charger, to write it, but legally he had to do it himself. The girls, for all the little things he had to keep up with, operated fairly independently. Plus, for all the things Mizuki may not have gotten done on her own, Bibi always was on top of it. They showered; ate dinner, which he ordered because he couldn’t be asked to cook that night; and then the two girls went to bed while Date stayed up to finish his work. Neither seemed to mind his keyboard clacking away, and he had headphones he could use to at least listen to something.  

The problem really came at about 11 PM.  

There were several things he expected and accounted for in the transition from being a bachelor to now the rooming with two kids. The lack of privacy was one he thought he had prepared for, but did not. In his haste to make sure things were OK for the girls, he figured the bathroom would be enough for anything the girls might need to take care of, and felt content that that was enough.  

Bibi was fourteen after all.  

Still, one thing Date did not account for was his own, well, proclivities. He had hidden his porn stash, and that anxiety of them discovering it alone was near maddening, but they were one week in, and Date hadn’t really had any kind of time alone! Sure, now they were asleep. Sure, the kids went to school, but when they had school, he was working. They almost always were home when he was. 

To make matters worse, Mizuki was a light sleeper, so there went mornings to take care of himself, and even now at night nothing was sure. They had not, all this past week, gone back to the Okiura household and he would not have let them if they asked. Not yet.  

As such, it was under this context that, perhaps, when he stood, stretching and yawning from his seat, and saw the two girls lying in bed that a very peculiar feeling overtook him.  

They were sleeping in the way they normally did. Mizuki often slept sandwiched between the wall and Bibi, and Bibi positioned herself accordingly. Most nights, like tonight, Bibi ended up, as the night went on, more and more stretched out from tossing and turning, while Mizuki, as if the exact opposite, curled up into a kind of ball. The bed certainly was too small for them, but they were kids. They could probably sleep on concrete without feeling too sore. Tonight, though, Mizuki slept with the addition of Addorabbit as well.  

His arms fell to his side. His computer he had turned off, leaving only the moonlight and the soft glow of Aiba’s charging station to light the room. Bibi’s hair was a mess, hastily combed after showering, and a pant leg had ridden up at some point to expose the bandage on her knee. One of her arms draped off the bed; the other somehow had worked its way under Mizuki’s head.  

Mizuki, curled up with Addorabbit, seemed totally sound asleep. It didn’t seem like his work had kept her up. All the same, it looked almost as if she was cuddling Bibi as well with how she slept.  

Fuck, why is this so cute, it occurred to him, and then that same flutter he felt earlier in the day paired with a slight warmth in his gut made him realize something was very off about the thought itself. His brows furrowed; his mouth felt dry. The sound of their breathing was not helping matters and he felt like insanity suddenly wanted him in it’s clutches 

What the FUCK, brain?  

Of course, his head said nothing back. It offered no explanation for these sensations, and he couldn’t simply lie to himself and say they were foreign or baseless. 

Alright, Date, cool it. Just dig up one of your mags, go to the bathroom, and calm your jets. This is nothing.  

Right. Nothing. Gotcha. Easy. A man’s got needs and sometimes we don’t think straight when we have a need right? Right. Hungry man gets angry when he doesn’t eat. Same shit.  

God, even with that rationalization, he felt creepy. Thanking Christ that Aiba was not in his skull at the moment, he did just as he told himself. He found a magazine, one he had hidden in his filing cabinet, and went to the bathroom. He’d just have to find a new routine, that’s all. Going a full week without any kind of release does things to a man!  

So, as he locked the door, ran the shower, and got settled, Date put those thoughts aside, absolutely sure he won’t feel them again like the one-time aberration they most certainly without a single doubt were. 

Well, that justification worked for a little while at least.  

Chapter Text

No one ever said it would be easy. This life Bibi chose; this duty Bibi shouldered. No, she knew she would always walk a hard road and life, and she never hated the world for putting her on this path. In fact, the world never forced her to do so. This path, this life, all of it... Her choice to get to where she was now.

Bibi found it oddly empowering after all she went through. Every day that passed, every night. Mizuki, so young as she was, asked less and less about the orphanage she lived in for the first three years of her life. Bibi hesitated to bring it up the greater time that passed. Both at the Okiuras’... and now, here, at Date’s home.

She watched Mizuki since she was only an infant. She still did, and still would. School days, weekends, days off — weeks here at Date’s residence — and she found a kind of Zen watching Mizuki grow. The way the girl did homework and played without the shadow of Shoko hovering over her, Bibi understood this to be something only she would notice the change. Mizuki would never admit to it. Maybe she wouldn’t even notice it with how young she was. Date? He never saw her in the mansion, the way she flinched a little in her mother’s presence, the barely bottled-and-sealed desire to rush and embrace her mother and soak in warmth that would never come.

Not that she liked Date. Or trusted him. The man weirded her out, and not-too-rarely did she stumble on a porn mag or errant internet browser window before Mizuki did. A different kind of danger than Shoko or Chikara, but, at the very least, more manageable. She almost developed a routine about where and when to check for these things! Mizuki ended up none-the-wiser, and while some of the finds were... unsavory... she had seen worse.

Way worse.

She got better at roller-skating. She considered it a sacred ritual, and an odd one to boot. At least once a week she’d duck out, rollerblades in hand, and fly. Not always could Mizuki keep up, so when she did go out to play, she sometimes had to keep close to the apartment just in case. Other times, Mizuki sat on the sidewalk and doodled with chalk, a perfect place to keep her little sister in full view.

Still, she couldn’t always, and sometimes she found herself having to do something she loathed. She had to trust Date to watch her Of course, she’d never leave Mizuki home alone, and the resident pervert clown did an okay job of at least keeping Mizuki safe.

Safe...

Would they ever be...?

Yet, there always felt like there’d be things Bibi didn’t think about and places her mind did not go to freely. Both in her years at Shoko and Renju’s manor and before, she learned very well how to compartmentalize. She didn’t know she had this skill, but a shark doesn’t know it’s an amazing swimmer, and an owl doesn’t know it has better eyesight than most. Sleep, however, has a way of stripping a person’s talents from them. Dreams....

Dark...

Sterile...

Cold...

She knew these sensations.

Stone against feet.... Wailing cries, whirring tools, the smell of pennies and dripping of sticky, hot fluid... Blood...

The scent of expensive cologne and stale breath, the damp air of an underground. Doors. Doors, doors, doors that locked behind her as her bare feet moved on freezing, unrelenting floors.  She felt nothing, not even the clammy hand on her shoulder that she knew to be there.

Scared and alone, she wanted to cry. A rough shove sent her sprawling into a room of shattered children and dead hopes.

“Stay,” his voice rasped.

She watched in horror as the metal door slammed shut, her medical gown failing to keep out the chill. She shook. One child cried in the corner, another laughed in the opposite. Who were they? Faceless. She heard breathing, quick and sharp, before realizing it was her own. Her hair hung in messy, limp waves, sticking to her sweaty face.

“No...” she heard herself say. “N-No not this one. Not again...”

He returned. Large men with thick arms flanked him. They picked her up like a rag doll by both her shoulders, practically dragging her. She didn’t fight. She didn’t scream. She watched the floor move beneath her helplessly, whimpering.

“No... No please... not again.”

She was thrown onto a table so icy her back arched away from it as if bitten. The orderly pushed her back flat against it. Shaking so bad, her teeth were chattering, and she barely had time to register that her arms were being locked down into metal shackles. When she tried to free them, they creaked, but the iron held firm against her strength.

“Stop. STOP! PLEASE!” She finally screamed. “NOT THIS TEST. DON’T!”

Chikara did not listen. He walked to the cabinets and removed something that looked more like a hand drill than a medical instrument. Tears were misting her eyes, and she couldn’t wipe them away.

“I think today we should really stretch the limits of that healing of yours. I’ve got you booked for four whole days! So, let’s not waste it, hmmm?”

Suddenly, he was beside her. The cold metal of the drill bit pressed against her solar plexus. Her medical gown had been pulled up to expose bare skin that the tool threatened to pierce.

Sharp...

She squeezed her eyes shut. The drill creaked. The bit turned. The pain would come soon.

The pain never came. She waited, and she waited, but it didn’t. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and found herself greeted by not unrelenting concrete but, instead, a slightly water-stained ceiling of an old apartment building.

Mizuki warmed her right side; air cooled her left which hung partially out of the blanket. She slowly turned her head to see her sister still fast asleep, the lower half of her face buried into Adorabbit. When she turned the other way, she saw the couch vacant, blanket there tossed aside.

Sleep clouded her brain, so she did not process the absence there. Instead, slowly, she shifted, mindful of Mizuki’s hand that had found its way to rest on Bibi’s belly during sleep. She moved it, and somehow sat up without waking the kid. Only then did she allow herself a shuddering breath, wiping her face with her hand.

Gotta pee...

She got out of bed, flinching as it creaked. Miraculously, Mizuki still slept. Must only selectively be a light sleeper then. Either that, or Date was just loud when he got up at night.

You really don’t remember any of that, huh? She thought to herself, looking at the sleeping girl. Good. She couldn’t ask for a better result.

Moving through the dark, lit enough by outside streetlights and the moon through the wind, she found the bathroom unoccupied. She sat on the seat, warmed by a previous use, and went, head feeling empty and void. Sluggishly, a thought managed to float through it.

Where... the Hell is Date?

What was it? Like 1AM? She flushed, washed her hands, and got out to check. Sure enough, it was actually 1:33AM. Okay, odd but not like scary odd, and since she probably wasn’t going back to sleep, she decided to check outside to see if his car was out there still. She slowly opened the front door, again so very careful not to wake Mizuki, and crept down the apartment complex’s staircase.

Outside, on the second to top step, Date sat.

“Date?” Bibi asked, approaching from behind. He did not jump like she thought he would.

“Mm... Bibi? What are you doing up?” He looked behind at her, showing his eye, but it wasn’t until she sat beside him that she noticed he did not have that weird prosthetic as well. It had a light that glowed faintly, and Date had to charge it sometimes. To Bibi, it seemed excessive, but also couldn’t fully condemn the flair of it. Given that only one of her eyes worked, she might entertain the idea of removing the dud and putting in one that did something neat like that. She'd sometimes wondered what it'd be like to get a prosthetic with a camera in it. Or a flashlight.

Regardless, she did not fail to notice the beer in his hand, the half-finished sixpack beside him, and the discarded cans.

“Bad dream,” she finally answered him. “You?”

“Bad thoughts,” he confessed with a shrug, taking a sip. “Ah... I’m not drunk, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I don’t really care if you are or aren’t. They’re your beers.”

“Wouldn’t you be upset if I drank in front of Mizuki?”

Bibi didn’t answer that. She would, but she couldn’t call Date out for a few beers when Shoko would have glasses of wine. At least Date had the decency to drink at bars most of the time.

“Why aren’t you at Marble’s?” Bibi asked. She knew of the place from Renju and Date both.

“Broke,” he said, taking another sip. He stared down at the can after as if wishing it to be something better. “Eh, I have enough money, but not enough to justify drinking.”

“Renju usually pay your tab or something?”

“Pay my... You’re a little young to know how bars work.”

Bibi’s turn to shrug.

“Eh, forget it. Sometimes, yeah,” Date said. Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his head, stammering for words. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“It?”

“The dream.”

“Oh. Not really,” she said, voice shrinking in her throat more than she preferred.

“You can if you want. I can keep secrets, you know? And I doubt there’s much you can say that would surprise me.”

If only you knew... she thought, shoving her hands between her thighs for warmth and shivering a little. The night was cool, and she wasn’t dressed for it.

“The stuff I see,” Date said. “Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with this job. Takes a strong stomach which I didn’t even know I had till I started.”

“Police, yeah? I’m sure you’ve seen a lot. That why you drink? To forget that stuff?”

“That’s a tough question.” He took a large sip this time and set the can down. It clinked emptily against the concrete step. He reached for the sixpack, grabbed his fourth, and broke it from the plastic ring. It hissed as he cracked it open, and the scent of cheap beer came through to Bibi on the night air. “I wouldn’t say forget. I’ll still remember everything tomorrow. Not even getting black-out can make you forget the whole day, and I’m not getting that bad on just this. Nah, I’m just thinking. The beer gives me something to do with my hands.”

She heard that and nodded. It seemed reasonable enough. She’d never drank before, so she could hardly even know how much would get a person drunk. Bibi understood the need to fidget though, to get something moving in your hands to keep your brain steady.

“So, what happened?” she asked. A car passed, rumbling by. A beat later, a man trudged by, hands in his pockets, head down.

“I thought I was the one asking you questions,” Date said. “You hardly need to hear me bitch.”

She looked at him. Quickly, she caught his eye flick away, and the beer can rose to his lips.

“It’d help me to hear something else,” she confessed. “Don’t care what. Something else.”

Date didn’t speak for a moment, watching traffic and people pass. A city never really rested. Not many places did nowadays. There were always some businesses open this late that needed employees, customers who used those businesses, and the otherwise sleepless.

“Sorry,” Date apologized. “Picking my words here. Only so much I can say to anyone about my work and add on top the filter I need to have when telling a kid.”

“I can handle it.”

“Pardon if I don’t fully believe it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. Sure, she was only fourteen, but even still, it felt bad to be treated with safety gloves. Who was he to do that after so long of no one bothering to do so? Ah, but the anger faded fast. He didn’t know. “Then try me. Ease me into it.”

Date nodded. “We’ll see.” He drank, and then spoke of his day. He never had before, not in these weeks they’d spent with him. Work was work, house was house, and Date didn’t care to mix the two where the girls could see. Bibi knew he had files on his computer though. She had seen pinned images and scribbled notes come and go from the cork board. She knew already he didn’t sit around checking for speeders, and, out of an abundance of caution, had not dug deeper.

“I work for a department of the police I won’t name,” Date spoke.

“Mysterious.”

Date let out an amused breath. “I don’t trust you with a search engine.”

“Fair.”

“All the same, I work in a department that specializes in... trickier cases. Murders, serial killers, and… other… stuff...”

“Rapists?” She asked point blank. She’d show him just how little innocence she had left if he needed that knowledge to say his story true.

Date just winced. “Not your run-of-the-mill kind, no,” he said, shifting uncomfortably. She could see his eye look for ways to break from this subject. He found no offramp. “The more organized kind, I suppose. The kind the beat cops aren’t equipped to catch or find. Those sorts... Very little of my work is pretty, but my boss saved my ass by getting me this job, and I’m damn good at it.”

She couldn’t tell if that brag was one of his hollow ones meant to impress her or truthful, so she didn’t put much weight into it by default.

“Today, some might say, sucked the big one.”

“Perp got away?”

“Perp got arrested. Along with... Shit, Bibi, I’d hesitate to tell a fucking adult this, and you’re--”

“What did you find? Bodies? Alive? Dead? Dismembered?”

Date looked at her, eye wide in shock and maybe even horror. She stared back at him persistently. He broke first and took a huge gulp of beer. The calculations were recalculating in his head.

“Yes,” he said after a pause.

“Yes?”

“Yes. All of the above.”

“What... the fuck?”

“Two women,” he said solemnly. “Both alive. One missing an arm,” his eye rolled up to look at the cloudy sky, recollecting. He swayed only slightly. “Don’t know where the limb went. There was a... Erm... A little girl. Dead. All of it in this constructed bunker his kept in his backyard. It...” He opened his mouth to say more, then closed it. His gaze fell, his eye squeezing shut as if pained. He drank more and then more and more until nothing remain in the can.

“FUCK!” He screamed, hurting the can into the street.

“You’ll wake Mizuki,” Bibi said, nonplussed. Date looked guilty though, so she added, “So, he raped them, right? He’s one of those serial killers?”

Date looked haunted in a way Bibi didn’t quite understand. “Shouldn’t you be used to this?” she followed-up, pressing her luck. “Like, you see this shit all the time, right? Oh, can I have last one?” She pointed at the beer as Date reached for the pack.

“Fuck no,” Date said opening the beer he took. Bibi sulked a little. “And I thought I was. Today surprised me. That’s all. I’ll be right as rain in the morning.”

“So, you arrested him. That’s good right? You did a good thing. I’m sure it feels shitty cause a kid died and the others were hurt bad, but... It’s done.”

He didn’t respond. She found that odd.

“It is done, right?”

“Huh? Yeah. I suppose. Guy is in prison till his case goes to court. Yeah. Done.” Date shook his head. “Anyway, why am I telling you this?”

“Cause I asked suuuper nicely.” She put on her fakest smile.

“You didn’t even do that.”

“I dunno, but it’s not really an issue that you told me about it. I’m not sleeping tonight anyway. Plus, I’ve seen horror movies. I know about true crime stuff. I’ve read books.” I’ve been tortured by a pervert in a laboratory. “That shit won’t scare me.”

“Kids these days,” he snarked.

She sat beside him a moment longer, listening to the night, but eventually the cold made the decision to stay difficult. “I should make sure Mizuki isn’t awake,” Bibi mumbles and stands.

“Yeah, I’ll be up in a bit.”

She takes a step, then pauses, looking down at the man hunched over his beer. “Thanks, Date.”

