rabenhorst | (no subject)

Title: First Love, Last Love; Chapter 5
Author:

fonulyn
Rating: NC17 overall
Pairing: Die and Kaoru
Disclaimer: We own no one, only our dirty imaginations.
Summary: When Kaoru and his wife get a divorce, he is forced to leave his little daughter to live with her mother when he’s moving out. He finds support in his best friend, but is friendship everything life has in store for them? Or is their past together going to resurface now that Kaoru’s life has been turned upside down? ~~[yes, I am aware that sounds like an ad for a b-class soap opera XD]~~
Comments:

seinen_no: There you go. You all wanted to know how Mika finds out, right? Then go ahead and read it^^ Again, we jumped ahead a bit in time though. I hope it's not too drastic. Gods, my brains are not functioning today (only today? XD), so I better shut up already.

fonulyn: I really like the mood in this chapter somehow. heh, so hopefully you’ll enjoy it too ;) I don’t know what else to say, since I don’t want to give away too much in advance XD But I promise, it’s a good chap *grin*

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Previously happened: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

First Love, Last Love
Chapter 5

They were facing a stressful time with moving and still having to run the band. Luckily, there were only a few interviews ahead and some shows to play, all not far away though. Kaoru hated that they didn't have the time to unpack everything at once after moving into the new apartment. Usually, things like that didn't disturb him so much, but when he was stressed, he needed a cosy place to retreat to.

The moving itself went smoothly though, and Mika was even helpful in the end unlike they had thought. She was all enthusiastic to build up her own room, and it ended up to be the first ready room in the whole apartment. It took weeks for them to get all the things unpacked though, and finally they moved a couple of boxes to the basement as it was beginning to look like they weren't able to get them unpacked ever. It annoyed both of them, but they tried not to let it affect their life too much. Apparently, there were unimportant things in those boxes anyways as it seemed and so they forgot about them soon. Especially when the time of promoting the new album and then touring came, things like that were forgotten quickly.

The new apartment was nice though, and even when Mika came for a visit they had enough room for all of them. It was awkward for the guitarists in the beginning though, because every time they knew the girl was going to come for a visit, Die had to retreat to the guestroom they had, trying to make it look like he actually did live there.

Mika was growing up fast, only that Kaoru still somehow saw her as a nine-year old little girl instead of the sixteen-year-old young lady she was. 'Almost sixteen' Kaoru would've now said for Mika's birthday was still almost two months away. It was true though, whenever he looked at her, he saw his little girl with the braids and a bright blue dress and it was hard for him to accept that she was growing to become a young woman. Still, he had talked to her about sex a couple of times already, not wanting her to be as unprepared as he had been. But he had begun quite early with that, so it was no indicator for him accepting that she had grown up and Die knew that too.

Sometimes, when she announced her stay spontaneously, she didn't come every second weekend anymore since a long time but whenever she felt like it, it was stressful to prepare everything to make it appear as if there were two people living together as flatmates and not lovers. Often Die felt somewhat weird as he was trying to fall asleep in the guestroom, knowing Kaoru was just a few rooms away from there, sleeping in the bed they usually shared. He felt even a bit abandoned, although he knew there was no sense to feel like that. And it was only in those moments when he was lying in the dark and trying to sleep when it bothered him.

Otherwise he was glad that Mika was around more often, as he knew how much the girl meant to his lover, and he had grown attached to her himself even, often thinking of her almost as if she was his daughter as well. She turned to him for advice more often lately, probably because certain topics were easier to discuss with the redhead than with her parents. When she had had her first troubles with boys, she asked Die how she should react and not her father or her mother as she felt she could be more open with him.

Die did his best to be there for her, to give her advice if he knew how to and to just listen to her when she needed it. Sometimes he told Kaoru about the talks they had had, if he thought it was necessary, but some things he kept as a secret as she trusted him with them. Mika obviously enjoyed staying with the guitarists since she hung out there more often since it was quieter there and she didn't feel like being watched constantly. At her place, her little brother and sister were constantly bugging her with something or Nozomi relied on her to look after them whenever she was out. She simply lolled on the couch and switched through the cannels or hung on the phone or the computer, chatting with her friends.

