𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 | | 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐚 𝐱 𝐊𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐡𝐚 | | 𝐊𝐍𝐘

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑: 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐎𝐟𝐟

The sounds of singing birds could be heard outside, the trees bathing in the warm sunlight and Douma admiring Kotoha's sleeping face on his chest.  'Ah~ such a beauty she is', thought Douma, he brushed his finger in her hair that was styled by himself last night, 'I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself~'  Douma chuckled, being proud of himself.  However, his thoughts were interrupted as he heard baby Inosuke starting to cry.  Confused on why the little baby was crying, he gently got up to place Kotoha on his chair and picked up Inosuke in his arms.  

"Hush, hush little Inosuke, we don't want to bother Kotoha now", said Douma, gently patting the baby's head.  'Why on earth is he crying? I didn't do anything to him and he was here all night with me and Kotoha'.  Douma thought as he examined the baby's body, 'He doesn't seem to have any injuries, so then what's the problem? ....Oh! I probably just need to feed him, haha, silly me'.  Douma quietly left the room and hummed his way to the kitchen where he found one of his servants preparing food.

"Kon'nichiwa!", smiled Douma as he approached the woman.

"Ah, kon'nichiwa, Douma-dono!", bowed the servant.  "Is there anything I can help you with, my lord?", questioned the girl. 

"Yes actually, do we have any food for babies in the kitchen? This little one is a bit hungry", chuckled Douma.  The girl nodded and opened some cupboards then handed Douma a bottle of milk.

"What is that? It seems more like a drink than food", Douma said as he tilted his head in confusion. 

"This, my lord, is baby formula.  A baby must drink milk everyday as nutrients.  Do you want me to feed it to him my lord?", asked the servant as she opened her arms, ready to hold baby Inosuke.  

"Very kind of you, but no thank you, I shall feed it to him.  Arigato~", Douma took the bottle from the servants hand and waved goodbye as he walked back, heading towards his room.  Not knowing the servant behind him was giggling in shock.  'Oh my, Douma-dono is acting like a father to miss Kotoha's child, how cute the three of them would be!' thought the girl.

Douma opened the sliding doors carefully, making sure that Kotoha wouldn't be disturbed.  He sat outside the porch holding Inosuke in his arms and stared at the little baby.  'Hmm, if I remember correctly, I have to lean up him a bit then face the bottle in front of him', Douma wondered.  He woke up little Inosuke by booping his nose, however, instead of facing the bottle in front of Inosuke to drink, Douma had stuffed the nipple of the bottle into Inosuke's mouth.  Inosuke, who had been stuffed his mouth of milk, began crying loudly, enough to wake up Kotoha.  Douma on the other hand, tilted his head in confusion, 'I gave him the milk formula, so why is he crying...?'.  Kotoha quickly stood up and walked hastily to Douma's side, wondering what all the noise was about.  She sat behind Douma, placing her hands on his shoulder and patted Inosuke's head.

"Douma-sama, what is going on?", asked Kotoha.

"Well~ Inosuke was crying earlier so I figured he wanted some food but when I gave him the bottle of milk, he started crying", explained Douma while Kotoha was wiping off the milk from Inosuke's face.

"Douma-sama, you need to carefully place the nipple of the bottle in front of Inosuke for him to see then let him drink it on his own", giggled Kotoha.

"Haahh? So you don't need to stick in their mouths?", Douma questioned in confusion.  Upon hearing this, Kotoha's body shook and her whole body turned white.

"D-Douma-sama, y-you didn't shove it in to his mouth r-right?", Kotoha asked, looking at Douma with terror.  

"Would you be mad if I said I did?", Douma chuckled awkwardly.  Kotoha gasped and clasped her hands in front of her mouth.  

"Douma-sama, please be more gentler!", softly yelled Kotoha.

"Gomen, gomen", smiled Douma as he scratched his head.  Kotoha sighed and gently placed her hands on Douma's hand that was holding the bottle.