He looked up at her, surprised. “For?”

“Talking? I guess? I dunno. Helped a little though. Don’t get arrested for drinking in public.”

He turned back to the street, waving her off. “Finally, some respect. Trust me, I’ll be fine.” Bibi couldn’t help but smirk a little as she jogged back into the apartment, closing the door behind her.

==§§==

The cold didn’t really bother Date all that much. He felt it, sure, and ass was going numb where he sat, but he didn’t really care. Or rather, he felt it was a necessary penance. As he drank, the night returning to the steady sounds of usual city fare, he focused on the discomfort instead of his thoughts.

How much do you tell a way-too-world-wise 14-year-old though?

He knew at the very least what not to say. He didn’t tell her what the police found on the man’s hard drive. He didn’t tell her about the three bodies the police knew were in the woods outside the city, nor did he say the exact ages of the victims. He didn’t describe *how* the ones he killed died... He didn’t mention the rape — she did but he didn’t —, and he didn’t mention that the monster actually had been in their custody before the victims were found.

The killer and rapist had been waking up from a drugged-out sleep induced so Date could prowl around in head when he formally was arrested for the charges.

In dreams, he found the address where the body and two living victims were: a mother and a waitress at the local burger place.

The deceased child belonged to the former.

In that sick fuck’s head, he found the site of the forest or, at least, good enough guess that dogs and a good crew could find them. His brain refused to speculate further on what would be found there. He knew enough.

And of the hard drive? Need he even think more on what was on it? He didn’t envy the evidence department that would have to pull the data.

“Stupid. Stupid fucking day,” he kicked a can, sending it skittering on the pavement. “Stupid fucking Date.”

He’d seen sick fucks. He’d seen bodies of the young and old, gruesome sights that actually, successfully made him puke. He didn’t even vomit this time! Okay, maybe he got close, but all the same the scene itself could have been of greater horror. It was that Somnium that fucked him up. That stupid, stupid Somnium. Because in that guy’s head, nothing reflected the reality of the situation. The victims, the locations, the harm, none of it matched the truth. His head was planted so far into a fantasy that it almost dragged Date down with it.

He could go into detail. He could’ve told Bibi every last ounce of it, but he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he did. The feelings he got in his chest and heart during the Psync struck too close to home. The man loved but his love burned selfishly, cruelly, and evilly. It filled Date with shame because in some ways, he understood? Yet, in that dream, Date wasn’t looking at his reflection, but something else entirely.

Two people can exist with something alike, but neither would respond to it the same. It’s the cocktail soup of emotions, life, choices, memories, habits, the people you knew, and maybe even genes.

Choices

What would be his?

He had hoped jerking off would shut his traitorous brain up. Weeks and weeks of these strange feelings in his chest, and this one took the cake. Turned out tonight's round of self-pleasure resembled more self-punishment, and so he finished, grabbed a sixpack, and drank.

The criminal's decent into depravity began with his own daughter. Date didn’t think he felt now what that man felt when he did what he did, but all the same. All the fucking same. He chugged down his last beer and stood.

He would not find out if his slippery slope took him to the same Hell. He was Kaname Date. He was going to do good. He would make sure those girls in his apartment got better than they have. They would stay as long as they needed, and when they leave, they’ll remember him as “Stupid, Pervert Date” but also as “An adult who actually gave a shit.”

He was under no delusions. He wasn’t father material. Hell, he never claimed to be their father in the first place. But if the line for keeping things from getting worse for those two was “Don’t be Renju. Don’t be Shoko. And do not fucking be like the sick bastard you put in prison,” he could get over it.

“Good start, Date,” he told himself sarcastically as he swung inside. The door shut behind him, and he took a moment to reinforce himself against it. “Telling a fourteen-year-old about a child murdering rapist. Goooooood start.” Well, he couldn’t always be a winner.

He had a lot of learning to do.

Chapter Text

Date’s Ford Falcon purred as it made its way on the highway, navigating the light traffic on the road. The girl next to Date said nothing as she hugged the backpack on her lap.

She sniffled.

“You don’t need to pout,” Date said, the car hitting a bump and rocking them in their seats.

Mizuki didn’t respond, her eyes locked straight ahead. She looked serious, like a girl on a mission.  Date sighed, fingers tapping on the steering wheel.

Obviously being the temporary guardian of two girls did not go without its hiccups, but he nearly had a heart attack when he received a call from the school while at work anyway. Did something happen? Was one of the kids sick? Was there a fight? Did someone get in trouble?

“Your teacher wasn’t amused by the stunt you pulled,” Date said. Wasn’t that the right thing to do? He was supposed to scold her. Surely that’s what his parents would’ve done if he could remember them.  

Still, no response from Mizuki.

“Ignoring the teacher? Ignoring the principal? Till your demands were met? I expected that from Bibi, but from you? What were you thinking?”

What indeed….

==§§==

Mizuki didn’t know what had come over her. One moment she was just going through the motions, her day in school much like any other.

Then, something coursed through her suddenly, out of nowhere, without reason.

It was why she refused to speak now, in the car with Date. While the scowl on his face intimidated her less than it would have months ago, she still felt guilty. She caused him trouble, making him leave work to pick her up from the principal’s office when it became clear that the thing bothering her would not just go away. Because, in the end, it struck her without reason.

She needed to see Daddy.

Not her Mommy, her Daddy. The yearning suddenly to see him, to talk to him. Something felt deeply, terribly wrong in her chest, and only he could untangle the mess that engulfed her heart in the middle of class.

She wished there was a trigger to all this she could identify. She wracked her brain for one even now. Did someone start talking about their family? Did someone mention Father’s Day or did the story they were reading excerpts from mention “Home?”

No to all of these. It hit her out of nowhere, and the fact that she had no reasoning made her certain she could not explain it to the adults around her. They always wanted answers. She had none. One moment things were stable, then it all went wonky.

“You know he’s at work, right?” Date said.

She did.

“What am I going to tell him? That I took you out of school just to see him?”

Seeing him scramble for words from her made her feel even more guilty. She shrugged.

“You know he’s busy…”

Mizuki mumbled. “I know….”

Date paused, likely stunned to hear her speak. “W-What?”

“I know! I know, alright!” She shouted. “I know that he’s busy, but I want to see him. I need to see him.” Her fingers clutched tight on her backpack.

She entertained the notion that maybe she wanted to see Renju so badly because it had been so long. The last time she’d seen him had been a quick visit to the school where he picked her up and brought her to Date’s house about two weeks ago. The ride had been quiet and short, with a gift of chocolates that felt more obligatory than genuine.

Mizuki was nearly nine years old, but even she could sense the awkward tension between her and Daddy since this move happened. She knew it was his idea. He knew she knew.

Mizuki wished she knew if she was angry or not over it… She knew she still loved him though, and she ate all the chocolates when she got home.

Still, this wasn’t the reason she had gotten in trouble at school and had Date take her to see him. It too did not sit right as an explanation for it all. Again, this inexplicable urge to see Daddy was just that, random, unexplained.

Date sighed in the way she knew he would.

Mizuki shrank a little, holding her backpack tighter and tighter.

“I’m not mad…”

Mizuki didn’t believe him.

Date paused. She noticed he did that often, sometimes going suddenly quiet, gaze becoming fixed inward. It was hard to explain, but it was different than regular quiet.

“I promise I’m not,” he finally said after a moment, then sighed again. He ran a hand through his hair, and then brough it down to tap once more on the wheel. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.”

“You think so?” Mizuki relaxed a little, looking at Date hopefully.

“I know so. The Renju I know loves you. He just might be a bit busy at work, so don’t be surprised if it’s not a long visit.”

Mizuki smiled a little now, hope fluttering in her chest. Quickly, she shook her head. “That’s OK. Thank you, Date.”  

“Yeah, yeah, it’s no problem. Got me out of work anyway.”

“Did you get in trouble?”

“From my boss? Maybe. We’ll have to see tomorrow, but that’s OK. It isn’t tomorrow yet, and I’m sure I can come up with some sob story about my roommate being sick or something. That’ll pull at her heartstrings. How about you? Are you prepared to tell Bibi about all this?”

Mizuki paused, looking out the window. “I… dunno… I don’t think she wanted to see Daddy, so I don’t think she’d mind if I went to see him without her, but…”

But what if this didn’t go well…

She shook her head to free herself of the thought. Of course, it would. She was her Daddy’s daughter. Of course, he’d want to see her!

It wasn’t only that though. As the months had passed living with Date, Bibi had gotten more and more free with her words. They made Mizuki nervous in ways the girl couldn’t explain.

“I forgot I don’t have fucking Shoko breathing down my neck anymore,” she heard Bibi say once, or “Don’t worry Date, at least you’re materially present, unlike a certain father figure I know of,” another time. All of these she’d say when she thought Mizuki wasn’t listening…

But Mizuki was. She listened and she heard. She heard Bibi curse about Mommy and Daddy or Date mutter things exasperatingly about them when he looked really stressed out (especially about Renju). She listened and she absorbed, and yes, she knew she was missing something. There were things that those two never told her. There were phone calls Date would make to Daddy that he wouldn’t tell her about, and the times she overheard conversations between Bibi and Date never felt the same as conversations between Mizuki and her.

Bibi, simply put, seemed to grow more comfortable with the situation. Date tried to be more accommodating as time passed, and that worked for Bibi, but for Mizuki? It left a lingering question, an itch she couldn’t scratch.

When was she heading home?

Days passed. Weeks passed. Months! She’d spoken to Mommy on the phone, she’d seen Daddy pick her up from school, and every time she expected to hear it:

“You’ll come home next week. Mommy and Daddy are doing better, you’ll be home soon.”

She needed them. She felt that in her chest, and it ached every time she thought about the whole situation. Why couldn’t anyone see that she needed them?

It left her with too many feelings, more than her small heart could bear. She didn’t want to hate Date. She didn’t want to feel jealous of her sister who seemed to be thriving. But Mizuki felt she was withering.

Date’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts. “I don’t mind lying and saying you were feeling sick,” Date offered.

“Huh?” Mizuki squinted, trying to figure out what he was talking about.

“If you think Bibi would be upset? This visit could stay just between us. I don’t mind.”

“Ah.” It snapped into place, bringing with it a new moral dilemma. Lie to Bibi? When was the last time she did that? But if it would upset Bibi to hear that Mizuki wanted to go see Renju, after her older sister finding this energy that Mizuki had never seen in her before, then should… should she?

Mizuki bit her lip.

“Think on it.” Date said, swinging the steering wheel. He looked behind it, turned the wheel again while the car reversed, and then parked. “We’re here.”

Mizuki opened the door. “Can I leave my backpack in your car?” she asked, setting it on the floor.

“Sure, I’ll lock the doors this time.”

She paused. “This time?”

Date got out, laughing nervously. “Yeah... Anyway, it’ll be fine.” He pressed a button, and the locks clicked down. The keys jingled as he slipped them into his coat pocket, but Mizuki eyed him warily.

What a mess... she thought.

While Lemniscate was in the middle of everything in the city, a business district usually bustling, this afternoon they found traffic and crowds manageable. Everyone was either in school or at work, and now the city calmed just that little bit. They entered the building, it’s cool AC making stark difference to the outside.

“Can I help you?”

There was a woman behind the desk, mousy looking with brown hair. Besides her, however, the place was empty and quiet. Date blinked and then cleared his throat.

“Excuse me?” he said, approaching the desk. Mizuki had been here before. She had even seen this woman before, yet still she felt nervous enough to hang back just a bit. It felt like she was doing something wrong, and, technically, she was. She skipped school to be here. She felt a rush, wondering how Daddy would react.

She hoped he wouldn’t yell at her. At least, that’s what she told herself. However, wouldn’t that also be the normal thing to do? Wouldn’t a parent scold their child for what she did?

To her, that also seemed normal, and she prepared herself for that alternative as well. That would be OK. She just... She just needed to see him.

“Yes?” The woman asked, not looking at them. Instead, she punched away at her keyboard.

“We’re here to see Renju?” Date said. “Renju Okiura?”

“Do you have an appointment?”

Date sighed. “No but tell him his daughter wants to see him.”

That got her attention. Curiously, she peaked over her glasses at the two of them, paused, recognition flickering in the woman’s eyes as she saw Mizuki, and then hummed.

“I see... One moment.”

Mizuki watched with bated breath as the secretary picked up the phone and pressed a number. A moment. Then two.

“Hi, yes.... Yes, I have some guests here for Mr. Okiura?”

A pause, the sound of muffled speaking from the phone. It sounded like a woman’s voice...

“It’s his daughter.” The secretary said. Another pause followed.

“Right. Right.... Okay. I’ll let them know. Thank you.”

The phone clicked as she set it down, and she turned to them with a smile that Mizuki knew was all performance. She didn’t understand why the woman bothered now of all times to be friendly. Perhaps simply to hide how annoyed she was.

“Renju is in a meeting at the moment,” said the secretary. “If you’d like to take a seat, I’m sure he’ll be ready to see you shortly after, alright?”

“You spoke to him, right?” Date asked, although he must’ve known full well that she didn’t.

“To his assistant,” she replied. “Like I said, he’s in a meeting.”

Mizuki understood. That was fine. Meetings were important. The last thing she wanted to do was to cause a huge scene and interrupt something crucial.

“Date,” she whispered, tugging on his coat. “It’s OK. Let’s just wait...”

He looked down at her, taking a moment to confirm something on her face, although she couldn’t quite read what. He did that thing where he was oddly quiet for a time, almost as if he were looking through her, not at her.

“I know, I know. I’m sure he’s very busy.” he said, but for some reason, Mizuki didn’t think he was talking to her. She cocked her head.

“Forget it. Come on. We can wait. I got alllll day.” Together, they left the receptionist to what surely was a very busy day.

“Were you talking to yourself?” Mizuki asked as they said across from each other. Her legs didn’t quite reach the ground from the sofa she sat on, and she kicked them idly.

“Huh?”

“You do that sometimes,” she said. Date took a seat, lounging with a grunt. “You’ll talk to yourself.”

“Oh, uh...” Date scratched his chin. “I do, do I?”

“Yeah. You’ll like... argue to yourself. I mean, sometimes Bibi does too, but yours is weirder.”

“How’s it weirder?” Date said, getting defensive.

“I dunnoooo,” she shrugged. “Bibi does it when she’s planning and stuff. You just kinda start talking to yourself out of nowhere. It’s weird.”

“Is not. Talking to yourself is totally normal.”

“Not the way you do it...” she mumbled, crossing her arms.

“Hey now, I...” Then Date stopped, he looked at her, grinning. “Why are you so talkative all of a sudden?”

Mizuki blushed. She couldn’t help it, but she immediately felt the heat rise on her cheeks. “I-I dunno,” she said, looking to the floor. “Just... nervous.”

“Nerves huh? Well, I’m not complaining I suppose, although it’s a shame that the only time you’ve been talkative is to—”

The door opened. Both Date and Mizuki looked to it. Out of it, two women, both looking no older than 20, came out chatting and laughing.

“See you tomorrow!” One said to the secretary, who waved unenthusiastically at them as they departed. Date and Mizuki slunk in their seats.

“Right,” Date murmured.

Mizuki said nothing, disappointment settling roughly in her stomach. Just a little longer. He’d be here in a little bit to see her.

And so, she waits. They wait. They wait, and wait, and wait. Date is quiet. Painfully quiet. He seemed almost lost in his own head.

Mizuki wished she could do the same, but the anxiety that gnawed at her gut kept her from zoning out like he seemed so easily capable of doing. She didn’t like the Lemniscate office all that much. This was hardly the first time she’d been here, and she always found it intimidating. There was a kind of formality to it that made things feel too sterile, like she was intruding in on a place children don’t belong, even though Daddy said he helps make videos that a lot of teenagers watch.

Whether due to the stiffness of the sofas, the mostly quiet reception area populated only by the sound of the secretary working, the repetitious flickering of the ads on the tv, or the confusingly abstract art on the wall, she didn’t find comfort here. Yet, this is where Daddy spent most of his time! Even before she moved in with Date, chances are you’d find him here or in one of his other businesses he ran.

Always busy...

Another group left, a handful of men in suits. Maybe from the meeting, Mizuki hoped, and yet still they waited. She started getting nervous. If Daddy took too much longer, then Bibi might get home before she did! How would she explain any of this...

You could lie...

She wanted to groan in dismay.

“Ah, I see...”

Mizuki’s head shot up at the voice she’d recognize anywhere.

“Daddy!” Mizuki exclaimed, running up to hug him. She pulled short, realizing he had something to his ear... his phone. Her arms, which she had open, pulled close to her chest, and she waited. And waited....

He held out a hand to her, signaling her to be patient. She could be patient. Date stood slowly, walking over to stand behind her. He looked oddly annoyed.

“Yes. No, I said I needed that yes—…” Renju’s brows furrowed. “No! Yesterday! Get it on my desk by the end of today, alright? Look, I have to go. Yup. Yup, I’ll see you Thursday. Alright. Bye.”

With a groan and pinching the bridge of his nose, he hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket. When his eyes opened again, his gaze drifted from Mizuki to Date.