Kaoru wasn't at home and Die had promised her to watch a DVD together as she had a little cold and couldn't go to meet her friend that evening which made her a bit sad. Die made both of them a big cup of hot chocolate, even digging out some cookies before getting to the living room and settling into the other end of the couch as she was occupying the other. Kaoru wouldn't be home in hours yet, as he had a meeting and he had warned them it would take long. Smiling, Die handed the girl her mug. "Here, it'll warm you up."

"Thank you." She smiled at him and instantly took a long sip. She had been a bit angry at her mom and dad since they had both forbade her to go to that certain friend's party because she was having a fever, but she was feeling a lot better already. However, she was determined to enjoy the evening somehow still and skimmed through the DVDs which the redhead had piled on the table.
Suddenly, she looked up. "Say, do you know where dad hides his Akira mangas? I wanted to read them again and couldn't find them anywhere."

"Yeah, under our bed." Die nodded towards the bedroom, before he noticed that there had been something odd in the sentence. He hoped that the girl didn't notice it though, neither the slight blush that appeared on his cheeks and quickly corrected babbling. "Under his bed in the bedroom, he has this box for them there and you know how much he tries to protect those."

Mika grinned, even chuckling as the redhead was stumbling with his words. "Don't worry, I've known for long that it's your bedroom as well," she remarked coolly, taking another sip from her hot chocolate.

"You WHAT?" The redhead was stunned, only staring at her from slightly widened eyes. His heart was beating a bit faster as he couldn't help but to be nervous.

"Die, I am fifteen. I'm not dumb," she went on, the grin back on her face which made her eyes sparkle with the same kind of mysteriousness as her father's. "Actually," she leaned back, crossing her legs nonchalantly, "I've been waiting for you to tell me. I thought it was none of my business, although it was kinda cute how nervously you arranged everything when I visited you to make it appear as if you lived in this shoe-box of a room."

"And here I thought we were good at hiding it." The small blush was still lingering on Die's cheeks, but he couldn't suppress the grin that was breaking free. "I should've known you're clever enough not to be fooled like that."

"I don't know," Mika shrugged, "I never thought about this until a certain age since you always have been around. I'm only a bit disappointed that nobody ever told me before." She looked up, straight into his eyes, a smirk tugging the corners of her mouth. "So you can bring your stuff back into your bedroom if you want to. No need to play hide and seek anymore. How were you planning this anyways? Telling me when I marry or what?"

"I don't know how your dad had planned it exactly." The guitarist confessed with a slight chuckle. "You know that he sometimes still sees you as this little girl you were ten years ago." It was actually kind of nice to talk with Mika like that, although the odd situation made him somewhat nervous still.

"He always does that. A week ago, he even brought me this totally uncool cellphone strap with a Hello Kitty instead of one of yours with the bones and the guitarpic which I would've preferred." She grinned. "But sometimes he seems to understand that I'm not ten anymore."

Suddenly, she tilted her head and pierced Die with her gaze. She was truly her father's daughter, because a look of her like that caused a shiver down your spine and made you shift unpleasantly in your seat, feeling as if she could look straight through you. "Say, are you the reason why they broke up?"

"No." Die shook his head, honestly answering the gaze. He didn't even think about it, as he knew the answer instantly. "We got together weeks after the divorce. And they were planning on breaking up for long before they even did."

"I thought so. It's just that mom once mentioned something which got stuck in my head and ever since I found out about dad and you I asked myself if she had meant you." Mika smiled again, pulled her legs on the couch and leaned back comfortably. "I like you really much, you know. It's a bit as if I'm having two dads, well three with Hiroki," she gave away, deliberately mentioning her stepfather at last place.

"I'm glad you don't at least hate me." Die smiled brightly, finally beginning to relax somewhat on his place, the initial shock fading. He had known that the girl had nothing against him at least, but the way she took this was just overly cool. "Mind if I ask, just out of curiosity, what was it your mom said? That made you think it was me..."

"I think she doesn't even remember it anymore since I was quite little, but she was having an angry fit while she was talking to dad on the phone and she yelled something like 'Of course that bastard's going to be there too. It's all his fault.' But I don't know what she meant," Mika answered honestly, smiling. "Children do get a lot more than one might think." Not only didn't she have anything against Die, she really liked him a lot, trusted him.

"She had a tiny problem with me always, I guess." Die sighed a bit, nodding at the answer. He got along with Nozomi nowadays but there had been a time when she didn't stand the sight of him. "I guess she feared that I'd come between her and Kao. But I honestly didn't have anything to do with their divorce."