"May I, Douma-sama?", Kotoha flashed a smile at Douma.  The same warm, gentle smile that made Douma feel fuzzy inside.  Her emerald eyes glistening in the sunlight, her hair waving in the soft breeze, her rosy red cheeks, her blood-red lips that curved into a crescent shape and her eyes looking at him with such kindness he never saw anyone look at him with before.  Douma nodded and smiled back at her.  Kotoha gently guided Douma's hand with the bottle in front of Inosuke's face.  The little baby looked up at Douma and began sipping the milk, happily.  

"Great job Douma-sama, you did it", Kotoha cheered and softly clapped.  Douma's eyes widen in shock, no had ever praised him with such love in their voices.  'A naïve but kind and bright woman she sure is...' , thought Douma.  Suddenly, a grumbling noise was heard from Kotoha's stomach and she blushed in embarrassment. 

"P-Pardon me", Kotoha said, covering her face with her hands.  Douma chuckled and placed Inosuke in her lap.

"You can stay here with Inosuke, I'll get you some soup okay~?", Kotoha nodded at Douma and he hummed once again towards the kitchen.  There were already many of his followers and servants eating breakfast together and when Douma appeared, many of them began whispering.

"I heard earlier from a servant who gave Douma-sama a bottle of milk, that he denied her offer to feed miss Kotoha's baby and said that he'd feed it instead"

"I did too, it seems that lord Douma-sama is really getting close to them"

"Yeah don't they? Imagine them being a happy family together in a few months!"

"I bet it'll be in a few weeks considering lord Douma-sama is always with miss Kotoha"

Douma heard it all as he walked passed them whispering here and there about him and Kotoha.  'A demon, a human woman and a human child? Together? What bright imagination they have, just shows how foolish humans are', Douma thought.  Once he received a warm bowl of chicken soup for Kotoha, he hurriedly walked back to be by her side and get rid of this emptiness he was feeling while walking by himself.  When he quietly opened the sliding doors and walked closer to the porch, he saw another man fiddling with Kotoha's hair.  His smiling face had turned into a smiling face of displeasure, for who dare else touch his play toy.  He knew he made it purposely clear to everyone that Kotoha wasn't to be touched by anyone else, considering the many glares and stares he'd give to any man passing by and glanced a look at Kotoha.  'Is this man being brave or just being downright stupid?', thought Douma as he took his fan out of his pockets and began fluttering it as he approached the two.

"C'mon, why don't you come with me? I can give you tour of this place if your new, don't need to be shy", suggested the man.  Kotoha, who you could tell was uncomfortable, shook her head, not saying anything but trembled on the spot as she held Inosuke. 

"My, my~ hello there, my dear follower", Douma said as he was standing over the man.  The man shook in terror as he recognized the owner of that voice and immediately started sweating.

"H-Hello my lord", said the man as he turned away from Kotoha and bowed at Douma's feet.  Douma was fluttering his fan, his eyes shaped into a upward crescent, looking happy but his voice was harsh and cold.  He walked over to shield Kotoha from the man as she stood up behind him clutching the back of his cloak.  

"Hm, I thought I had made it clear that no one should act so rude to other guests.  I suggest that you keep your hands off her", glared Douma.  His voice sounded cruel as if it belonged to someone else, his rainbow-colored eyes were dead-cold and were no longer glistening.  The man stood up and bowed before quickly walking away.  Douma signed and turned around to face Kotoha, she was still trembling and clutching his cloak tight.  He brushed her face and raised her chin to meet his eyes.

"Are you alright, Kotoha~? Sorry I got here a bit late", said Douma.  His finger caressed her face down to her hair and gazed at her beautiful, pale face.  Kotoha didn't speak but simply nodded, her body no longer trembling and was no longer holding tight of his cloak.  They both sat down, side-by-side and Douma fluttered his fan, smiling at Kotoha and Inosuke as he wrapped his arm around them both.

'Guess I'll have to get rid of some filthy trash tonight...'