“She should be in school.”

“She wanted to see you,” Date said defensively, gesturing back at his daughter. Mizuki shifted. This wasn’t quite going how she envisioned.

“Well, that’s,” Renju said, twisting a wristwatch around his wrist. “That’s nice.” Crouching, he got down to Mizuki’s eye level and after a pause, he held out his arms. Mizuki hesitated, then stepped forward, embracing Daddy.

The hug felt off as she hugged him back, almost as if he wasn’t used to them. Stiff would be the word, mechanical another. Yet, familiar. This was her father’s hug.

He broke it off, just a bit too quick.

“Did something happen at school?” he asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“N-No, just...”

“Then why the surprise visit?”

Mizuki opened her mouth, remembered no one would believe the real, spur of the moment reason, shut it, and then shrugged. “I just missed you.”

“Ah, but we just saw each other.”

“That.... was two weeks ago, Daddy,” Mizuki said, smiling a little. “That’s a long time.”

“Ah! Of course. How the time flies when you’re busy.” Suddenly, the phone rang in his pocket. Renju winced, and Mizuki’s chest clamped tight a bit. “One moment.”

He stood, pulling out his phone. He looks at it, pauses, and looks at Mizuki. Holding out a finger, he signals her to wait one moment. For some reason, she really did not feel surprised in the least, and she nodded, taking a step back.

“I mean, I guess...” Date said. “Doesn’t mean I like it...”

Mizuki looked up at him. “Are you talking to me?”

“Ignore me,” he said quickly, eyes locked on Renju.

The call was quick, or Renju made it quick. He hung up, and he turned like nothing happened.

“So,” he said. “I know your birthday is coming up. Is there anything you want?”

The question caught Mizuki off guard. “I... I told you that, I thought.... T-Two weeks ago?”

“Did you?” Renju asked. “I don’t recall. Are you sure?”

“I...” Mizuki hesitated, looking to the ground. “I... Um, maybe I misremember. It’s OK. W-We can just have a party with Bibi and Mommy, and I think that’d be really nice.” ‘

“Ah, a party. That might be...”

Mizuki looked up, shocked.

“Might be difficult to schedule,” Renju said slowly. Date sighed behind Mizuki. “I mean, we can definitely have a party! It just might be hard to find a day. Maybe it’ll be a surprise and...”

“I-It’s fine. I... I also like Addorabbit stuff,” Mizuki said hesitantly. She wanted a party but... But if it was too hard to schedule one, maybe she could help her Daddy out and make things easier. “A-Addorabbit merch o-or...”

“You know,” Date suddenly interrupted. “Renju, Mizuki is doing really well in her science classes.”

Mizuki blushed. She was doing fine, but it wasn’t like science was hard. Most of her classes weren’t... It almost didn’t feel worth mentioning, although Daddy would often ask how she was doing. Her Mommy would too. Daddy always seemed surprised about the news, but Mommy always said she expected nothing less. In that way, Mizuki felt grateful that school felt as easy as it was. If she struggled like some of the other kids, she would hate to disappoint Mommy.

“Yes?” Renju said. “That’s wonderful to hear but I...”

Date groaned. “One sec, Mizuki. Come here, Renju.”

Date went over, and took his friend’s shoulder, pulling him to the side. Mizuki couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion as Date began muttering to Renju. Her Daddy nodded. Date muttered more intensely.

Thankfully, they didn’t spend that long muttering. Mizuki was beginning to feel self-conscious, and she regretted having ever entertained the birthday idea. She knew Renju was busy, and her mother was too. Apparently, she too had been setting up some business interests, just like Daddy, and surely that would keep her just as busy.

Renju put a finger to his chin, nodding as Date returned to where he stood before, behind Mizuki.

Then, Renju’s phone rang again.

“Sorry, I need to take this.” Yet, when he did, Renju’s face quickly turned serious. He listened for a long time, nodding much as he did when Date had pulled him aside.

“I’ll be there. In a moment, yes. Alright. Thanks for letting me know,” he concluded and hung up. “Mizuki, Daddy’s gotta go. Will you be alright?”

Mizuki hesitated. Will she? Sure, she was stuck living with a man who was clumsy and sometimes forgot to stock the fridge with actual food that wasn’t snacks, but on the other hand... she had her sister. It wasn’t like she’d never see Daddy or Mommy again... She could hold out.

Still, she wanted this to be more. The hole that she felt in her heart that triggered all this still felt empty and achy.

Mizuki nodded. “Yeah.”

Renju looked up to Date. “I’ll see you around, OK? Maybe we should go grab a few beers sometime?”

“I’d like that,” Date said.

“And you be good for Date,” Renju told Mizuki, putting an affectionate hand on her head. She smiled at him.

“He makes it difficult,” she muttered. “Bibi makes fun of him all the time, and it’s funny.”

“R-Right. Bibi,” Renju said, looking a touch pale.

“An absolute menace,” Date grumbled. “Don’t take after her, Mizuki.”

Mizuki couldn’t help it. She chuckled under her breath. Renju visibly relaxed a little, shaking his head. “Well, it was nice seeing you both. Take care, OK?”

“See ya, Renju.” Date waved.

“Bye, Daddy,” Mizuki said reluctantly.

He left, giving them one last wave before departing, leaving the two of them alone with only the receptionist at her desk.

“We should get back home,” Date said.

Mizuki’s eyes were locked on the door her father had left through. She nodded but did not look away. How wrong this all felt.

“Mizuki?”

She turned, paused, then started walking to the exit.

“H-Hey! Wait up!” Date called out behind her, stumbling to catch up. Mizuki slowed, letting him get in front of her, and then continued.

“Are you OK?” he asked.

“I... I’m OK,” she said, lying just a little. She thought she might be OK, but she wasn’t sure. The way this went, it went nothing like she’d hoped, and yet went exactly as could be expected when she dropped in unannounced to Daddy’s workplace.

They made their way to the car in quiet, Date flashing occasional concerned looks her way.

He sighed as they sat in the car. The engine purred, but Date didn’t pull the car out. Instead, he looked out the front window. Mizuki wished they’d just leave. Why did he look so concerned? He shouldn’t. It wasn’t like he was her dad or anything.

“Mizuki...”

“Can we go home?” She said softly. “Thank you for taking me to see Daddy.”

Date didn’t respond at first, hand tapping on the steering wheel. Then, suddenly, he shifted the car and pulled out.

She felt guilty suddenly as they drove in quiet. Every flick of Date’s eye to her, every let out of breath, every failed start to words she could only presume would be an attempt at comfort annoyed her, which she knew wasn’t fair. It... it felt like Date was encroaching on territory that wasn’t his, and yet, it belonged to no one. He was trying to fill a void she purposefully was leaving empty.

All she knew was it had something to do with Daddy, and the way that Daddy seemed so far away today. But how? She didn’t know. She wanted to be home. Home with Addorabbit and Bibi. She didn’t want to think about her birthday or whether or not she’d get a party at all.

She wanted to go home, wherever that was.

“Date,” she said hesitantly.

“Yes?” He answered a bit too quickly. She almost retreated back to her shell, afraid she might say too much, but she took a deep breath and pressed on.

“If Bibi asks, can we tell her I wasn’t feeling good?”

She decided then and there that this wasn’t a lie. She wasn’t feeling good, and must not have been feeling all that well to start with. Something had been wrong with her today to have thought this in anyway was a good idea, and she needed rest.

“Sure, Mizuki. This will stay just between us.”

==§§==

She did get a party of sorts.

Her, Bibi, Renju, and Date all went out to for ramen. Mommy didn’t come. Apparently, as she managed to piece together from vague answers from Daddy, her and Daddy got in a fight about something, and she decided to stay home.

She got a gift too from Daddy. Not what she expected. She thought, maybe, she’d get Addorabbit merch or something similar to that.

No.

Instead, she got a big, thick book full of illustrations and information on animals ranging from mammals to amphibians to birds. The images were gorgeous. She couldn’t help but flip through it even during their meal.

In the days that followed, she’d flip through the book, looking at the images in their photographic detail, wondering at why her Daddy picked this book out of any gift.

One day though she thought she figured out why, and it all came back to the day at Lemniscate. The muttering.

“Hey, Mizuki,” Date had said, approaching her on a weekend as she “You’ve been looking at that one book all this time; we can like... go to the library and see if we can find others you know?”

She looked up at him then, noticing the hesitancy. He had been looking at her reading earlier. She had noticed, no doubt about that, and wondered why. He always looked at her in this weird way, as if she was delicate, as if he had to walk on nails around her.

It was, frankly, kind of stupid.

Still, the way he asked then, she knew then why. She wasn’t really sure if she was dying to go to the library, but she could tell it mattered to him, to find something more that she liked.

She nodded, flipped open her book, and turned a chunk of pages. “Sure, we can go,” she said. “Can we get more books on these?”

She pointed, and her finger rested on an image of strange, angle-like sea slug: a Clione.

Chapter Text

“I’m going to kill them!”

Date turned to Bibi. “No killing!”

“WHY NOT?!”

“YOU CAN’T KILL NINE YEAR OLDS!”

“Guys…. Guys! GUYS!” Mizuki screamed from her seat on the bed, hugging herself. “Quit it! Now!”

They both turned to Mizuki, making her flinch in her seat. “Just…” Her voice dropped in volume, and her eyes looked away from them. Ashamed. That’s what she felt. “Just… can we let it go?”

“Let it go?” Bibi said incredulously, although she had finally stopped yelling. “Mizuki, look at you.”

She knew what she looked like. One of the first things she saw after getting in a fight with those boys was her face in the mirror propped up in the nurse’s office, and Mizuki had two major thoughts about it.

First of all, Mizuki wished she had some of the concealer she used to use back when she lived with her Mommy and Daddy. This instinct was habitual, the desire to hide markings and avoid the drama they caused. However, since she moved in with Date, she had not had a need for it. Bibi never hit her to correct her, and Date certainly did not either. After all, as he had explained before, her Mommy hitting her was part of the reason she stayed with Date in the first place. So, she didn’t really have any more to use. Besides, she wouldn’t have brought it to school…

Mizuki’s second thought was that those boys were in danger. Not from her, no. She never threw a punch in that “fight.” No, Mizuki worried about Bibi.

Maybe if she had some makeup, she could hide the swelling and bruising. Maybe she could have kept Bibi calmer, preventing this exact response Bibi now gave…

“Can you please just explain why this happened,” Date said, snapping her back into the present, back into the apartment with its dim light, brick walls, and unplaceable smell. “You just kept mumbling something about my intelligence the whole car ride whenever I asked.”

Mizuki squirmed on the bed.

Date continued. “Something along the lines of ‘stupid, Date…’ or something like that if I recall correctly, which I’ll have you know that my job requires a certain degree of intelligence that I happen to possess and—”

“That wasn’t what I said.”

Bibi nudged Date, eliciting a yelp of pain from him. He looked at her like she had not just simply nudged him but full on elbowed him to the bone, before turning his attention back to Mizuki. “What?”

“That wasn’t what I said, Date.”

“I heard you the first time, but…”

“I said ‘It’s stupid, Date.’ It’s stupid. The reason. It’s stupid. It’s stupid, stupid, stupid!”

Date looked, mouth agape, and Bibi’s expression softened.

Bibi’s gaze always held a unique quality to it that Mizuki knew to look for. She saw mostly out of one eye, the other bad. The only way to tell, though, would be if either if she told you, if you were able to pick up on the slight discoloring of the eye which many would attribute to a trick of the light, or, ultimately, if you were Mizuki and knew to look for how the way Bibi looked at you differed from anyone else. Through years and years of being together, she knew Bibi was only really looking at her through her right eye. The left eye moved, but it did not see.

 She wanted Bibi to calm down. As much as Bibi cared for Mizuki, Mizuki cared back, and she knew if Bibi got so fired up to want to confront those boys, Bibi’s heart…

Mizuki shook her head and broke her eyes from Bibi’s.

“It doesn’t even matter if it’s stupid,” Bibi said. “They could have started a fight over what day of the week it is, and I’d still care.”

“Exactly,” Date added. “I mean, come on, are you going to tell me you started it?”

“What if I did?”

“Wait, seriously?!” Bibi’s eyes went wide.

“No…” Mizuki mumbled. “I wish I did, but I didn’t. They… They found out.”

Mizuki gulped. God, why was this so hard? She wanted to tell them, hated dancing around this truth, but at the same time it felt like such a dumb reason for a fight. It felt like she was causing everyone trouble.

“Mizuki...” Date began. And that was enough. She was tired of hearing her name, tired of hearing Date say it in such a sad, pitiful way.

“It’s because I live here, alright?” she said quickly. “It’s because I don’t live at home with Mommy and Daddy like the other kids do. They found out and thought it was funny, so funny that they started teasing me about it. And when I didn’t think it was funny, they started pushing me. They pushed me, then punched me, then kicked me, then the teacher came, and now I’m home early all because I live with you.”

“You didn’t punch back, right?” Bibi said while Date seemed to be processing this information.

“Huh? No… I was too afraid.”

Bibi let out a breath, sounding almost relieved, but Date’s eyebrows furrowed. “Well, that won’t do,” he said.

““What?”” Both Mizuki and Bibi said at the same time.

“I said that won’t do.” He stood from where he’d been crouched and began to pace back and forth. “I mean, I can’t help but feel responsible.”

“Why?” Mizuki asked. “It’s not like you told them to do that.”

“No, but it’s because you’re living here, isn’t it? And who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

Bibi stiffened. “Which is why I should be allowed to take care of this.”

“Elementary school children are brutal, Bibi,” Date said in a tone boarding on the dramatic. “If someone takes this fight for Mizuki, she’ll only get bullied worse!”

Bibi frowned. “I… I don’t know…”

“Which is why…” Date grinned, hitting his fist into the palm of his other hand. “I’m going to help. Mizuki, I’m going to teach you how to fight back!”

There was nothing but silence in the room. Date froze in his place, waiting for some reaction… Any reaction.

“Pffft…” Bibi snorted… then guffawed… then straight up howled with laughter as she cracked bit by bit. “YOU?! Teach someone how to FIGHT?!”

Mizuki, following Bibi’s lead, even chuckled a little into her hand, but at the same time, she wondered. The image in her head of that moment when those boys threw their punches… what would have happened if she punched back?

“Hey. I told you before, I can fight. I know martial arts!”

“I doubt that.” Bibi countered. “Look, I think the best thing we do is we—”

“Wouldn’t I get in trouble if I punched back?” Mizuki asked suddenly, leaning forward.

“I mean sure, at school you’d get in trouble,” Date said. “I’d take you out for ramen though.”

“Hey, let’s not be too hasty here,” Bibi stepped forward. Date ignored her.

“It’s all about self-defense. It is morally correct to stand up for yourself! Mizuki, you shouldn’t have to feel like you just have to take it.”

“And you can teach me?” Mizuki felt skeptical at best, but still, she leaned forward just that little bit more. Date could barely walk straight without tripping, sure, but… but he was a cop. Maybe he knew more about this than she thought.

Did she really want to learn how to fight?

Did she really want to be left on the ground bruised and in pain without even trying to defend herself again?

That feeling of weakness…

“Date, she’s never done anything like this before,” Bibi said quickly.

“Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, Bibi.”

“But…”

“Bibi, what’s the harm? You can come with, if you want. I promise it won’t be anything too intense to start out with. Just a few forms.”

That weakness… Mizuki felt scared to go with Date. She understood Bibi’s trepidation, at least, she thought she did. To defy that instinct that took hold of her on the school yard, it seemed out of place for her. Yet, would she really say no? Now? When the offer was there on the table?

“The harm is that she’s just a kid. She shouldn’t have to fight if she doesn’t want to!”

“I want to.”

“What?” Bibi turned to Mizuki.

“I want to learn.” Mizuki’s hands clutched at the front of her shirt. “I… I think I want to learn. If Date can teach me.”

“But…”

“I… I mean if I don’t like it, I can just stop right?” Mizuki said to Bibi. “Date’s right. It can’t hurt for me to try!”

Bibi’s eyes softened. “M… Mizuki…”

“Besides! Aren’t you curious? We’ve never seen Date fight before, and I want to see if he’s lying.”

“Why would I lie?!”

Mizuki cocked her head. “To impress us?”

“Alright, alright. Tomorrow, Ikume Shine, be ready. I’ll show you.”

“I…kume shrine?” Mizuki repeated, puzzled at the necessity of going there. She looked to Bibi, baffled.

But Bibi was only staring at the floor, biting her lip.

==§§==

Bibi found herself sitting on the steps of Ikume Shrine, looking at Mizuki over with Date by some wooden training dummies. She wore a Karate Gi that Date had gotten for her from God knows where. The man himself stood eyes closed, hands behind his back. Mizuki shifted, clearly feeling awkward in this situation. Bibi didn’t feel much better.

“Um… Date…?” Mizuki said.

Date held up a finger. “Master Date.”

“R… Right… Anyway, Date, why Ikume Shrine?”

“I said, call me Master Date. As for the Shrine… It can sometimes be beneficial to train in a place like this, where the serene quiet soothes your savage soul…”

“My… Savage… Soul…?” Mizuki scrunched her face up in thought. “Why are you talking all weird?”