"May I now ask you something?" Mika asked and went on without waiting for an answer, "Why did she despise you so much back then? I mean, you were dad's best friend, but she seemed to see you as a rival. At least after what I understood."

"Well," The redhead drawled, but eventually decided he could be completely honest with her. "She knew that Kao and I had a past together. But it was years before she met him."

"I see. Well," the girl shrugged, "it's a bit odd to know that your father's gay, but it's nothing to sweat about. At least he has a good taste if you ask me." She gave him a stunning smile, showing her teeth.

"Thankies." Die mirrored the smile, honestly appreciating how the girl was being so cool about everything. "I take that as a huge compliment, you know."

"I hope so. I love my dad, but really," the smile widened to a smirk, "at one point I thought there was something wrong with him because he didn't have a new girlfriend while my mom already married again."

"Well, you know that he can be a bit antisocial at times." Die had to laugh, the girl's expression adding up to it even, as she looked just like her dad right now.

"Yeah right." Mika burst out laughing and slapped Die's thigh. "So maybe that would've been his excuse for leading a life in celibacy once I asked him. One might think that a rockstar would be a bit more open with his life, but no, not my dad. He is a saint, the pope even."

"He tries hard to be." The redhead grinned merrily. "But you have to have mercy on him. He loves you so much that he didn't want you to think anything bad of him. That's why he didn't dare to tell."

"I think I can understand that. Although it’s nonsense. I could never hate him. He's been a good dad and was always there. I remember the day when I left school alone and tried to get to his apartment because mom didn't come to pick me up. The thought of getting home never crossed my mind and I only wanted to see him. But when you all came to pick me up, I saw how worried he was and it kinda shocked me back then. I've never seen dad like that." The girl gave away, biting her lip contemplatively. "I didn't want to worry him."

"You were a child, and you just did like you thought was alright back then." Die looked at her honestly, pulling his legs up to hug them against his chest. "He loves you so much, he was totally scared that something would've happened to you. To him you mean more than anything else in the world." He smiled softly.

"I love him too. But you know," she looked at the redhead openly, "I'm glad that he isn't alone. I mean that he has someone like you to be there for him. I know he's been disappointed whenever I said I didn't have the time to visit, because we only see so rarely. I always felt so bad until I realized that you are together."

"I'm not that good of a substitute for you, so be sure to visit us as often as possible." He smiled, trying to sound cheerie although there was some seriousness in his words. "But I'll be there for him always, I'm not going anywhere."

"Baka," Mika said, pushing his head back with her index-finger. "Of course you're not going anywhere, because there's no chance in hell you'd ever find anybody like my dad." She winked smiling. "And beware, I might fall for spending my holidays with you and follow you along on tour. I've been waiting for you to take me along to foreign countries and Kyo said I'm old enough now."

"Well, we have to consider that now. But you do have your own life too, don't you? Or are you expecting you'll hang on to us 24/7 now?" Die chuckled, inquiring her with sparkling eyes.

"That depends on how nice you are. I mean, if you allow me to go out too, I might grant you a little peace with my dad, but if you're acting all like a grown-up, I could fall for clinging to you all the time." The girl grinned exaggeratedly. "And then, I'm going to sleep between you two for I'm still daddy's little girl and am afraid of the dark," she added, batting her eyelashes which gave her an innocent expression.

"You're totally evil, I hope you know that. And you're blackmailing me!" Die tried to suppress his grin, creating an appalled look and just staring at the girl in pretended shock.

"Well, yeah." Mika grinned still. "That is, of course, if you want to tell dad that I know. You can also keep it a secret though and sleep in that muggy small shoe-box when I decide to spend my summer holidays here."

"I think I'd prefer letting him know." The redhead smirked wearily. "Although it might give him a heart attack and then he's of no use anyways."

"You two are old. That's just it. You stay behind and don't notices alterations and can't deal with them." The girl again leaned back into the cushion and emptied the rest of her, now cold, chocolate.

"I'm not old." Die shook his head convinced. "Your dad is though. That I admit."

"You both are ancient. You're more than twice as old as I am. Gods, when you were born, there were still recordplayers around and a computer filled a complete room," she teased on. "But don't worry, dad will survive the shock. Maybe he needs a bit of loving care for one or two years, but then he'll learn to deal with it."

