Only Mine

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

To Shouta, the next three days were like living a small part of what he wished his future would be like. Every morning he would wake up with the small child in his arms and Ren holding on to them both tightly. The three of them would sit around Ren's small table and eat breakfast together before Ren would go downstairs into the cafe and bake a few items for that day.

While Ren worked, Shouta would teach Misaki how to button up his shirts properly, brush his teeth and help clean up around the house. Misaki was always smiling happily, as if this was the most grand adventure he had ever been on. Very rarely would he ask where his parents were, he was just happy to be with his sensei and Ren.

Before Shouta would leave with Misaki to the preschool, Ren would hand the both of them homemade lunches filled with the things they both loved. Shouta always wished for a kiss goodbye in those moments, but he would just smile sadly and leave to go to work.

Ren would still go pick Misaki up from the preschool so Shouta could finish what he needed to before coming home. He would leave the cafe to Akira while he gave the small child a bath, changed his clothes and then the two would go to the store to buy ingredients for dinner. By the time Shouta got home, all the dinner prep would be completed.

However, during these three days Shouta learned many things about Ren that he never knew. He found out that even though Ren baked sweets and sold them well, he disliked his coffee to be sweet and would only take it black. Everyday Shouta would come home and have to clean up after the disaster duo from the bathing escapades. That was when he realized that Ren was immaculate in front of customers but in his personal life, everything was thrown wherever and he didn't clean up very well. Shouta also found out that there were several things that Ren did not eat. He was fine with cooked bell peppers but hated them fresh. Little things like that was something that Shouta found out daily and committed them to memory.

The day that Misaki was to go home, Shouta felt his heart constrict and he didn't want these Eden like days to end. Ren felt the same way, but this was because he hated the sad look that came into Shouta's eyes everytime he mentioned that Misaki would leave.

Even as the both of them said goodbye to Misaki in the cafe that fourth night with him, Shouta was crying softly and Ren didn't know what to do. He gripped his hands tightly into fists and watched Jun take his excited son home. Misaki was chirping happily about everything he had done in the last few days, and Jun was smiling softly, that love of fatherly love engulfing his face.

When he glanced back to look at Shouta, Ren noticed how red his face was from the tears coursing down his face. Quietly, Ren reached out a hand, softly wiping away his tears and guiding him upstairs. "Come on, take a shower, you'll feel better afterwards."

Shouta sobbed and let Ren lead him upstairs. After Ren got the shower running, he left Shouta alone, closing the door quietly behind him. Sighing at how quiet the house was without Misaki, Ren went over to his small kitchen and made himself a quick cup of coffee. As the coffee pot dripped into the silence it suddenly hit Ren that he had forgotten to give Shouta a towel and a change of clothes.

Leaving the coffee, Ren hurriedly grabbed the towel and the clothes before quietly knocking on the door. When there was no answer over the sound of the running water, Ren opened the door and put the towel on the counter.

Ren's bathroom was on the smaller side with a shower that was also connected to the bath. However, instead of traditional shower curtains, it was inlaid with a glass door. As Ren turned to tell Shouta he brought him a towel, something unexpected caught his eye. Even through the steam and the slightly fogged door, Ren could still see it clearly and he was frozen in place because of it.