The way Bibi saw it, the two had gotten more comfortable together, which was both good and bad. The good side, Mizuki spoke more, seemed to feel more comfortable in poking holes in Date’s bull like Bibi would. It was too natural to not do so, the man always pulling stunts like he was now. The bad side though…

Well, she was now comfortable enough to be taking fighting lessons from this dork, something Bibi couldn’t seem to put a halt to. When the suggestion first came, it came like a snowball down a mountain side, picking up unrelenting mass and momentum. How could she tell Mizuki “No,” when the girl looked how she did. Her face even now still bore bruises from the fight. Her arms marked too from kicks when the boys had successfully put her on the ground.

Bruises. Not from Shoko this time but bruises all the same.

Bibi rubbed at her chest to sooth her fluttering heart and took a deep breath. It’ll be OK. It’ll be. OK.

Oh, who was she kidding. This was a disaster. She should stop the whole thing, stop the training. Mizuki didn’t need to fight. She didn’t need to learn about her…

Bibi looked up.

Mizuki’s eyes stared at Date, eagerly taking in what he was saying. He mentioned something about… about killing your heart, and Mizuki made a guess at whatever that meant. He waxed on poetically about believing in yourself to be victorious, and Mizuki really seemed to be believing in him.

She was soaking up his lesson like a sponge.

Bibi groaned.

How could she stop this train from crashing. How could she intervene and make sure that Mizuki’s secret, no, both of their secrets never got out. A secret Mizuki must not even remember that she had. A secret that faded just like the memories of the lab, the tools, the horrible man who—

Bibi was rubbing harder at her chest when Date said “Why don’t you try and show me a punch. Let’s check your form, your fundamentals!”

Bibi bolted up. “NO!”

They both shot looks at her.

“No?” Mizuki said, already in a pose to try and punch the air.

Bibi chuckled nervously under their gazes. “I-I mean… Mizuki has never fought before. What if she throws out a muscle or something when punching? D-Doesn’t she need to do stretches first?”

“Ahhhh, I see!” Date said, sighing and nodding his head. “You’re afraid of seeing the baby bird leave the nest…”

“What? No. Don’t be weird about this,” Bibi said back quickly.

“I can punch, Bibi,” Mizuki scoffed, smiling at her older sister. “It won’t hurt me.”

“But…”

Whether Mizuki hadn’t heard or intentionally ignored Bibi, she wouldn’t know. Because immediately on starting to speak, Mizuki nodded to Bibi, then to Date, and said a quick “See?” Ironically, she closed her eyes as she said this, perhaps out of trepidation or even concentration. Then, with all her might, she thrust her fist forward.

There was a crack. The world seemed to surrender to the motion. Air moved. The force of the punch could be felt even from Bibi’s spot by the shrine, the air ruffling her hair gently.

Date’s face was stuck contorted in a look of shock.

Mizuki opened her eyes, taking in the reactions around her. “I know, “Mizuki sagged. “I know I’m weak…”

Bibi held her breath. As shocking as it was that Mizuki still didn’t seem to know her own strength even after a punch like that, Bibi’s focus remained fixed on Date. She was in preparation mode, ready to bolt in and answer any questions or run away with Mizuki if Date really reacted badly. All it could take is one punch and…

“O-O-Okay!” Date said suddenly. “Remind me again. Are you positive you did not throw any punches at the bullies?”

Bibi’s eyebrows furrowed. Not the question she expected.

“No?” Mizuki said, looking at Date curiously. “Why would I do that? There were so many of them. I didn’t think I could…”

“I think you should have some more faith in your abilities,” Date said, raising an eyebrow. Mizukis eyes went wide. “But a rule you must always remember. Never, ever, hit your master!”

Bibi looked down at her own hands. No, she definitely should not hit Date. Well, not at full strength. But that would mean learning how to control her strength. Suddenly, Bibi realized just how much of a close call things could have been today during the fight. What would have happened if Mizuki did hit back?  Bibi went pale at the thought.

What would be better? Encouraging her to fight to defend herself, teaching her maybe how to control her strength? Or not to fight at all?

It was a moot question. That ship had sailed.

Date was going to teach her how to fight here and now.

“What do you think, Bibi?”

Bibi was snapped out of her thoughts, looking up at Mizuki. “Think?”

“Of my punch. Date said it was fine, but I dunno.”

Bibi’s mouth opened, then closed. Opened, then spoke. “It… It was fine, Mizuki. You need some more work though.”

“Aw, I do?”

“Your control. It’s… Off.”

“Control?”

Date nodded. “Ah, yes, your control. You must be able to regulate exactly how powerful you wish your punch to be! Let’s practice that.” The two made their way to a training dummy, and Date began to show her how to stand properly.

Did he not suspect something was seriously wrong here? Why wasn’t he asking any questions? Did he not want to know why Mizuki, who just now threw a punch at a training dummy, had the power to send it skittering on the ground until it rested at the foot of a tree? This wasn’t normal! None of this was normal!

And yet, he seemed more awestruck than anything. Impressed and yet he seemed to simply act like this was who Mizuki was. A part of her. Should Bibi reveal that she had the same strength? Could do the same things if not better with age and experience?

It was tempting. Tempting to stand up and say, “Watch this…”and show Date exactly what she could do. He’d be even more awestruck. He’d praise her.

But no. Regardless, if that might bring up more questions than answers for Date, Bibi couldn’t interrupt this moment. They practiced and practiced, Mizuki sweaty from the effort and yet smiling proud with every bit of praise Date heaped onto her when she succeeded. Although, when he did so in too weird of a way, Bibi and Mizuki both would roll their eyes. Secretly, Bibi thought it funny, although she’d never tell Date that or he might let that get into his bloated ego.

Mizuki delivered another blow, this time to the air. Then again. And again. Practicing her punches over and over methodically. Each time you could see the strength of them.

Bibi, despite all the nerves, felt proud.

She really was her sister.

It brought her back to her time at Aioen when Mizuki’s strength would slip out. She supposed they both would misjudge their own powers back then, being so little. They caused so much havoc. She chuckled at the thought, looking down at her own hands once more.

And then they both were taken in by the Okiuras. Somehow, everything changed then. This strength, this power that was their gift… it all went unused. Repressed. Nearly snuffed out under Shoko and Renju. But it was theirs. Now, under Date… At least Mizuki can get her gift back.

Bibi couldn’t risk showing hers. She knew that now. It was a small sacrifice she’d have to make, but in the end, that was less of one than she’d made before.

Suddenly, a shadow covered her. She looked up. There, standing with hands on his hips, was Date. Mizuki, left to her own devices, was practicing on her own for a time.

“Hey,” Date said, sitting down beside Bibi.

“Hey? Shouldn’t you be teaching Mizuki?”

“I gave her some practice forms for a bit. I need to sit.”

Bibi looked away, focusing instead on her sister who, with a “Hup!”, practiced punching the air.

“Listen… About her strength…” Bibi started. She knew what was coming… It would have to be confronted sooner or later. Maybe. Just maybe if she could get out in front of it.

“It’s incredible,” Date said with awe tinging his voice. “Who’d have thought it. What’s even crazier is that she doesn’t even realize yet.”

“But… Aren’t you worried about it?”

“Worried about it? I’m worried about whoever tries to pick a fight against her next, not her…”

“But she shouldn’t be so strong, right?”

“Hm…” Date scratched his chin. “I don’t know. It feels… Almost appropriate. Mizuki being this powerful, all of it just hiding behind the surface?” He winked to Bibi. “I don’t know. We live in a strange world, Bibi, and I’ve seen some strange things. Maybe someday we’ll figure out why. Who knows. Maybe you have some surprises hidden in you too. But for now, it seems Mizuki doesn’t know why she has that strength, and unless you know all the answers, it may be a mystery left unsolved. I’m OK with that.”

“B… But what if….”

“Date!” Mizuki called out. “I’m not sure I have my footing right!”

Date turned around. “Coming!” He stood, patting off the dirt from the dusty step from his pants.

“W-wait!” Bibi rose to stop him, but she was too late. Date was already jogging back to Mizuki. No closure in place. No explanation given. Somehow, Date was just taking this all at face value. He already assumed it was a mystery that no one could solve. If Mizuki didn’t know, then surely no one did. There’s no way he could be this dense, could he?

Well, this was Date she was talking about…

==§§==

“Stand like I’m standing.” Date took the position to demonstrate.

“Like this?”

“No, more like… Hmm… This.” He moved again, carefully showing Mizuki where to put her feet. She tried, but again, her hips were off. She wasn’t turned in the right way. “Just mimic what I’m doing.”

“I’m trying, but you keep saying it’s wrong!”

“That’s because it is wrong. You need to… look. Like this.”

Without thinking, he stepped behind her, hands reaching out to grab her, and then he froze. What was he doing? A nervous sweat broke out on the back of his neck. Was he just about to…

Date, your heart rate has gone up. Aiba chimed in his head.

Yeah, I know, it’s fine. I’m just tired.

Tired?

He ignored Aiba, not sure what to say. “Here and here.” He tapped quickly on Mizuki’s upper thigh and hip. “These need to twist like I showed you.”

“Twist where?!” Mizuki said with growing frustration. “Can’t you just show me?”

Date groaned.

“Hold on. Like this…” he said and followed it with a gulp. He was just going to move her leg and hips. That was all. Nothing weird about this. Putting a hand against her thigh, he tapped it, so it moved back, then grabbed her leg gently and helped her guide it to where he meant.

The feeling of her thin leg beneath her pants was already enough to set his heart fluttering and his face blushing a little.

“Oh, like that,” Mizuki said thoughtfully.

“Right,” Date muttered. “Then you need to make sure your hips are turned right. Like this.”

This is platonic you dumbass, get it together! He yelled at himself internally.

Why wouldn’t it be? Aiba soon responded even though he was talking to himself.

I don’t know! I don’t want people to think I’m a creepy man!

You already are a creepy man, but this isn’t weird if you don’t make it weird!

“Um… Date? You froze up again?”

“R-Right, sorry.” He held her hips, narrow and so small his hands almost reached around them and guided her to turning so they were more parallel with her legs.

Letting go of her was both the easiest thing to do and the hardest at the same time. He stood almost too quickly. He wondered if Bibi noticed, if Mizuki noticed.

I’m noticing you’re acting very strangely, Date.

I told you, it’s because—

Yes, I’m sure that’s it. But just know there’s nothing weird about being a paternal figure in these girls’ lives.

He sighed, looking at the Torii that stood tall by the entrance. Thanks, Aiba.

And yet, he didn’t feel totally satisfied with that. He knew his heart better than Aiba knew it currently and knew what he was wrestling with was not what she thought. He’d have to be more careful with his thoughts in the future.

They continued the lesson thankfully with no incident. Mizuki’s strength still stunned him, but it seemed to suit her. This small girl could pack a big punch, and he felt she somehow deserved it after all she’d been through. He had his gifts as a psyncer, why shouldn’t she have hers?

A couple hours passed here in the shrine, and Mizuki began to pick up the basics. That wouldn’t mean she was a pro yet, not like him, but he was proud of her for how long she toughed it out here.

“We’ll come back next weekend if that’s alright with you?” He said to her as they began to wrap up for the day. Bibi jogged over and gave Mizuki a hug.

Mizuki nodded in the embrace, sweaty and looked tuckered out. “Yeah,” she said. “I had fun!”

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Bibi said. Bibi must still feel that protective instinct from the Okiura’s, Date thought, considering she wasn’t for the training in the first place. Date was just grateful Bibi eventually went along with it. He wondered if Bibi could fight too. Would the other girl struggle like Mizuki did?

“You know, you could join in too,” Date said to Bibi. “I don’t mind giving the lessons to the both of you.”

“Me?” Bibi asked. “N-No, it’s fine. I can defend myself. It’s Mizuki who needs it more than I do I think.”

“But it never hurts to get formal training and—”

“I’m going to stop you right there. This isn’t formal training, Date. You aren’t a real master of martial arts.”

“Oh, come on, you don’t need to be so stubborn about it. I know what I’m talking about!”

But Bibi wouldn’t budge. She shook her head, letting Mizuki go. “Not that I get into fights in school, Date, but I really can hold my own in a pinch. Trust me on that. We should head home though before we cause anymore…. Damage.”

Date looked back… And gulped. There were dummies scattered everywhere.

“Did I really do that?” Mizuki squinted at the carnage.

“Yes, now let’s go.” Date took off, speed walking down the shrine’s walkway. The two girls looked at each other, smirked, then stumbled after him.

They’d be back, Date knew as he and the girls left. They’d be back to train. Mizuki would not be victim to bullies again, that was for sure, and in the end, it seemed everyone had fun. Even Bibi, despite her obvious nerves, seemed more relaxed.

Whatever he did, Date thought maybe he did it right.

Chapter Text

Bibi looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. What she saw made her wince. Her eyes stared back at her, one distinctly lighter gray and useless, a memory of her origin she couldn’t not see. It all made her feel like some kind of pretender. Where there should have been a gray medical gown or… or even a hand-me-down, plain sweater, she wore a hoodie she had picked out herself, black with neon green and pink paint splotches designed on it. It wasn’t even that cold outside today. She just felt like wearing it.

At first, she had decided to do so because it was hers. She had chosen it. But now she wondered if she was just playing at being someone she was not.

A test subject.

A tag along.

Those were roles she felt she slipped naturally into, right? Not this. Not the girl who was about to go hang out with friends on a Friday night after school. Months and months of living at the Date residence had not scrubbed away this feeling of misalignment that she felt whenever she reflected on her new reality.

A test subject. A tag along. And now… A teenage girl. Could she make this new identity work?

She would. She had to. She… She wanted to so badly. This new life. This new her. This new freedom. She could be normal. She could spend time with her friends on a Friday night and just have fun without a care in the world.

…

After she wrote her list.

==§§==

“Is this really necessary?” Date asked, holding a sheet of paper close to his face. “I mean, I know Mizuki needs to shower, Bibi.”

“That’s great!” Bibi exclaimed, slipping on her roller skates on the front doorstep. “Then my list is wholly unnecessary, and I could have expected everything on it to be done without the reminders anyway. I know you’re always on top of things, Date, but I figured the reminder wouldn’t hurt at all. Feel free to throw it away.” It was close to 4 PM, nearing time for her appointed meet up with her friends. She better get going, or she would be late.

“I mean come on. Make sure Mizuki doesn’t eat chips before dinner? Throw out the spoiled milk? I just picked that up last week! It can’t be spoiled!”

“Give it the smell test, then you’ll see what I mean,” Bibi said. She stood up, clacked her skates on the concrete and clapped her hands. “I gotta run, Date. Don’t start any fires you can’t put out!”

“I have work to do!” he continued to whine, but Bibi ignored him and skated off, leaving a frazzled Date standing in the doorway completely at a loss.

To Bibi, the list was a formality. Most of it she might not have even done herself in all honesty. The trash could wait. The milk was bad, but as long as no one drank it, it could be thrown out whenever, right? But the stuff about Mizuki she was serious about. Mizuki needed to do her homework. She needed to shower. She needed to make sure she ate dinner instead of garbage. Regular, mundane chaos was fine, but if that chaos encroached too close to Mizuki, that was when things were definitely not fine.

For a while, that alone would have been enough to give Bibi pause about leaving the Date residence for too long of a time. Date could be trusted to take care of business, but her reliance on him stretched only so far. Over the months, however, she began to learn that Date could be leaned on for more things than she initially thought as long as you pressed him in just the right way.

A list and the threat of an unhappy Bibi tended to get the job mostly done, and that’s all Bibi needed this evening.

She raced down the sidewalk, realizing she forgot her helmet and finding herself not caring in the slightest. The wind was in her hair, the sun thankfully not in her eye, and while the slight tug back home towards Mizuki, that worry she always felt when she left her little sister alone, was still present, it was nowhere near as strong as it used to be. A pang, not an ache. A slight sense of wrongness, not a sense of danger. These were the improvements she was relishing, and she began to make the most of them.

Damn it! She’d decided to hang out with friends today! It was a decision she made for herself, and she was going to enjoy it!

So she skated, nearly running into a business man walking presumably his way home. She turned and gave him a quick “Sorry!” before continuing on her way. For some reason, instead of feeling bad as the man cursed at her in the distance, she began to laugh. She laughed at the face the man was making. She laughed at Date’s exasperation at the list. She laughed at the looks she was getting because surely she looked and acted like an extremely odd teenage girl to passers-by. But wasn’t that what she was?

No, today she was normal. As normal as normal could be.

==§§==

Date wasn’t sure what to think. He held the list up to his face and eyeballed it with curiosity. He watched Bibi disappear on the horizon and sighed, left at a loss. He took the note inside with him.

“Did she go?” Mizuki asked as Date entered. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, socked feet dangling, not touching the floor. She watched him enter with raised eyebrows.

He beelined for the fridge, opening it up. “Yeah,” he responded off-hand. “Left me with a list.”

“Oooh! A list? What’s it say?” She said, leaning forward where she sat. Beside her on the bed was Addorabbit, lying limp.