"Well, as soon as he notices that you're cool with it he'll deal with it." He was completely convinced of that, as the fear that she'd disapprove had been the only thing why they hadn't told her already. "And I have to say, I'm glad you're such a clever girl."

"So that you now can do naughty things in the bedroom even when I'm here?" Mika asked rascally.

"Probably not." Die grinned. "But I'm just content enough when I don't need to move into the guestroom anymore."

"It's been strange anyways that there's not even a stereo in your room and the desk there is kinda capital." She shook her head disbelieving. "I still don't get who you were trying to fool there."

"We thought we were believable enough." The answer came with a slightly embarrassed chuckle, as the redhead only now saw all the flaws in their plans.

"If you're not the reason why my parents split up, may I ask since when you're together?" Mika looked at him straight, a bit more serious although her eyes were still sparkling.

"Uhm," The question surprised Die, since he hadn't really kept on counting days so he couldn't answer instantly. After thinking for a while he shrugged. "Well, we begun something like a couple of months after the final divorce of your parents, I think."

"So you're together for such a long time already?" The girl sounded surprised. "Wow. So I think one could say you're kinda married too, ne? I mean, that's really long."

"More than nine years." He smiled. "And I guess we're as good as married. We only miss the rings and this one piece of paper stating it."

"You should get rings." Mika nodded enthusiastically. "Don't you have anything that shows you're a couple? That's so typical for dad. He's just so unromantic. But I would've thought different of you."

"It just never seemed to be that important. I mean, we know it and it's the main thing. Besides, it's not like we would want the press to know or anything." The redhead explained. Somehow he had just never really thought about that before the girl now mentioned it.

"Oh yeah, the press. The almighty god who decides about who's in and who's out." Mika mocked. "That must be annoying at times, I guess. Do the others know? Kyo and the rest?" She was just too curious and wanted to know everything, not seeing anything wrong in that.

"They do. It would've been pretty impossible to hide it from them." Die didn't see anything bad in her asking questions either, just willingly answering her.

"You know," Mika kicked him a bit with her foot, "you're quite cool for such an old guy. And I hope you'll help me a bit when I'll ask dad for his permission to go skiing in the mountains with my friends in the winter."

"We have to see about that. But I don't see any problem with it though." The redhead winked at the girl, before taking a look at the clock. It was surprisingly late already, as they had got stuck just talking, the DVDs lying forgotten on the table.

"You're fearing the moment dad comes through that door, right?" The girl asked snickering and then sighed. "I guess the movies will have to wait for another day then. Now that we're talking so nicely, I won't let you off the hook." She held up her mug for him. "And I want another chocolate." To emphasize her plea, she coughed exaggeratedly.

"Your wish is my command." Die couldn't help but to shake his head, grinning at the girl. "You know, you're so much like him. In every way." He took the mugs, standing up to get into the kitchen.

"That's why you love me so much!" She yelled after him, giggling a bit to herself. Mika and Die had always gotten along so well, but she had the feeling that their relationship would become even better now that she knew about him and her father.

It only took a while before the redhead appeared back to the living-room, instantly handing her a cup of steaming hot chocolate. "There. But I'm being this nice to you only because you're sick now."

"Does that mean once I recovered, I will have to get the chocolate myself? You're evil." Mika pouted playfully, but then settled for blowing the hot chocolate and carefully test if one could drink it already.

"Nah, maybe not always. We'll have to see about it then." Die reached to pat her head, grinning at her. "If you're a nice girl then I'll be nice too."

"I gave you my lollipop when I was five," she pointed out with a stunning smile. Indeed, everybody had told her the story a hundred times. The band had been practicing in the studio and she had been there too, when Kaoru had been still together with her mom. Somehow everything had gone wrong for Die that day and at one point he had been yelling and just threw his guitar away. Then, Mika had taken her lolli from her mouth and had given it to him, saying. "Don't be angry. Smile."

"And you can believe I so totally loved you for that." The redhead laughed. He remembered the incident like it was yesterday, and the happy smile on her face as she had tried to make him feel better.

"Always keep that in mind. I might use that every once in a while to get what I want." She slid a bit closer to him and gave him a hug, taking on a childish tone. "I love you, uncle Daidai." Toshiya had once taught her to say his name like that when she had been very young and it had been good for many laughs. Die couldn't help but to smile, hugging the girl back. He had no words even to tell how relieved he was that she was such an open minded and nice girl. And he knew how much it meant to Kaoru that she would approve of them.

