Your Babies | Sano Shinichiro

VI

You feel yourself being shaken awake, Shinichiro's hand gently pinching your cheeks.

Clicking your tongue, you swipe his hand away from your face, squinting as you try to adjust your eyes from the dim lights in the train. Who thought it was a good idea to take the train at night?

It was your idea,

You could've been sleeping at the hotel and waking up tomorrow for the early train, but alas, Manjiro's been calling the two of you nonstop, asking when you'll be coming home already. And since you can't say no to his requests, you obliged, buying the latest train ticket for the night after spending the day with Izana and Kakucho before quickly hopping in the train and immediately falling asleep on Shinichiro's bony but comfortable shoulder.

"Wake up, princess, we need to walk home." Shinichiro whispers into your ear, arm draped over your shoulder as he starts guiding you out of the train, handing you a bag while he pulls the other one behind you. "Or do you want to take a taxi home? It's a pretty long walk. 20 minutes."

You shake your head at his suggestion, not wanting to waste money just because you're a little sleepy. "No, it's fine. We can stop by the convenience store and get something to eat on the way back, just so that we won't have to wake anyone up trying to look for food at home."

With that, he leads the two of you back home, letting the silence of the night surround the two of you, not needing to fill the silence with small talk with both of you tired from the long train ride.

You're about 10 minutes from home when you stop by the convenience store. Setting the bags by the chairs and tables outside, you silently hand the money to Shinichiro, opting to wait for him outside by the bags and secure your seats for the night even though you're the only ones outside along with a teenager who seems to be buying some snacks for the night.

Letting out a sigh, you scroll through your unanswered messages, sending a quick text to grandpa telling him that the two of you are only a few minutes away. You don't receive a reply from him though since he's probably asleep already.

Putting your phone back in your pocket, you peek inside the convenience store, seeing Shinichiro already paying for some onigiri, cup noodles and sausages along with some soda.

Straightening your back, you set the smaller bags on the floor, clearing the table for Shinichiro to put the food on. But then, just as he's about to step out of the convenience store, you hear his phone start ringing.

Standing from your seat, you take the cup noodles and soda from him, carefully setting it on the table and taking the rest from him once he's close enough. "Answer it, might be important." You whisper to him, ushering him off to the corner while you wait for him by your table, hungrily eyeing the steaming cup of noodles and sausages.

You can already smell it even though it's covered.

Unable to resist the temptation, you take one of the sausages before biting it.

It tastes so good...

Maybe another bite won't hurt...

Before you know it, you managed to finish one of the sausages on the plate by the time Shinichiro got back from his phone call.

He raises his brow at you once he sits down. "Really? Couldn't even wait for me to arrive?" You almost choke on the sausage that you're trying to chew when he rolls his eyes at you, a sheepish laugh bubbling in your throat.

"Sorry Shin, the sausage just smelled so good..."

He rolls his eyes once more. "Of course it does, I'm the one who cooked it." He boasts while opening up the cup noodles, handing you your chopsticks before starting to dig in.

"You literally just put it in the microwave for a few seconds. You didn't cook shit."

"I picked the best sausage with my good culinary skills. I'm practically a god when it comes to sausages. You'd know after last night, eh?" He wiggles his eyebrows at you, his suggestive look making you want to walk out right now and leave him by himself.

"Shut up Shin or I'll shove this sausage down your throat-"

"Like last night-"

His voice gets cut off by a surprised shriek, body almost falling off of the plastic chair while trying to dodge your oncoming attack with a rolled up tissue paper. "Calm down, my darling clementine!"

"That is the worst name you've come up with, Shin. The worst." You say after going back to your seat to enjoy your late dinner.

He shrugs at your comment while also going back to eating, "Well, it must be good to some degree if it was in a song, right?"

Now, it's your turn to roll your eyes. "There are times where I think about why I agreed to be your girlfriend, Shin. Now is one of those times."

He chuckles at that, his hand quickly making their way to your face in order to pinch your nose. "You say that and yet, you stay with me. You even started moving into our house last year. You barely go to your house now."

"I only moved in with you because of Manjiro and grandpa. Who knows what you'll start feeding them if I wasn't there to help cook." You tease him as you take a bite from the onigiri.

"And to help me keep the house clean, keep Manjiro in check so that he won't beat me up, teach Manjiro school work, love me, love my family, love me, shove to my friends' faces that I'm not single unlike them, love me, support me, love me. Oh, and love me too."

"I think you forgot to add the loving part, Shin. That's an important part of the job too." You point out as you give him the other half of the sausage. He gratefully opens his mouth, closing his eyes for effect as he chews on the juicy sausage.

He lets out a delighted sigh after taking a slurp of the soup from the noodles. "I think you got the loving me part covered. You love me so well." He says with a slightly full mouth, dark eyes staring right into you as you finish up your cup noodles.

Noticing the smitten look, you can't help but lean closer to him. "Well, I'm glad that you enjoy the love, Shin."

By now, you're only a few inches away from his face after he started leaning in as well, an impish smile on his face. "I'd enjoy it more if we were married, baby girl."

Your nose scrunches up at the nickname, immediately pushing him away from you to which he guffaws. "My god, you just ruined a perfectly good moment." Starting to clean up, you continue to listen in on Shinichiro's loud and boisterous laughter, something that you should be stopping since it's only a few minutes before midnight and you might just get yourself yelled at if he continues laughing so loudly.

"C'mon, Shin. We need to go home before you start rolling on the floor from how funny your nicknames are." You deadpan, already taking the bags with you and walking away to which Shinichiro quickly scrambles to his feet, arm slinging on your shoulder while taking the bags from you.

"That's a good idea, my beloved. We need to get home early and sleep since Emma's gonna be arriving tomorrow." He says it so nonchalantly that you almost brush over it.

It takes the two of you a few more steps before you realize his words, your hands instinctively gripping him harder as you start pulling him home, adrenaline coursing through your sluggish body.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? We should hurry so we can wake up early tomorrow! What if she arrives while we're still dead asleep?!"

A laugh escapes his lips, eyes glimmering under the moon as he stares at you. "Then I guess she can just stare at my dear sleeping beauty until you wake up."