“For you to do your homework and shower,” Date said curtly.

He removed the milk from the fridge and swished it around. It couldn’t be bad… could it? Unscrewing the cap, he took a sniff and immediately his nose wrinkled. He coughed, gagging on the smell and held the milk away at arms length. It was bad. It was beyond bad.

“I just bought this!” he exclaimed.

“Nuh-uh,” Mizuki shook her head. “You got it like… three weeks ago if that.”

“I thought it had only been a… Never mind, it still should be good after that long, right…? Right?” he looked at her, and she shot him a look that made him feel rather foolish. Grumbling, he screwed back on the lid and threw the milk jug into the garbage where it landed inside of an already packed bin. With a sigh, Date was left with no choice but to pull the garbage bag out of the bin and take it out.

“What’re you looking at?” he said to her. “The list said you need to do your homework. You have homework right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why aren’t you doing it?” he asked as he struggled to tie off the bag without it tearing.

Mizuki only shrugged. “This is kinda more entertaining?” She offered.

He stuck his tongue out at her. She stuck her tongue out at him. A stalemate was reached, although Date was the one lugging the garbage out of the home, and Mizuki was the one who got to sit comfortably on the bed and ignore her homework. Well, for the time being anyway.

When Date returned inside, trash disposed of, he eyed Mizuki warily. The girl had yet to even move. What was she plotting?

“If you don’t at least get started on your homework, Bibi will have my head,” he said.

“I need help,” Mizuki stated, sliding off the side of the bed and going over to her backpack. She took from it a set of workbooks that she brought home from school and rummaged afterwards for some pencils.

“I doubt that,” Date said. “You get perfect grades all the time.”

“Bibi helps me with my homework though,” Mizuki said, disregarding Date’s point. “So since Bibi is away, you’re gonna have to help me. Unless… You want me to just not do it. I’m sure the list isn’t that important… right?”

Date sighed and hung his head. “But I have work to do…” he whined.

“Just do it after!” Mizuki patted the space beside her. “It won’t take that long!”

Date was about to make a remark that he’d done his time in school, taken his licks and done his homework all by himself, thank you very much, but he cut himself short. He’d reached the limit of his memory. Had he even gone to school? He had to have, right? He could read and do math just fine, so he had to have gone to school. Yet, that memory was blank along with many others. A frustrating thing to be sure, but it didn’t matter. Even if he did remember his schooling days, all that would be left to do was complain. Mizuki had soundly wrestled him into helping her do her homework.

Besides… This was fine, wasn’t it? He could consider it a bonding exercise or something.

And so, reluctantly, he settled down beside Mizuki. He half expected her to just do all the homework by herself, ignoring him all the while. She was smart. He’d seen her grades, had heard secondhand from Renju what all the teachers say about her.

Math. She was working on math. Division to be precise. It’s lucky that he had a computer built into his eye socket that could look up all the answers and-

Aiba refused to help him when the first question that stumped Mizuki came about. That’s right, Date had to tell this small child he couldn’t immediately do long division in his head. The look she gave him nearly made his pride shrivel into nothing, and he pleaded with Aiba to please just run the numbers so he doesn’t look like some kind of fool!

Still, she refused.

And so, that was how Date found himself being taught how to do long division by Mizuki herself, and he wondered, desperately, if Bibi was off having more fun.

==§§==

Bibi arrived at Iris’s house a little self-conscious. She had worked up a bit of a sweat skating here, and while she had forgotten her helmet, the air still blew her mess of hair this way and that. She didn’t stink. She didn’t think she had sweat enough for that. But she was still more than aware that she was definitely not looking her best. She knocked on the door anyway.

She knew she would be the last to arrive. She had told her friends that she needed to stop at home first after school (in part to make that list), and the rest had headed off together. It came as no surprise, then, that Kizuna was the one who opened the door.

Off to the side, Bibi could already see Iris was busy doing Amame’s hair.

“Bibi!” Kizuna said.

“Bibi!” Iris interjected. “Took you long enough!”

Bibi entered the house feeling that same degree of awkwardness. It followed her, making her hyper aware of her every step. Her friends were so… so normal compared to her, and she never was sure if she was doing the whole “teenage girl” thing correctly. If there even was a correct way of doing this that is.

“Yeah, sorry,” Bibi said, brushing it off. She had to save face and maintain some degree of casualness. No matter what she felt inside, it was how she presented herself on the outside that mattered. She walked past Kizuna and took a seat. “Roommate was being a bit stubborn on the chores I gave him.”

She leaned forward, leg bouncing slightly. Amame chuckled.

“It’s so weird that you call him your roommate, you know?”

“But that’s what he is,” Bibi said. “What do you want me to call him?”

The three girls looked between each other knowingly, but not a single one said the answer to Bibi’s question out loud. Bibi could make an assumption as to what was going through their minds and scoffed.

Iris, Amame, and Kizuna. She had met the latter two via introduction from the former. Well, that wasn’t entirely correct. Bibi had met Kizuna before but hadn’t even recognized the girl when she met her in high school. Kizuna had done a lot of growing since Bibi had last seen her at Aioen Orphanage, but once she learned who Kizuna was, it became impossible to not see her as the daughter of Riichi Chieda. Riichi, who…

Of course, once Kizuna remembered who Bibi was, she recalled all sorts of stories involving Bibi and even Mizuki from those days. Complicated feelings aside, it became hard to dislike Kizuna even if she was related to the man who funded the institute that still haunted her to this day. She had to remind herself that it wasn’t Kizuna’s fault. That the other girl was likely oblivious to all of it.

Needless to say, Bibi and Kizuna had a history. One that they… seldom broached nowadays. Bibi believed Kizuna did so out of consideration, while Bibi did so out of a desire to keep that past in the past. Besides, she didn’t want to risk her friend group. She could be normal, damn it! She could keep friends! And she wouldn’t let Horadori ruin this for her!

“You’re all menaces,” Bibi said, fighting a blush. What? Did they want her to call Date Dad or something? God, wouldn’t that be awkward. “Can we not talk about Date of all people? I came here to get away from the lout.”

“Are you sure?” Amame said, leaning forward.

“I mean, you talk about him a lot,” Iris added, grinning mischievously.

Bibi blushed. “What is that supposed to mean? I don’t talk about him a lot. I talk about Date a normal amount, which even that is probably more than he deserves.”

“To be fair, most of the time she is complaining about him,” Kizuna said, coming to Bibi’s rescue. “How is Mizuki doing though?” She added, further saving Bibi by changing the topic.

Bibi sighed, letting the topic shift. “She’s doing fine as ever.” She could go on, but one thing she didn’t want to do was spend this time rambling on about everything Mizuki related. Even she knew that would be a bit weird, even though the urge to boast about Mizuki’s self-defense lessons or her grades was ever-present. “Enough about me… Amame, isn’t your brother in her class? How’s he doing?”

“Shoma? I think he’s in her class, yeah,” Amame said. “And I think he gets good grades and stuff, but he’s never really been the kind to share a lot of stuff.”

They were interrupted as, from the kitchen, a familiar person came around the corner holding a tray populated with a tea pot and cups.

“Bibi, it’s nice to see you,” Hitomi said. “I made some tea.” She set the tray onto the coffee table.

“Thanks, Mom!” Iris chimed.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Hitomi warned. “I’ll be in my room if you four need anything. I’ll start dinner soon. Will you all be staying?”

It seemed all three of the guests would, even Bibi, who knew as long as she was back before it got too late things would be fine. Hitomi departed, going to her room, leaving the girls alone.

“So,” Iris said as soon as the door shut. She turned to Bibi, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “What’s it going to take for you to join the dance club with us?”

Bibi nearly choked on her first sip of tea. “What’s this all of a sudden?!” she exclaimed. “You know I can’t dance, Iris!”

“But you can learn,” Iris said. “Come on! Don’t you think Bibi would be good at it, Amame? Kizzy? I’ve seen her in PE class. You’ve got the body for it.”

“I do not think telling her that she has the body for it is going to convince her, Iris,” Kizuna said gently.

“It’s not a bad idea though!” Amame cheerily added. “I’m sure we could teach you and get you caught up.”

“No. No way,” Bibi said. She set the cup back down on the tray, still coughing a little, and held out a hand defensively. “I’m not doing that. Don’t you gotta do recitals and all that crap? Not for me thanks.”

“Come on, you can’t tell me you’re turning this down just because of the stage performances, are you?” Amame said. She held up three fingers. “First, it’s great for when you start applying for colleges. They love seeing people in athletics and stuff!” She lowered a finger. “Next, it’ll get you out of that stuffy house. You complain about being stuck with Date all the time, what better way to get away from him.” She put down another finger. “And third, you’ll get to hang out with us more.”

Bibi narrowed her eyes at Amame. “I don’t know…” she said. “All of that still doesn’t beat out that I’d have to actually dance in front of people.”

“But that’s the fun part!” Iris said.

“For you!”

“I’m not even that great of a dancer,” Amame said. “But I still get up do it anyway. It’s fun!”

“Again, for you, maybe,” Bibi recoiled. “For me, it sounds like a nightmare. I don’t need a crowd of people looking at me.”

“You’re always so difficult, Bibi,” Iris sighed, slouching to the couch.

Kizuna spoke up. “I think we should respect Bibi’s boundaries here.”

Bibi crossed her arms and nodded. As complicated as her relationship with Kizuna was (at least in a one-sided sense), she could always trust that Kizuna would be a more rational voice among the group.

“If you really want to spend more time with Bibi,” Kizuna continued, “we could try out some of her interests instead. Like…”

Kizuna looked at Bibi for her to jump in. What, did Kizuna not know what her interests were? What kind of friend didn’t know that? It was obvious, wasn’t it? Bibi opened her mouth to say her load of interests that she had… But nothing came out.

What… were her interests?

Damn it, this shouldn’t be that hard. Normal teenage girls had interests, so what were they? Yet, immediately, the first thing that came to mind was something she dared not say.

Mizuki.

Taking care of Mizuki. The act dominated a lot of her time at the Okiura residence, so it’s no wonder it stood out so prominently in her mind. She couldn’t say that though. Crossing “Caring for my younger sister” off the list, she went down to the next item there. Which was…

Rollerskating…? Was that a hobby?

She asked herself this as the other three girls looked at her quizzically for her delay. She needed an answer and fast. The longer it took her to answer, the more ridiculous she looked. What did she do in her free time. Watching shows on her phone didn’t count. Doing homework didn’t count. Think, brain, think!

“Well, I roller skate!” she blurted out. “There’s that!” But that felt… inadequate. What else could she add. Something that would make her seem impressive. Something that would…

“Oh, and I also have been practicing martial arts.”

Bibi could’ve hit herself. What was she saying? Martial arts?! Mizuki was the one practicing martial arts, not her. She had gone to some of the lessons between Date and her little sister, sure, but she never actually participated in any of the lessons. It dawned on her then that she suddenly had a glut of free time now that she no longer lived in the Okiura household, and she realized she had been using it doing basically nothing. When she got home, she spent time playing fighting games and relaxing.

It’s not like she hated this arrangement. It felt freeing to simply do… nothing. Yet, what she also found, was that it was a totally inadequate answer to what her interests were. Kizuna wasn’t asking what she did in her free time. Kizuna was asking what her passions were. And in the end, Bibi lived her life following one passion.

Mizuki.

Not martial arts.

Gah! How embarrassing! She watched the other girls’ eyes light up as they began to ooh and ah over Bibi’s answer.

“Martial arts?” Iris said. “Can you like… beat people up?”

“Y-You’re not supposed to.” Bibi stammered, wracking her brain for the Date-isms she overheard during Mizuki’s lessons.

“Can you show us some moves?” Amame immediately asked.

“I’d really rather not be put on the spot like this,” Bibi continued to nervously stutter.

“Who’s your teacher?” Kizuna then said.

“I… Well, it’s Date actually. He’s a cop, and he knows a few things, so he’s been teaching Mizuki and I.”

Bibi could feel a cold sweat breaking out on her arms. She was backing herself into a corner here, all in the effort to seem interesting to her friends. She screamed internally. Change the topic, her instincts flared. Change the topic!

“You know, they say martial arts aren’t all that different from dancing,” Iris pointed out. “But if you’re spending your time learning the former, I guess you wouldn’t have that much time to do the latter. A shame! But I’d really like to see something, Bibi!”

“I already told you I don’t like performing in front of people!” Bibi scolded. “Besides, I’m not going to start throwing punches in your house, Iris, no matter what you say. I need space. Look, if you’re so desperate to watch me, then… then maybe I’ll talk to Date to see if you three can come to one of his lessons. But until then, stop asking.”

“Really?!” Iris’s eyes lit up.

Just then, in her efforts to move on past this topic, Bibi realized she had dug her hole even deeper.

“If he lets you,” Bibi said wryly. “I’ll have to ask him. Plus, Mizuki practices too. She might not be comfortable. I won’t know till I ask them.”

“It’s a promise then!” Iris said, bouncing once in her seat.

“I literally just said it depends on if…” Bibi shook her head. Change. The. Topic. Carefully, she took a sip of her tea. “Anyway,” she finally said, taking a shaky breath. “How’s your whole ViewQube thing going, Iris?”

Iris’s eyes lit up and she jumped up off the couch. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Let me show you!”

Everyone watched as Iris disappeared into her room. Bibi felt immediate relief. She had somehow not only changed the topic but done so in a way that seemed to perk Iris’s interest completely.

“ViewQube thing?” Kizuna asked.

“Oh! She must not have told you yet,” Amame said. “Weird, because she’s been talking everyone else’s ear off about it the past few weeks. Recently, Iris decided to start uploading videos of herself dancing on ViewQube. She’s been super into it and even wondered if she should get the three of us to put a video up from the club.”

“Did she?”

“No, I told her she’d have to get permission from the teacher first, and she dropped the idea soon after.”

Suddenly, Iris reemerged, laptop in hand. She set the computer down on the coffee table and opened up the website.

“I’m starting to get a bunch of views!” Iris said. “See? Here’s the statistics and stuff. I have a few hundred subscribers already, and this video here even has 2,000 views! I think it was because I danced to a popular song, but still!”

Bibi settled into her seat, smiling to herself as Iris went on about her video, pointing excitedly to the screen. Bibi had a feeling, out of all four of them here, Iris was going to be the one to make something of herself. She just seemed vastly at ease in front of crowds, always ready to dance and make a spectacle of herself. Bibi didn’t envy her, but she did respect her friend for it.

The lie she had just told sat in her gut though. There it remained for the rest of the evening as the girls caught up. It remained there even as Hitomi came out of hiding and began to cook dinner. It remained there as Bibi ate.

Finally, when all was said and done, it was time to return home. As everyone was saying goodbye and wrapping up, Bibi knew what she would have to do. She had backed herself in a corner. While she had hoped that maybe the other girls had forgotten the whole martial arts thing, it was Iris, mind like a steel trap, who gave her a farewell hug and said:

“Let me know what Date says! I’m sure he won’t mind.”

The words haunted her as she skated home, the night air cool and making her glad she wore her hoodie. The sidewalks were mostly empty, and she couldn’t help but beat herself up on the way back. Her? A normal teenage girl? As if. She had super strength. She was an orphan. She was a test subject for crying out loud! She even had to lie about having hobbies because she never grew up being able to develop normal ones!

Normal. Normal, normal, normal.

Fine. She could be normal. The guilt that she lied to her friends was eating at her, but there was only one solution to that! She had to make it a truth.

She slid to a stop in front of her home, took off her skates and barged her way inside. Frustration filled her as well as a strong determination. She’d be normal, damn it! She’d figure this out!

As she finally made her way to the Date residence, she opened the door abruptly to see Date on his computer.

“I did your stupid list!” Date exclaimed immediately, spinning on his chair to face her. “Mizuki just finished showering!”

Indeed, with her hair clearly wrapped in a towel, Mizuki was sitting in bed with a book. She was looking at Bibi though, her facade clearly recognizing that Bibi was in a mood.

“Forget the list,” Bibi said curtly, marching towards Date. The man put up his hands defensively.

“What do you mean, forget the list! Why are you angry at me?!”

She poked a finger at his chest. “You’re going to teach me self-defense with Mizuki. Tomorrow. We’re going to the shrine.”

“W-What? Why?”

“REALLY?!” Mizuki perked up.

Bibi stared down Date. “And then,” she continued, ignoring Date’s question. “You’re going to let my friends see all that you taught me. And don’t give me any of that philosophical crap you taught Mizuki. I don’t need it. I just need to learn how to fight. Got it?”

“Did… Did something happen?” he stammered.

“Nothing happened,” she lied. Then she winced, knowing how bad of a lie it was. But she was already deep in them, so what’s one more? “Just… Just get me caught up to Mizuki, or I’ll find someone else who will.”

A smirk formed on Date’s face. She wanted to punch it off. “So you admit that I’m a good teacher?”

“You’re a teacher. That’s all I need right now. Don’t get your ego in a twist.” She lowered her finger.