Speaking of the devil, Kaoru just opened the door and entered the hall. He was quite exhausted from the long meeting and inwardly already looking forward to taking a long shower and then just parking his butt in front of the TV. When he stepped into the living-room and saw the two hugging, he frowned playfully, pouting even. "So I'm gone for the day and my little girl's already replacing me?"

The two let go of each other, both turning to smile brightly at the lead guitarist. "Yeah, too bad. You should've just staid around, Kao. Too late now." Die winked at him, chuckling merrily.

"Dad, don't be jealous," Mika began in an apologetic tone. "I've just been chatting so nicely with your boyfriend." She grinned, but Kaoru didn't seem to get the hidden information and only nodded.

"That's nice, sweets." He bent down to unlace his shoes, but suddenly snapped back up. "My WHAT?"

Die created as innocent expression as possible, shrugging as his lover turned to look at him questioningly. "Don't look at me like that. She figured it out all by herself."

Slowly, Kaoru directed his gaze at the still grinning girl. "You found out." She snickered and tried to sound annoyed. "That I always have to repeat myself. I'm fifteen dad, I'm not stupid. There's no way in hell Die lives in that small room with no stereo and with a huge desk in the middle. Let's face it," she peeked at the redhead, "he's not that much of a filer."

"We just underestimated her intelligence." The redhead smiled, keeping his eyes on the older man and trying to see if there was some traces of annoyance in him or if he was just surprised. "And she didn't give me any other choice than to confess it eventually."

"S-so it's okay for you?" the older guitarist asked, looking as if he would sit down right where he was standing any second. They had been trying their best to hide this from the girl and now that she confessed she knew and his lover was already informed, he felt a bit overextended.

"Come on dad, why wouldn't it be?" She stood up from her seat, going straight to her dad and hugged him, seeing he was somewhat stunned still. "Just relax." Instinctively, Kaoru wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest. "Thank you," he breathed out. Nobody could understand how relieved he was. He had always feared the day, because he hadn't been sure if his daughter would be cool with the thought of him being gay.

Mika tilted her head upwards and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Love you dad." She remained standing there, but turned her head and beckoned the redhead. "Hey Die. Seems like dad's in the need of a grouphug here..."

Die couldn't help but to smile, as already seeing the father and daughter there made him somewhat emotional in a way. Wordlessly he got up, crossing the small distance to the two and wrapping his arms around them. Pressing his face against his lover's neck for a second he breathed a small kiss there, just happy that things seemed to work out so well.

"Okay guys," Kaoru mumbled after a moment, pushing both of them away from him. "Enough emotionality." He smiled, although it was still faint. But when his gaze met his lover's, he nodded slightly, showing how much he appreciated as well that Mika knew.

"So how about that movie now?" Die tilted his head, inquiring both of the others with his gaze. "It's not that late yet."

"But Mika," the older guitarist began but was cut off by his daughter. "Is old enough and can sleep in late. Yeah Die, sounds good," she answered the redhead's question with a smile. "But I will have to go to the bathroom first." She winked at him, thinking the two could need a short moment alone.

"I'll be extra nice and allow you to decide the movie." The redhead promised to the girl generously, although he knew they would've let her choose probably anyways.

"See dad, your boyfriend knows how to treat a young woman," Mika piped, vanishing in the hall to get to the bathroom. Kaoru looked at his lover, releasing a deep sigh. "And I feared this moment so much. Now I feel a bit like a fool," he admitted with a slight smile.

"She said she's just disappointed we didn't tell her earlier." Die smiled softly. "You have a really great daughter."

"She really is. A very strong personality." Smiling, the older guitarist grabbed the collar of his lover's shirt and pulled him down to give him a short kiss. "And that ALTHOUGH I'm trying to raise her."

"You're doing a fine job with that part too." The younger man ruffled the other's hair, smirking at him brightly. "Trust me."

"It's not only my merit. You do just as much and I would've had a nervous breakdown more than once if you hadn't been there with me." Kaoru gave away and slowly moved both of them to the couch, really wanting to sit down after the stressful day. Naturally the redhead leaned a bit against the other as they sat on the couch side by side. "I'm just trying to be there to help."

Suddenly he remembered something the girl had said and turned to take a look at the other, frowning playfully. "Say, why didn't you ever buy me a ring? We could at least pretend we're married..."