She hadn’t wanted to learn how to fight. She had no desire to tap into that potential that Chikara gave her. Normal didn’t mean fighting with super strength. But damn it, if this is what it took to prove to her friends that she can be normal, then she’d do it. She loved Mizuki, and she knew that the instincts she developed towards her little sister probably wouldn’t ever entirely fade. For years, Bibi only had Mizuki.

Now, though, she found herself with an expanded life. One where she could hang out with her friends. One where she could leave the house and not worry about coming back to a catastrophic conflict between Mizuki and her mother. One where she could develop hobbies.

And so… she’d do just that.

==§§==

Date sat at his computer massaging his eyes.

“It’s late,” Aiba said. “You should go to sleep.”

His work felt unending today. Staring at the photos of evidence on his screen, it all felt… incomplete. The light from the screen was starting to hurt to stare at, but he felt like he wasn’t making a dent in the case.

“I’m sorry, Aiba,” he said to himself. “I’ll go to bed soon. I’m just trying to figure out why we found that footprint there of all places. It just doesn’t fit in the timeline…”

“Well, if you don’t get sleep, you’ll never figure it out. Sleep is beneficial to brain functions, and while you sleep, your brain might make connections that it just can’t while awake.”

There was a pause between them as Date tried to think of a response. He didn’t want to go to sleep, but Aiba made a point that was difficult to refute.

“Plus,” Aiba said. “I need to charge. There’s little point in you continuing your work without me.”

Date frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

But Aiba only chuckled. “It means it’s bed-time.”

Date took out Aiba and gave her a look over. “I’ll go to bed soon. In the meantime, charge. I can’t have you dying on me tomorrow anyway.”

He plugged her into her charger and watched as the yellow light glowed faintly to signal she was charging. Then, he turned his attention to the two sleeping girls.

He rubbed at his eyes again and yawned. Was it bad that he did this? That he had taken these girls in? He knew he couldn’t possibly have been the best option for this. Over the months and months he’s housed these two, he’s been aware of his own thoughts, his own… feelings. Once, he had thought they’d go away, but as he watched them grow and their personalities begin to unravel into their own unique beings unburdened from Shoko’s authority and Renju’s neglect, he found the feelings only getting stronger.

But that was the difference between him, Renju, and Shoko. Shoko couldn’t control her anger. Renju couldn’t prioritize his daughter to save his life. Neither of them could show Bibi any kind of affection. But Date? He could control his side of things. That’s something he also began to get more and more confident of.

There was no reason, no reason at all, that he couldn’t separate the itch in the back of his mind and with the proper way he should act and behave. Sure, he wasn’t always on point. He wasn’t their Dad, he wasn’t going to be able to be a father figure for these two. But he could keep watch. He could be there for them. He could help Bibi learn how to fight to impress her friends. He could help Mizuki with long division.

It was as simple as that. He knew for certain, with each passing day, that he could do this. Kaname Date could be… normal.

Chapter Text

“Hey, what about you, Mizuki? Have you ever had a crush on someone?”

“Yeah, come on. I told everyone about my crush on Mr. Koji. It’s only fair that you spill.”

“What do you mean you don’t have a crush? Everyone’s got a crush on someone!”

“Yeah! Not fair! No lying!”

“No lying!”

==§§==

“Hey, what’s got you so down, Mizuki?” Bibi asked as they peeled away from the school. Bibi still waited for Mizuki by the school even though she had told Bibi she didn’t need to do so several times already. “It was on the way home,” Bibi explained time and time again, and continued to show up to pick Mizuki up.

Mizuki eventually gave up arguing. She figured it made Bibi feel a bit better when she let her take her home from school, and besides, it sometimes resulted in Mizuki getting to meet Bibi’s friends. She liked Bibi’s friends. They were older, more mature. She understood them better than she did kids in her grade.

“Kids my age are so… childish,” she confessed to Bibi, answering her question.

“That’s kind of the point,” Bibi pointed out.

Mizuki bit her lip. She debated if she wanted to tell Bibi about what happened today during recess.

Everyone has a crush. Who ’s yours?

Well what if she didn’t have one, huh?! So what?! She didn’t have to have a crush all picked out, did she? She bet Bibi didn’t have a crush. She bet Date didn’t… No, wait, scratch that. Date fell for every woman he saw. He most definitely had a crush or a million.

“No, you don’t get it,” Mizuki finally said back. “They just… They find the stupidest things and won’t let up about them. I swear, they’re like a bunch of birds being all entertained by the next shiniest thing they see. Why can’t I hang out more with your friends, Bibi? Why do I have to go to school with these… these…” she trailed off, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“No one said you couldn’t hang out with my friends. In fact, you do so quite a lot. They like you.”

That did little to make Mizuki feel better. The problem of her classmates still existed, even if the fact that Bibi’s older friends liking her made her chest swell a bit with pride. Crushes… They were a complicated sort of thing. How did someone knew they had a crush on someone? What if she never developed a crush on someone? What if she had one and just didn’t understand the feeling of it.

Maybe Date could help… she thought, but the idea of asking Date about what constituted a crush felt like a bad idea. He’d probably go off on some tangent about his way with the ladies or something else that’s gross. She didn’t need to hear that. It wouldn’t help and it’d probably just confuse her all the more.

Well, ask Bibi. She ’s right here, after all…

That didn’t quite seem like an option either. Bibi was… She was her sister! She’d probably try to act all grownup and give some serious advice that Mizuki didn’t want either. She didn’t need a lecture. She needed one of her peers, but her peers were all immature and would make a joke out of it.

Shoma wouldn’t, she reminded herself. But again, there was a problem with that. Shoma seemed… too mature. He sometimes seemed more mature than she felt herself. He probably doesn’t even think about crushes! He’s probably past that already and thinking about more important things. The sheer fact that she’s thinking about this stupid thing that happened during recess was evidence enough that she wasn’t as mature as she liked. The pride she felt at Bibi’s friends liking her shrunk a little at that thought. Maybe she was just a kid trying to pretend to be more than she was?

“It seems like something’s eating at you, Mizuki,” Bibi said, kicking a loose rock on the sidewalk and sending it skittering between the legs of a couple kids ahead of her. “You can tell me.”

Mizuki sighed. “No, it’s okay,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

She wondered where it’d lead if she did. Bibi reassuring her that it’s OK to not know, or maybe Bibi trying to also tease out who she might be crushing on. Either way, it wasn’t a direction she wanted to go down. If she had a crush, she wanted to know, but she also genuinely didn’t know if she had one. If everyone else had one… shouldn’t she? Was she broken in some way?

She didn’t know where to even begin.

==§§==

That evening, Date hadn’t come home at his regular time. This wasn’t unusual. Some days, he had to stay out for his police work longer than Bibi and Mizuki were at school. They both had a key to the apartment, so it didn’t trouble them any, although in Mizuki’s heart of hearts, she did hate coming home to the apartment empty, lights turned off. She liked coming home to it already feeling alive, not quiet and waiting to be filled.

Plus, when Date was home, there was a casualness to the greetings between them that she found reassuring. Maybe it was just the routine of it.

“Date texted me,” Bibi said as they entered, flicking on the lights. “Said to order pizza. He won’t get home till late.”

“Sorry…” Mizuki said.

“Why are you sorry?” Bibi stopped midway putting her backpack down by the coffee table.

“Well, now you can’t go out with your friends today,” Mizuki explained.

“You really are in a funk. If I wanted to hang out with Iris and them, I’d just take you with me.” She set her bag on the ground and stretched. “Besides, I think it’s going to rain soon. I don’t want to go out in that. Nah, let’s just get pizza and knock out homework.”

Mizuki brightened a little. She did want pizza. And time spent with Bibi was nice too.

They settled into a comfortable, familiar rhythm. They unpacked their backpacks, Bibi taking out a laptop and beginning work on an essay she had to write for class, Mizuki working on her workbooks. Once they started to feel hungry, Bibi ordered pizza, and it arrived after not too long. They didn’t talk much. There wasn’t much to say. The quiet wasn’t uncomfortable though. Mizuki had lived with Bibi for her whole life, and it wasn’t unusual for Bibi to lapse into a thoughtful quiet. She noticed Bibi had gotten more talkative over the few years they had spent here with Date, a thing that Mizuki found encouraging, but old habits died hard, and when there was little to talk about, Bibi was the last person who was going to force a conversation.

Oddly, this made her think of Date. Date had flaws. She thought that went without saying. The old man was certainly an odd one, and one of the things he did too was lapse into quiet. However, when he did it, things felt far more awkward than when Bibi did so. Sometimes, it felt like Date was off in his own world. Other times it seemed just as thoughtful as Bibi, but things felt less natural when Date wasn’t speaking. It felt weird, wrong even, and the temptation to poke him out of his silence always floated in the moment.

Yet, that was a part of Date. She wanted to hear Date speak. She deliberately would jab verbally at him to make him do so. Well, that and… It just felt nice to do so like Bibi often did.

Finally, Bibi stood up from the coffee table. “I need to shower,” she said, shutting her laptop. The pizza box sat half empty on the table, another one still untouched on the kitchen counter. Mizuki had finished her workbook pages, but the essay Bibi was writing clearly still had more work needing to be done on it.

“Kay,” Mizuki said. “Don’t use up all the hot water.” And then, she sent the message she wrote out to Shoma on her phone.

It wasn’t much of anything, mostly just checking if he got the same answer as her on question number 12 in the workbook. She set her phone down with a light clack, the smell of leftover pizza filling the room as Bibi left to go to the bathroom. Mizuki, now left alone, took in all around her.

She stood and went over to the large window at the side wall. Opening the curtain, she half expected to see Date’s car rumbling down the street, parking, returning home. Still no sign of him. He was super late today. Boring! Fine, it’s not like she needed Date to stay entertained or anything. She had things to do. Very important things like…

Her eyes drifted to Bibi’s laptop, and then to Date’s computer.

She knew two things already. She knew that both of the computers were password locked. Bibi’s was locked with a password that Mizuki still hadn’t figured out yet. Date’s however…

She jumped onto his chair and spun it to face his computer. Left to her own devices, she knew what she was doing would piss him off. Which was, maybe, exactly why she was doing what she was about to do.

Her phone buzzed. Shoma, likely responding, but she ignored it. She didn’t want to use her phone. She wanted to use Date’s computer. The screen lit up as she wiggled the mouse. He really should turn the thing off when he’s not using it, all it’s doing is wasting energy.

She entered the password: “Password123”

The computer unlocked.

The worst part? She’d been caught using his computer before. He knew she knew the password. And yet, he hadn’t changed the password since. It made Mizuki giggle a little in her seat, spinning the roller chair.

She stopped, listening for the shower water from Bibi, and she heard it. She had some time.

Now, what was she going to look up. She already knew what she wouldn’t. She clicked on the file explorer, and browsed to the “hidden” folders, seeing videos about strange things that she knew that he watched when they were away. No, she’d get in big trouble if she watched those. Bibi told her not to, so that’s how she knew. It was one thing to make Date mad, it was another to make Bibi mad.

Instead, she closed out the folder, impressed at least on how it was organized even if she didn’t understand some of the words (what was cuckoldry?). There were folders upon folders in there, a veritable dungeon of folders in this PC, and she did not have the courage to delve into them. Rather than delving into the abyss of Date’s weird hobbies, she opened up an internet browser.

Legs kicking off the chair, she decided to search something that lurked in her mind all day. She didn’t know whether she should really do this or not. It’d probably be better to use her phone for this search, but… Something about using Date’s computer felt more right.

Alright. She had the chance now to search whatever she wanted. In truth, she pretended like she didn’t know, that coming to this computer to search was a random act of curiosity, but she did know what she wanted to search all this time. After all, it’s been bothering her all day.

So she punched into the search bar: Crushes.

Of course, that only brought up the most general of results. A definition followed by forums and tacky articles. That wasn’t what she was looking for at all… But she didn’t know how to phrase what she was truly looking for.

So she revised her search regardless. “How to tell if you have a crush?”

That brought up more results, but at the same time, she felt very silly. People didn’t need to search these kinds of things, did they? They just knew. Crushes were people falling in love right? She clicked the third link, an article listing out signs that you have a crush. Again, she felt rather silly. This stuff felt so… basic. But she skimmed the article anyway.

She paused, listening. The shower water was still running. Nodding to herself, she resumed reading. In the article, it listed various signs almost like one would list symptoms of a malady: the person occupies your thoughts, your heart beats faster around them, you might get nervous, or you might find yourself more comfortable around them. The person takes on a new meaning for you.

Honestly, it all wasn’t very helpful. She didn’t know anyone who fit that bill for her.

She heard the sound of an engine, a loud one. Without thinking much of it, she peeked out the nearby window checking out the street below, expecting again to see Date’s car parking. But no, still not him. She turned back to the computer screen and backed out of the article.

She was starting to feel anxious now. She kind of wished Bibi would get out of the shower, if only to get her mind off things. She really was starting to believe she was broken in some way. If her classmates could have crushes, shouldn’t she?

But… But maybe she just didn’t like anyone in her class. She already told Bibi that most of them were too childish, immature. Maybe she just wasn’t around people who she’d develop those feelings for. Or, maybe, the kids in her class lied. Maybe ten-year-olds didn’t really get crushes?

With a sigh, she closed out of the browser all together and hopped off the chair. This wasn’t going anywhere, and all it was doing was making her feel miserable and hopeless.

She threw herself onto the couch. Just then, the water in the shower turned off. Mizuki perked up. Soon, Bibi emerged, damp from the shower and a towel wrapped around her chest, exposed in a way she’d never be if Date had been home, and went through the apartment to go dig through her clothes for something comfortable to change into.

“Your turn,” she said idly as she picked out a t-shirt.

Mizuki bounced off the couch and did just that, shoving her research out of mind to go take a shower. She could worry about this later. Fretting over this didn’t help anything, and the other kids would probably forget all about it tomorrow anyway.

With that in mind, she shut the bathroom door behind her and got in the shower.

==§§==

Date returned home while Mizuki was still in the showering. Stepping out, towel around her chest like Bibi had done before, she didn’t expect to see the man in the main room, swiping a slice of pizza.

The pizza dangled halfway out of his mouth as he stared at her, mostly naked. Mizuki stared back, heat rising in her cheeks.

“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT, PERV?!” she screamed.

“W-what?!” Date nearly dropped the slice of pizza, fumbling with it for a moment.

Bibi, quickly and without missing a beat, stepped between them. “Date, turn around, now!” she ordered.

Date stared for a moment longer, the words seemingly taking a moment to settle in.

“I said, turn around!” Bibi shouted.

“R-right!”

Date spun in place, pizza slice now forgotten, and looked pointedly away from Mizuki. Mizuki, meanwhile, was blushing bright red, fuming on the spot. With a huff, she quickly adjusted her towel and began to dig through her clothing for something comfortable to wear. After getting dressed, only then did Bibi allow Date to turn around.

Mizuki, meanwhile, felt more or less like a mess. Flushed and flustered, she didn’t know what to say. She didn’t think she took that long in the shower, long enough for him to get home!

“I don’t see why you’re upset,” Date grumbled. “It’s not like you were exposed or anything…”

“Don’t you know you’re not supposed to gawk?!” Bibi snapped.

“I wasn’t ‘gawking.’” He rolled his eyes and continued eating his pizza slice.

“Were too,” Mizuki countered. “God, I can’t believe you were staring at a ten-year-old girl, Date.”

“What are you implying?!” he exclaimed, wagging pizza at her. “Honestly, you’ve gotten mouthy lately. Picking up Bibi’s bad habits!”

Mizuki stuck her tongue out at him. He promptly stuck his tongue out at her. God, he’s so childish, she thought.

What was done was done, however. She couldn’t make Date unsee what he saw after all. So, with a humph, she settled down on the couch with her phone, listening in as Date and Bibi began to talk to each other.

“So,” Bibi said. “Why were you late today?”

“Police business. Can’t really explain much,” he said.

“It’s always so secretive with you,” Bibi said. “I swear, it’s not like crime is top secret. It always makes its way on the news.”

Date was quiet for a moment, again seeming lost in thought, then he just shook his head. “I shouldn’t explain it to a kid anyway.”

“Oh no, you’re not getting away with that excuse. You know I can hear it.”

“But Mizuki?”

Mizuki perked up from where she laid down. “I can listen too!”

“No you can’t!” Bibi quickly said. “Geez, was it that bad?” She looked at Date as she said this.

He nodded.

“Yeah, no, nevermind. Tell me later.”

“And me!” Mizuki shouted.

“No!” Date and Bibi both said simultaneously, making Mizuki puff out her cheeks and pout.

“That’s not fair! You two can’t have something like that without me!”

Date scoffed. “I never said I’d even tell Bibi. She just presumed. Anyway, don’t you two have homework or something to do. Can’t a man eat dinner in peace?”

“Finished it already,” Mizuki said.

“Come on, Mizuki.” Bibi set herself down by the girl, turning her laptop on the table to face the both of them. “Let’s watch a movie or something. Okay?”

Immediately, Mizuki forgot about the exchange from earlier about Date sharing police stories with Bibi. After all, maybe Bibi was just presuming… So, settling in next to her sister, Bibi put on something for them to watch, ignoring Date as he ate his pizza and went about his own business.

==§§==

Aiba spoke up. Date, she said. I took a thermal reading of your computer chair when we got home.

Uh … Why?

I am always suspicious that you leave your computer too vulnerable to the girls. And I think my concerns were correct. The seat was warmer than it should have been. Which means, one of them sat at your computer.

Date groaned audibly. The two girls were awake, but he thought they had been dozing off already. However, they both turned and shushed him immediately, giving him hostile looks for interrupting their movie.

Date ignored them and went to his computer.

Date, wait, Aiba quickly blurted out. If you investigate now, it might look suspicious. Wait until they go to sleep.

What do I care if I look suspicious? I ’ll catch them in the act. I explicitly told them not to play around on my computer!

Will you just do as I say and wait? Aiba ordered. We don’t want them seeing what you’re doing anyway. Your computer is riddled with horrifying things that the girls shouldn’t even see the file names of.

They ’re not horrifying. They’re beautiful and important and-

Continue to defend your pornography habits like this and I will electrocute you in front of them.

Date clicked his tongue, but decided to do as Aiba said. She probably was right. If he started poking around to see if the girls had used his computer now, they’ll start to worry. Plus, he didn’t want questions on how he knew to even check it in the first place.

Of course I’m right, Aiba said.

He ignored her.

He checked the time. It was getting late, and while he never really implemented a bed time for the girls, he didn’t want them staying up much longer. A man needed his privacy after all.

Shooing them off the couch, he told them to go brush their teeth. They sluggishly listened, pausing the movie after only getting past what he could presume was a good part. Teeth brushed, They resumed the movie in bed instead of on his couch, and he settled onto it, sitting down and dangling his head backwards. Waiting for the girls to sleep, he shut his eyes to rest, listening to the movie they were watching as he did so.

Only when the movie stopped did he open them. The girls were asleep, laptop on but pushed to the side.

Alright… he thought. Which one of you went poking around my stuff…

He got onto his computer, quietly booting it up. Obviously, there was no way for him to tell who nosed around his computer, but he could at least see what was messed with. Kind of.

He decided he didn’t want to know if one of (or both of) the girls had looked through his super secret private folders (he had buried them in directories and directories, hoping no one would know to dig through them to find them). Instead, he decided to check his police files to see if they were tampered with.

They weren’t.

Well, the next obvious thing was to check the internet history.

And sure enough, there he found search queries and websites pulled up… All pertaining to… crushes?

He looked over at the two sleeping girls.

It looks like one of them might be in love with another student at school, Aiba pointed out.

I hope not… Date thought. Mizuki’s too young for it, but I suppose Bibi is old enough to get caught up in that kind of stuff. Still… He turned back to face the computer. This is a pretty weird thing to search. What should I do about it?

For now, nothing, Aiba said. If one of them is trying to decide if they have a crush, they need to sort their own feelings out. To approach them about it would only make them embarrassed and they likely would not wish to talk to you about it. This is a perfectly natural thing for children to go through.

But what if… he began. What if what? What if they kiss someone? What if they started dating? He supposed he could handle that chaos when he got to it. Why was this his responsibility anyway? It wasn’t like he was their father! Still, he could shake his concern.

How do you know if you had a crush?

Date wondered at that. What… was the difference between a crush and the feelings he felt. Attraction was such a range of emotions, complicated and hard to pick apart.

In the end though, Aiba’s advise seemed the best. Talking to them about this felt like dangerous territory. He’d leave it be for now. He was still curious which of the two girls had searched this, but there was little he could do to discover the culprit.

All his detective work, and yet he couldn’t figure out what was going on in the minds of the kids he lived with. Truly, they were a mystery he had no evidence for how to solve.

Chapter Text

The house stood apart from the scenery around it, a white structure amidst green grass and lanky palm trees. It struck Mizuki, after not being here for months, as strange now. She’d grown used to the brick siding of their apartment, so much so that the rich nature of this manor almost stunned her. The size too, it seemed… excessive.

Especially because only one woman lived here now.

Shoko and Renju had divorced, him leaving and taking up residence closer to his business in the city. But this home, this stood on the outskirts. Just close enough to be involved in Shoko’s financial planning, but just far enough to be removed from the hustle and bustle.

Date shut the car door behind him. “You can wait in the car, Bibi, if you want?” he said. “This shouldn’t take too long.”

“Don’t try and be delicate,” Bibi said. “I’ll be fine. I haven’t seen her in years, and I want her to see how I’ve changed.”

That didn’t quite ring true for Mizuki. She’d been here several times since they’d been moved to stay with Kaname Date. While Bibi avoided, Mizuki took the opportunities she could get. She wanted to see her mother. She even dressed the part, instead of her usual jacket and black dress, she wore a white blouse and a humble skirt. On her back though, she still had a backpack. Otherwise, how else would she surprise her mother with the progress report she received from school?

“If you say so,” Date said, adjusting his coat. “Just giving you an out.”

Mizuki knew what Daddy and Mom had done to Bibi was bad. Keeping Bibi isolated like she had been, it simply never was fair. So, Bibi never did love Renju and Shoko like Mizuki did.

Yet still, Mizuki loved them. They were family. They were precious, even if they maybe… didn’t fully want to see her as badly as she wanted to see them.

But today, her mother did. Shoko had invited them over for dinner, invited them over to talk. About what, that had been left ambiguous. Some secret part of Mizuki warred internally about the idea that maybe Shoko wanted them back. It had, after all, been over two and a half years.

She could prove herself to her mother here and now.

That’s what she wanted… wasn’t it?

Date knocked on the door. He put a reassuring hand on Mizuki’s shoulder, which, of course, she immediately shrugged off. She didn’t want his old man germs getting all over her.

“Maybe you should wait in the car, Date,” Bibi said, chuckling.

“Maybe I should,” he laughed. “But no, I think she’ll want to talk to me.”

“Yeah, probably to make sure you aren’t abusing us or anything,” Bibi commented. “Don’t worry, I’ll lie for you.”

“I don’t need you to lie,” Date snapped back, quiet and afraid to be heard beyond the door.

“Oh, and what would a social worker say when they stumble on your porn stash?”

Mizuki smirked, trying not to giggle. It was hard, but she wanted to look mature for when Mom opened the door. Shoko can see these two bozo’s arguing, but not her.

Shoko did open the door, moments after the arguing ceased. Her blue bob of hair was prim, and Mizuki suddenly felt aware that her long hair wasn’t nearly as neat as her mother’s. Mizuki’s hair rebelled even in the best of circumstances.

“You’re early,” Shoko said. Her eyes passed over Date, passed over Mizuki, and lingered just for a moment on Bibi, before she turned back into the house. “Come on in, though. I just have a few finishing touches to put on dinner, and then we can eat.”

“Nice to see you too, Shoko,” Date said.

Shoko turned. “Sorry, I suppose I didn’t sleep well last night. Nice to see all three of you.”

She stepped inside, and the three followed. The interior had changed again. Mizuki noticed that it always seemed to shift and morph ever since Daddy ceased living there. Shoko, making the place her own. Photos of family members sat on side tables, and paintings of landscapes hung on wooden walls. None of the photos had Bibi in them.

“I hope you’ve been well,” she said as she led them to the sitting room. “It has been a while since I’ve seen the three of you together all at once.”

Mizuki didn’t answer. She didn’t want to talk her mother’s ear off after all. Instead, Date spoke up. “We’ve been well, how about you?”

“My life has been… eventful,” Shoko answered. “And for the better I think.”

The sitting room, while not massive, had a couch and two plush chairs. A fine, white carpet stretched nearly to the edges of the room. Mizuki and Bibi sat on the couch, while Date and Shoko took the chairs.

“Dinner is in the oven,” Shoko sighed as she sat. Bibi, who was dressed now in hoodie and a pair of jeans, sat without a sound. Mizuki hopped up onto the seat and put her backpack on her lap. Her feet didn’t quite touch the floor. “Mizuki, I heard from Renju you’ve been stopping by Lemniscate often. How do you find it?”

Mizuki perked up. “Good,” she said, nodding. “It’s been growing a lot! Even one of our best friends works for him now.”

“Our?”

“She’s Bibi’s friend too. Her name is Iris.”

“I see,” Shoko said. “And how have you been doing in school?”

Ah! That was the question she was hoping for. Opening her backpack, she removed the manila envelope that held her reports. Hopping off the seat, she handed them to Shoko. For a moment, Shoko didn’t take them, looking at Mizuki seriously. Mizuki thought, at first she’d misstepped, but Shoko took the envelope and opened it.

Mizuki went back and took a seat, smiling rather contentedly to herself. She’d gotten perfect marks this year so far. Well, nearly perfect.

“Very good,” Shoko said, nodding to herself and setting the report aside. "It’s just what I expect.”

Mizuki smiled at that, feeling some of the tension melt from her shoulders.

“And as for you, erm, Bibi?” Shoko said, as if the words were being forcibly pulled from her lips. Even Mizuki could tell that she didn’t want to ask. Perhaps Shoko was feeling pressure from all of them being there?

Bibi arched an eyebrow. “I didn’t think you’d ask. My grades are fine. No, I didn’t bring a progress report like Mizuki did.”

“Not causing trouble for Date, I hope?”

“None he can’t handle,” Bibi said.

“Which implies you are causing some.”

Date stepped in. “She’s a teenager. There’s always trouble with teenagers to some degree. Bibi’s been fine. Mizuki’s been fine. There’s no trouble that I haven’t already alerted you and Renju about.”

Shoko sniffed. “I see,” she said. “Well, I wouldn’t want either of my children to be a bother.”

“Your children?” Bibi muttered under her breath. Mizuki heard it, but Shoko likely didn’t. “Since when was I…” Although… Shoko’s eyebrow did lift… Maybe she heard the muttering just enough to pick up on Bibi’s frustrations?

Mizuki looked up at Bibi in concern. Bibi being here was a variable to her usual visits with Mom, and she could already tell it was causing a stir. Bibi’s resentment mixed with Mom’s disregard for her, it simply was not a great mix.

She didn’t know if she should intervene. Was it her responsibility here to play peace maker? She didn’t want to take sides here! She wanted a good visit, one where things went well and maybe created a good memory of her mother in her head. One like the theme park…

She suddenly felt guilty at that. For her, that memory had been nice, but… Bibi hadn’t been allowed to go, now had she?

It was all so complicated! Mizuki didn’t know if she could take it! She knew Bibi had been wronged, knew that Mom and Daddy never treated Bibi right, but at the same time… At the same time…

She wanted them to be proud of her.

Just then, the sound of dinging went off from the kitchen. Shoko stood.

“It would appear dinner is ready. I’ll be right back. Please, go make yourself comfortable in the dining room.”

Mizuki popped up, throwing her backpack back over her shoulders. “I’ll set the plates!” she declared. She saw an opportunity here, a chance to help, to make things better.

“That would certainly help,” Shoko noted, and turned. The two of them, Mizuki and Shoko, made their way into the kitchen. Rather large, it had been designed with a private chef in mind. Although to be fair, there was not one now. Perhaps Mom thought it best to make this meal herself just for this occasion, or she was between cooks. Either way, the plates and silverware were kept here, and Mizuki beelined for the cabinet.

As she did so, Shoko removed from the oven a rather sizable roast, steam billowing from it as she did so.

Hurrying and trying not to get too distracted, Mizuki began to stack up plates. The weight was no issue, her strength more than made up for that, allowing her to carry them all perfectly fine. She would help. She’d set the table, make sure everything went fine, and they’d all have a great dinner. It just made sense!

Carrying the plates, she made her way to the side door that led to the dining room. Her mother, moving with the roast, began moving to the door as well. Shoko moved quick, almost presuming Mizuki wouldn’t be there at all. Of course, Mizuki did the only thing she could do.

She shifted her momentum and spun a bit to avoid her mother.

Shoko didn’t notice, moving to the door in a smooth movement to set the roast on the table for the guests, but just as she reached the door…

CRASH!

One of the plates slipped from the stack Mizuki held. Shoko froze. Slowly, she set the roast on the counter nearby the door and turned.

“Do not tell me that was what I think it was.”

Mizuki paled. Still hold the stack of plates, she looked down… One of them was in pieces. White, pristine dinner plate now in shards on the floor. She had dropped one.

“Mizuki…” Shoko started, and stalked towards Mizuki.

“I-I…” Mizuki set the plates on the floor and crouched, immediately scurrying to pick up the porcelain pieces. “I’m sorry, I just…! I didn’t want to run into you and…! And then I stopped and it slipped and…!”

“You were rushing!” Shoko said. “How many times have I told you to be careful when dealing with things like this! You don’t listen! You never listen!”

“I… I just didn’t…!”

“Excuses! Do you give Date this hard of a time?!”

“No! I—“

“So it’s just me? You come into my home just to break my stuff?!”

“No! I don’t! I wanted to help!”

“Is this your idea of help?!”

Mizuki looked up. Suddenly, she saw it. She knew everything that would happen next. Shoko’s hand was raised. Mizuki, still holding the shards of plate in hand, winced, pulling in on herself. Ready for the blow to follow. Ready for the rage to be unleashed on her. Ready for the relief of tension to be blown out.

Just hit her. It was her fault. She was a bad girl. A bad girl. She broke the plate. She always messed up. She always…

“Shoko,” Date’s voice came through the doorway. “I thought I heard something.”

Mizuki looked up. The hand was lowered. Shoko wasn’t even facing Mizuki anymore, instead looking at the doorway. Date stood in the doorway to the dining room, one hand on the door. He looked at Shoko with brows furrowed.

Shoko crossed her arms.

“My daughter broke a dish. I was just explaining to her why she needs to be more careful.”

“I see…” Date said critically. “And the yelling?”

“Obviously, she needed to be scolded.”

“I think she knows full well that she made a mistake.” Date gestured at Mizuki, who was on the ground. Only then did Mizuki realize that she had tear streaks on his cheeks. Frustrated, Mizuki wiped them away on her sleeve. “Why don’t we just grab a new plate, have dinner, and try and settle down. Okay?”

Shoko looked back at Mizuki, anger still flashing in her eyes. Mizuki felt her heart sink. Then, Shoko straightened and nodded.

“Yes. That is for the best,” Shoko said, and then grabbed the food from where she set it down. Out the door she went as if none of this even happened. All the same, Date didn’t leave, and from the doorway, Mizuki just now noticed Bibi poking her head into the kitchen.

Date turned. “Go sit down, Bibi.”

“Like Hell I will,” Bibi snapped back.

Date’s face grew stern. “Sit.”

Mizuki winced. She didn’t want more fighting. She just wanted to move on.

“Mizuki is my sister. I’m not just going to leave when she—“

“I need someone keeping an eye on Shoko right now,” Date whispered. Mizuki only barely heard. “And someone to try and cool her jets.”

“She hates me,” Bibi pointed out.

“I don’t think it matters who, but if she’s stuck alone in that room, she’s just going to stew in anger. Anything she says or does to you will just roll off you. I can trust you to keep cool against her heat.”

They stared at each other, a hidden conversation unfurling. Bibi broke the gaze first, looking to Mizuki. Mizuki blinked, unsure whether she wanted Bibi to stay or go… At the moment, she just felt humiliated.

“Fine,” Bibi said. “I’ll try and placate the impossible. But if you make Mizuki cry again, I’m beating the shit out of you.”

Bibi turned and headed back to the table. From the room, she heard Bibi talk, with Shoko responding in stiff tones.

Date entered the kitchen, heading around the counter to grab a towel that sat by the oven. He came over and proffered it to her.

“Here, wipe your face.”

Mizuki eyed him warily as she took the towel, but he didn’t stare back at her. Instead, he knelt down beside her and began to pick up the remaining shards of plates. One by one, he picked them up gently.

“Here,” he said. “Let me take those before you cut yourself…”

Mizuki looked down at her hands, noticing the shards she still held. Wordlessly, she handed them to them over to him. Then, with free hands, she wiped her cheeks and nose with the towel. She knew if Shoko saw her doing this, she’d fume at Mizuki ruining a good towel with snot, but the swinging door to the kitchen was closed, and Date had told her to wipe her face… So she did.

She managed to sit upright, sniffling. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked. “I… I ruined the whole dinner.”

“No you didn’t,” he told her. “Shoko did.” Mizuki frowned. She was the one who dropped the plate, not Shoko.

“But,” Date continued. “You’re not going to believe me. That’s okay. I’m not trying to convince you right now.” He stood, all the shards now collected in his hands, and went to the trashcan, where he tossed the lot of it. They crashed in the bag. Clapping his hands, he returned to her. “What I am trying to do though is make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m… I’m fine,” Mizuki said quickly.

“Do you want to leave now?” he asked her suddenly.

“What?”

“We can go. Right now. I don’t care if it’s rude or whatever, we can head out.”

“No! No. I don’t want to go! I need to stay!”

Date looked troubled by this, scrunching his face up in thought. He was quiet for a time, and not in a way that seemed thoughtful. It was in that awkward way he would disappear for a time, as if lost in his own head. Mizuki squirmed anxiously, unsure of what to make of it.