The older guitarist's jaw dropped a few inches and he looked pricelessly dumb. "What? How... where did that come from just now?" He had never thought of that, had always strongly believed that the love they shared would be enough for both of them and that they didn't need anything fancy like rings. After a moment, a grin spread on his face though. "You want one?"

"Nah, not necessarily. But it would be kinda romantic, don't you think?" Die smirked, leaning to plant a small chaste kiss on the other's lips.

Shaking his head disbelieving, Kaoru cupped the younger man's cheeks and gave him a slow but short kiss. "Don't try to wriggle out now. If you want, we'll get rings."

"Alright then." The redhead grinned. "I want a ring." It wasn't like his life would depend on it, but why not either? It would be kind of a nice gesture. Again, Kaoru pecked his lips, and it instantly made his grin melt into a soft smile.

"Aaawww," Mika squealed, leaning against the doorframe. "I want to help choosing them. That's so cool. Who can say that he was there when his parents bought the weddingrings?" Kaoru flinched only a tiny bit, but more due to her loudness than to the fact that she had been spying on them. "No," he shook his head. "You certainly won't choose the rings for us."

"You'll be the first one to see them, that's a promise. But let us just decide ourselves, alright?" Die just simply turned to smile at the girl, not bothering in the least that she was there.

"Okay okay," she sighed, approached them and sat down half on both men's laps. Then, she wriggled as long as it took until she was seated between them. "Let's just watch a movie now, okay?"

Kaoru looked at his lover disbelieving and then at his daughter's impudence. "Move your butt to the armchair. The grown-ups share the couch … alone."

"Hey, that's not fair." She created the best pleading look she could master, blinking at her father. "I wanna sit beside daddy."

"But daddy had a stressful day and wants to sit beside his-" The older guitarist hesitated for a moment. 'Lover' certainly wouldn't be enough to describe his relationship to the younger man. "- husband, now that he doesn't have to hide anymore. I read you a goodnight story later to make it up to you," he added snickering.

"Aw, maybe this once then." Mika chuckled, hesitating for a while before actually getting up from the couch and plopping down to occupy the armchair, making herself comfortable. By the way, she told the two men for which movie she had decided, relying that one of them would insert the DVD.

"See what a spoiled brat I got there?" Kaoru asked and took on his best pleading expression. "Would you hun?"

"Alright, alright." Die rolled his eyes theatrically before getting up and placing the DVD into the player. "Why do I have the feeling you both take advantage of my kindness?"

Two sets of eyes were blinking at him innocently. "I have no idea," Mika shook her head smiling. "It must be your natural insecurity for dad and I certainly don't take advantage of you." Kaoru grinned, mentioning by the way. "Oh, while you are already standing, could you get me a cold beer?"

"I already feel like a frustrated housewife." The redhead laughed, but actually did go to the kitchen, returning with a cold beer for the older man.

"You shouldn't be frustrated," Mika admonished him. "You have a loving and caring husband and a wonderful clever daughter." Kaoru nodded agreeing. "She's right. There's nothing to complain about since your loving and caring husband even puts the dishes into the dishwasher, does the laundry and irons his own shirts."

"Just shut up both of you and concentrate on the movie. Or is there still something else you need?" Die tried not to let his grin break free as he inquired both the other's with his gaze. Father and daughter were looking at each other for a moment and then shook their heads. "Nope, totally content," Mika stated grinning. "C'mon, sit down and enjoy the movie with us."

Chuckling, Kaoru patted the empty space beside him, even shifting a bit to the side to make room for his lover. With a theatrical sigh Die sat down, relaxing on his place. He enjoyed the moment to no end though, just the relaxed mood and everything. It was really good that everything was now out in the open.

Since Mika knew about them now, Kaoru didn't see a reason to hold back and he sneaked his arm around his lover's waist, pulling him closer against himself. After all, this was normal for a couple and reasonable for his daughter. After the long conference, he wouldn't have thought that the day could still turn out this well, but apparently he had been wrong.

They watched the movie and as soon as it ended Kaoru shooed his daughter to bed, telling her she needed her sleep and should do as she was told. Die was more than glad that he didn't have to go into the small guestroom again, and he couldn't stop smiling as he sneaked under the covers into the bed they shared. Before falling asleep he simply snuggled close to the other man, completely content.