Finally, he spoke again. “Alright,” he concluded. “We’ll stay and finish out dinner. But if Shoko tries anything like that again, we’re leaving.”

“Date, it was my fault!” Mizuki asserted. “Mom got angry because I messed up!”

Date furrowed his brows and shook his head. “Renju was certainly right about this…” he muttered under his breath.

Right about what? What did Daddy tell Date? Mizuki opened her mouth to ask, but Date spoke before she had a chance.

“Listen, kid. No matter what you think, what I said stands. If things get heated like that again, we leave. Period. End of story.”

“You can’t just do that!”

“I can and I will,” he asserted.

Mizuki frowned. This… This wasn’t fair! He didn’t understand the situation, didn’t understand anything! Didn’t he…? What was he seeing that she was missing here? It felt like there was a piece that Mizuki was missing, something deeply wrong with the situation that she wasn’t realizing.

Until something fell into place in her mind. It was… because Mom was about to hit her, wasn’t it? Despite being a bad girl, despite having messed up, that was the cause of Date’s worry. It worried Bibi, it worried Date… They didn’t understand it. In all honesty, Mizuki didn’t understand it either. She was afraid of messing up, afraid of the pain, but also, a part of her knew that the pain meant catharsis, meant she knew for sure she had messed up.

Yet, Date had never raised a hand to hit her, she thought. He wasn’t her parent, so maybe that was why? No… It was different. Date treated her differently than Mom. In a way that one mess up didn’t fill her with such dread.       

She didn’t need to impress Date. She needed to impress Mom. She couldn’t fail Date, but she always seemed to fail Mom.

She shook her head. No, she couldn’t think of her mother like that. She loved Shoko, she just wanted Mom to be proud of her! That was all! Who cared what Date thought? He was a rotten old man who blew all his money on beer and porn.

Date offered her a hand to help her up. She took it, standing. She didn’t feel like the world had gotten much clearer, but all the same, she knew that she had made the right choice to stay the rest of dinner. Date had his faults, but she was thankful that he respected her decision enough to stay despite his concerns.

She took a shaky breath. “Alright, let’s set the table,” she said, and then gathered up the plates. Date didn’t immediately follow her, watching her with concern. All she could do was sigh.

“Are you just gonna stand there?” she demanded. “Or are you gonna help me? We’ll never eat at this rate.”

“Right,” Date said, although the concern didn’t leave his face. He took some utensils and followed Mizuki out into the dining room.

Bibi looked relieved to see them. The conversation she’d been having with Shoko ended abruptly.

“Took you two long enough,” Shoko said. “Dinner was growing cold.”

“Sorry about that,” Date said. “I hope you two had a nice talk?”

Bibi rolled her eyes. “Thrilling.”

“Yes, well,” Shoko straightened her blouse. “It was good to catch up.”

Date and Mizuki set the table. On plates, Shoko began to portion out the food that she had prepared. Dinner began wordlessly. Mizuki always though the table intimidatingly large. Rarely was it full. Often times, everyone simple clustered on one half of it, the other half empty and barren. It made the room feel too large, abandoned.

Shoko ate like nothing happened. She neatly cut into her roast and ate with a straight back and perfect posture. Date slouched, looking at Mizuki every once and a while. She wished he’d stop doing that. Instead of looking at her, Bibi would occasionally glare at Shoko… Mizuki also wished Bibi would stop doing that too…

The thick tension in the room hovered over the four of them. Shoko made no attempt at conversation. Mizuki didn’t want to, afraid of reminding her mother of her past transgression. Date tried to start a conversation, but Shoko’s one word replies made any attempt fall flat.

In the end, the dinner was miserable. Mizuki didn’t regret staying. After all, leaving would be to fail, but all the same, nothing seemed to go well. Mizuki’s guilt only increased. If she hadn’t dropped that plate… If she hadn’t messed up, things would be different.

Dinner dragged on. Mizuki didn’t know if she should use the card Date had given her, play it and leave the dinner early. She ended up not doing so.

It was Date who ended the dinner after all.

“Whelp,” he said, standing, plate empty. “I think we better hit the road. It’s getting late, and I don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

Bibi quickly stood. “Yeah, I have homework I need to take care of before school tomorrow,” she said. “I think we should go.”

Mizuki did not stand. “But… Mom, should we stay and help with the dishes?”

“And have you drop another one?” Shoko said with a sniff. “No, I think I’ll handle doing the dishes just fine tonight. It was nice to see you three all the same despite the… incident.” She finally stood, leaving Mizuki the only one still seated.

Reluctantly, Mizuki too rose from her seat. She didn’t hold her breath on hearing the one thing she wondered would come out of this visit, an invitation to live with her again. That hope shattered along with the dinner plate.

Yet, she didn’t feel all that disappointed. Strange, she thought. But with a little thought, she realized that it was for the best. Maybe staying with Date was a good thing. It was good for Bibi, and Mizuki didn’t want to be separated from Bibi… And Date… Well, it could be worse, right?

She remembered the way he stood in the doorway, his presence stopping Shoko’s hand from falling and striking her. Mizuki’s heart skipped a beat. Maybe… Date wasn’t so bad… Sure, he didn’t understand that Mizuki deserved it, but his heart was in the right place, right?

Shoko showed them the door and watched them make the walk to the Ford. Before getting in the car, Mizuki turned, just in time to see Shoko go inside the home, shutting the door behind her. Leaving the three of them now, her presence completely gone. Mizuki got in the back seat while Bibi took shotgun, and the three of them were pulled out of the driveway and left.

“I can’t believe her,” Bibi said only moments after they were out of sight of home. “The fucking nerve. Can’t she control her anger for one dinner?”

“Bibi,” Date warned.

“No! I’m not going to just stay quiet about this. Mizuki was looking forward to this dinner all week, and Shoko goes and ruins it.”

“I ruined it…” Mizuki sulked.

“Oh no,” Bibi turned in her seat and looked Mizuki in the eyes. “None of that. You dropped one plate. One plate she didn’t even care about, and that was her response? Accidents happen. She needs to get over herself.”

“I… I really don’t want to talk about it,” Mizuki said, curling up in her seat. Bibi turned back to face the road.

“She’s lucky I let Date take control. If it were me, she’d be having a earful,” Bibi grumbled.

Date sighed. “I think the situation is a bit more complicated than you think it is, Bibi…”

“How?! There’s no universe in which it’s OK to hit a child!”

“That’s not what I mean. I mean Mizuki’s feelings are a lot more complicated, right? I know it’s easy for you, but for Mizuki it’s not so simple.”

Bibi crossed her arms and sagged in her seat. “I guess,” she conceded.

“Mizuki,” Date said. Mizuki looked up at him through the rear-view mirror. “Do you want to head home, or are you okay with making one stop before we do so?”

“Why are you asking me? Stop wherever, I don’t care,” Mizuki sulked.

“Alright, one stop it is,” Date said. “Thanks for the suggestion.”

“Who are you thanking?” Bibi asked.

“Oh, er… No one. Just myself. I’m a genius like that, you’ll see.”

==§§==

“A bookstore?” Bibi asked as they stood in front of the shop.

“Not just any bookstore. A used bookstore. Who knows what treasures they will have!” Date declared proudly. He gestured at the sign, worn and dangling from rusty chains. He frequently visited this store in particular because it tended to get a good selection of choice… materials… in frequently. He was on good terms with the owner, an old man who ran the shop with his wife.

Bibi raised an eyebrow at the man. She must be on to what he was doing, trying to distract Mizuki from what happened at dinner today. It was late, and he had no choice but to find some place he knew for sure would be open.

Going to a store to buy Mizuki a treat had been Aiba’s idea. However, this bookstore in particular had been Date’s… expansion on the idea.

You know, when I said treat, I thought of something more conventional. But a bookstore is not a bad idea, Date, Aiba said to him. Mizuki does like to read, and she might find some interesting books in here! Educational and responsible! If it wasn’t for the fact that I know why you visit here other times…

Date snorted, taking the praise in stride and ignoring the condescension.

Mizuki looked between Date and the store, seeming curious herself. “Well, it looks like it’s closed?” Mizuki noted. The windows were dim, and there seemed to be no activity. “But the sign says it’s open for another hour, so… Maybe it’ll be fine?”

“Don’t worry, they’re open. I’m a loyal customer, so don’t worry about rushing to pick anything out either. In we go, girls!”

He pushed them both forward towards the door, his patented smirk on his face.

A bell jingled as they opened the door. The old man sat behind the counter right beside it, leaning back in a chair with a yellowed paperback in hand.

“Mr. Takeshi!” Date exclaimed as he entered behind Bibi and Mizuki. The old man set the book down, eyes going wide.

“Ahhh, so these are the two you told me about!” Takeshi grinned, his smile missing two teeth. “I’ve been wondering when you’d swing by with them.”

“You know him?” Bibi asked.

“Sure I do! I come here often.”

“I didn’t take you for someone who buys books…” Bibi prodded.

Mr. Takeshi laughed. “Oh, he buys alright.”

“Where’s the wife?” Date asked, ignoring Bibi’s comment.

“Oh, she’s upstairs, said she wanted to do some cleaning. We’re not exactly booming for business are we, so I don’t need the extra hands tonight.”

Date quickly walked up to the counter. In hushed tones, he leaned across it. “By the way, did you happen to get that order I asked about in yet?”

Mr. Takeshi winked and reached down to a box beside him. From within, he pulled out a brown paper bag, thin, holding what Date knew to be….

“I got it right here.”

“I’ll take it when we check out,” Date nodded, tears welling in his eyes. He knew the beauty that was contained within that bag, and if he could, he’d keep it secret from the girls and his collection would be one member larger!

Is that why you came here? To pick up porn?! Aiba exclaimed.

Not the only reason! I just figured… You know… While I’m here?

Aiba sighed, and Date braced himself for a static shock that didn’t come.

Instead, he turned, and was met with the glare of Bibi. Mizuki, meanwhile, had already wandered off.

“Heh… Anyway. Go on. Go look. Books are on me, so get what you want!”

“You’re hopeless,” Bibi said. “Don’t think I’m not onto you.” With that warning, she too turned and departed into the store. The shelves were stacked full, often with two rows of books per shelf. Even then, there were small towers of books on the floor, precariously piled a-plenty.

He let out of a breath of relief, turning back to Mr. Takeshi behind the counter. “Girls huh?”

“Your daughters right?” he asked.

“Huh?” Date startled. “No, not at all. Consider them more like… temporary roommates!”

Takeshi chuckled. “Roommates. Temporary. Right. And that’s why you’ve been telling me about them for the last few years?”

“Circumstances have sort of made it… a long-term arrangement, but it shouldn’t be forever.”

“Date. Come on now. How long have they been with you?”

“Well, I think it’s nearly four years now? A bit less?”

Takeshi raised a skeptical eyebrow. “At this point, they’ve been with you so long that not having them around will feel downright odd. Trust me, I have kids of my own. Fully grown now mind you, but you certainly feel their absence when they’re not around.”

“You don’t understand the situation,” Date said, shaking his head.

I don’t know, Aiba suddenly spoke up. Maybe he has a point, Date. You refer to this as temporary, but after today, do you really think you can send either Bibi or Mizuki back to live with Shoko?

Date frowned.

“Maybe I don’t,” Takeshi said. “And I certainly don’t want to stick my nose where it don’t belong, but just think on it, alright? It’s worth considering.”

But… Am I really the best person to watch the two of them? he wondered to Aiba.

Before Aiba could respond, Date shook his head and smiled. “Well, I’m sure things will work out either way,” he said. He tapped the counter and pointed to Takeshi. “Keep that grail ready for me when we come to check out, alright?”

Takeshi nodded and wagged the paper bag with a wink. “Of course. Ready and waiting!”

Date turned and left, heading into the stacks to see where the girls were. They still had plenty of time to choose, but he wanted to get away from Takeshi before the conversation struck too close to home. He liked the man, but sometimes he was too clever for his own good.

He found both of the girls together, talking in hushed tones. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Bibi finally had a moment alone with Mizuki, and she wasn’t going to spend it looking for books on her own. Date hesitated to approach.

“What do you want?” Bibi asked.

“I was just checking in on you guys. Wanted to see if you needed any help picking out a book.”

Mizuki looked to the floor and then sighed. They were seated on two old wooden chairs. There was a third, but it had books stacked on it. Date didn’t want breach their space, especially if it involved moving those books.

“It’s fine,” Mizuki said. “I’m fine.” She slid off the seat and stood. “You both are hovering over me like I’m in danger or something. I’m fine.”

Bibi didn’t look hurt or offended. Instead, she watched carefully as Mizuki went to the shelf and began to scan it.

“Here,” she said suddenly, pulling a book from the shelf. “I want this one.”

She held up a thick book, heavy looking. It had a colorful cover with an ocean blue and fish of rainbow hues.

Creatures of the Sea the cover read, and she held it out.

“You just picked that at random,” Bibi said. “You have time to look.”

“No, I want this,” Mizuki stepped away from the shelf, bringing the book against her chest. Her gaze lingered at the shelf for a little longer before she turned away. “Is that a problem?”

“No, if that’s what you want, I’ll get it for you…” Date said, rubbing the back of his head.

Mizuki nodded. “Good,” she said.

“Bibi? Is there anything you want?”

Bibi stood, sighing. “No, I’m good. I think Mizuki just wants to head home.”

Date furrowed his brows. I really thought coming here was a good idea… he thought to Aiba.

I think it was a good idea even if you had selfish reasons for choosing this particular bookstore.

Mizuki approached Date and looked up at him. Date cut off his conversation with Aiba, meeting her gaze.

“Date,” Mizuki said. “Um… Thanks. By the way.”

And with that, she slipped past him, heading to the front of the store. It didn’t take long for both Bibi and Date to hear Mizuki and Takeshi talking.

“What was that about?” Date asked Bibi.

Bibi shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly. Even when I was talking to her, she seemed to be somewhere else.”

Date looked behind him. He couldn’t see her, a bookshelf blocked the view to the front of the store, and then back at Bibi. He didn’t expect a thanks, wasn’t even sure what he was being thanked for… But he’ll take it.

He gestured with his chin to the front of the store, signaling they should go. Bibi stood, and they went to the storefront.

They saw Mizuki already reading from the book, flipping through and seeming immersed with the study of marine biology.

 “Bibi,” Mizuki said. “Did you know a Clione can survive without food for six whole months?”

Bibi perked up. “Oh, really?” She went up to her sister and craned her neck to look at the book as well.

Date went up to the counter and began digging in his pocket for some cash. “How much do I owe you?”

Takeshi gave him the total. The magazine in the bag cost more than MIzuki’s book, so Date gladly paid. Takeshi looked to the girls and then at Date as he put the cash in the register.

“You three take care, alright?” he said, chuckling to himself. “And you girls keep Date in line. He needs firm guidance or else he’s going to get himself in trouble.”

“Don’t I know it,” Mizuki said, rolling her eyes at Date. She turned and left, Bibi in tow. Date sighed, looking at Takeshi.

“Wish me luck,” he said.

Takeshi gave Date a mock salute as he left the store, finding the girls already waiting for him at the car.

==§§==

That night, Mizuki lay awake. Bibi slept soundly beside her, and she could hear Date snoring from the couch. She wanted to sleep, knew she needed to, but memories from the past replayed in her mind over and over. She was tired, but sleep eluded her all the same.

Slowly, she got up out of bed. The only light in the room was Date’s weird prosthetic eyeball, it’s charging light like a dim night-light. Bibi made a mumbling noise, but did not wake, thankfully.

She stood looking down at Date. In one hand, she still held the Addorabbit doll he had gotten her years ago. She still slept with it, even if there wasn’t much space in the bed for Bibi and her, let alone the bulky head of the plush.

“Stupid, Date,” she whispered, but her heart wasn’t in it. She turned, looked at Bibi. The apartment was small, and within it, Mizuki realized she had two significant people living within it.

Bibi, her protector. She had always been there for her, always comforted her and wiped away her tears. Before coming to live at the Date residence, Bibi was like a refuge against the storm that was her life. As Mizuki grew older, she realized just how much Bibi sacrificed to be that refuge for Mizuki. Why had Mizuki wanted to go back to Shoko? Leave Bibi behind or drag her back into that world of sacrifice?

It was selfish, Mizuki decided. Pure selfishness.

But the alternative was Date. She looked down at the man sleeping on the couch, splayed out, arm thrown over its back. And she smiled, shaking her head. He could’ve just left well enough alone at dinner, ignored everything. Bibi would’ve stepped up to comfort her after, and everything would’ve been fine, but… He didn’t.

He had to stick his nose into everything, didn’t he?

Her heart thumped as the memory of Date standing in that doorway came back to her. The image grew more pronounced. Shoko loomed so large over her, covering the whole kitchen in shadow. Then the door opened, light spilling into the kitchen, and there was Date and Bibi both, ready to protect her.

She shut her eyes and pulled Addorabbit in close.

No, she loved her mom. Seeing her in that light felt wrong, but…

But…

There was this unmistakable reality now. As fuzzy and weird as her family was…

In truth, at this moment? It was the three of them versus the world.