Chapter Text
Emi was a lot more hyperactive than usual tonight. She and Kenji did their normal routine, as in the sheer amount of fish consumption, the burping, and occasional baseball bonding moments. Although, she wasn’t quite tired yet which tired Kenji out. She always does, but it’s somewhat rewarding in the end. He sure hoped today would.
“Mina? Where are you?” Kenji called out as he scrambled around to avoid being squished by Emi. Mina comes flying in, weaving past Emi as she runs, “Here, Ken.” She dodged a swinging tail.
Kenji whipped his head at her, “Do you know what I can do to calm Emi down?” He turned his attention back to Emi, “Get off the glass, missy!” He scolded her as she attempted to climb the window holding back the ocean. He’s getting too old for this. She trilled unhappily before getting off the glass and stomping elsewhere.
Mina watched as Kenji scolded Emi. She inquired, “Have you asked your father?”
Kenji groaned. “I always had to ask him for help, I kind of wanted to figure this out myself.”
The way Mina hovered beside him made Kenji consider that she was giving him a disappointed look, reminding him of his mother. Kenji sighed in response.
“He’s my last resort since he’s surprisingly sleeping through this mess. Wouldn’t want to bother him,” Kenji muttered.
Mina then projected a visual of Emi in a blanket. “How about swaddling Emi?” Mina suggested. Kenji looked at her, surprised, “Why would I need to swaddle her? She moves too much.” He pointed out Emi running around as she chased her tail.
“It seems to be a way for babies to relax as it can lower their cortisol levels-” Kenji lifted his hand to cut her off, “Okay, I got it. Swaddling is good, but it’ll be a second-to-last resort because I’m too stressed to become Ultraman.” He put his hand down, allowing himself and Mina to think.
After a few minutes, Kenji wondered, “Wait, do we even have a blanket that big?”
Insightful, Mina replied, “No.”
Emi, her attention diverted, chewed on a sports car nearby, uninterested in their conversation. His car insurance is never going to believe whatever Kenji says to them. Turning his attention aside, he put a finger to his chin and racked his brain for any ideas.
Kenji's expression lit up, and he clapped his hands, “Music! Mina, can you play some music?” He exclaimed excitedly.
Mina accepted the command and began playing an upbeat child-like song, similar to one a while back. Emi reacted cheerfully, recognizing the song before putting the car down and began dancing. The whole house started to shake under each impact of Emi jumping up and down. Kenji was moving up and down each time Emi jumped, he slowly turned his head at Mina with a glare. She moved as if she was shrugging, “You didn’t specify.”
“What made you think this was a good idea for a song?” Kenji said as he slowly moved away due to the impact of Emi jumping. He waved his hand aimlessly, “Put on a lullaby or something soothing. I would like for her to sleep, please.” The sleep deprivation is getting to him.
The disappointment on Emi’s face was immeasurable as Mina switched the uplifting song to something that didn’t seem interesting to her. She pouted at Kenji, chirping. Kenji clapped his hands together, attempting to put her in bed again. He called out to Emi, “It’s time for bed!”
She thrilled unenthusiastically in response, making Kenji frown. He waggled a finger at her, fed up, “You don’t give me that attitude, missy!”
Emi, feeling quite rebellious, decided to make that same frowny expression as him while crossing her arms. Kenji, now frustrated, looked at Mina. He grumbled, “Is she mocking me?”
Mina’s screen lit up, “Yes, she is.”
This made Kenji take a calming deep breath in. He should not lose his temper over a rebellious child. He went up to Emi, full parent mode with arms on hips and everything, “Okay, here’s the deal. If you don’t head to bed, no fish for breakfast, young lady!” Emi, hearing the words ‘no’ and ‘fish’ together made her distraught. Instead of listening, she began tearing up in front of the two. Kenji realized this was not doing anything, and renegotiated, “Okay, okay. There will be fish!” Emi immediately stopped crying as she was happy with this response. She grabbed the previous sports car she was holding and began chewing it right up again. Seeing this, Kenji felt drowsy and defeated, he yawned as the music was soothing him more than the kaiju.
Realizing he was drifting off, his eyes snapped open as he would not sleep until Emi was. “Okay. Ideas, ideas, ideas,” he muttered. Tiredness was overtaking him.
Kenji mused, “Can you try dimming the lights? Maybe it’s too bright for her.”
Kenji observed Emi as Mina dimmed the light to almost total darkness. The pink kaiju did not react very much to it, she looked up curiously and grabbed another car instead to suck on. A relaxing, lullaby-esque music played in the background and the room now being in darkness, Kenji struggled to stay awake. Mina, the only glowing light source, flies around Kenji as a distraction. This attempt made Kenji question. He asked Mina, “Can Emi see in the dark?”
“Her capabilities as far as we are aware are unknown, so there is a possibility that she could.”
“So the chances of doing this were for absolutely nothing?”
“Possibilities are leaning towards a yes. Yes, it was.”
Kenji groaned, “Can you turn the lights back on, then? I just might pass out here on the spot.” Mina did so, the brightness temporarily blinding him. Checking that Emi was distracted and not trying to do anything else, he led Mina toward his couch, crashing into it. He sank in relaxation, and said hopelessly, “Children are hard to care for.”
“The number of times you said that or something similar is immeasurable,” stated Mina.
“I didn’t need to hear that.”
“Someone needs to remind you,” Mina casually said.
Kenji rolled his eyes, feeling like a child all over again. He lounges on the couches, watching Emi, hoping she sleeps. The amount of energy she has seems to be never-ending. He watched as he slipped in and out of sleep. He looked over to the room where his dad was sleeping, then looked back at his watch. It said 1:36 am. He yawned, jealous of his father. Emi moved on to better things as she began a new hobby of fish-watching; cooeing when a school of fish passes by. Mina was silent as she hovered, the screen dark. Kenji assumed that she was possibly in sleep mode. How lucky of her.
Somewhat hopeless and exhausted, Kenji is at the point where he reminisces about his past. His childhood memories go as far as he remembers when his father had to leave abruptly whenever a kaiju came to attack Japan. He heard loud noises from outside as buildings were being destroyed Ultraman wrestled whatever he was against until it was subdued. While bad memories he associated with occasionally scared him as a child, there were good memories when he remembered sitting on the couch with his mom and dad, watching baseball, late into the night. It was nice. Another memory of his mother reappeared in his head. She laughed at him as she told him when she was so tired of Kenji since he wouldn’t fall asleep sometimes his father would take him out for late-night drives, driving around the city until Kenji had fallen asleep.
This memory hits Kenji like a train. It was convenient how the memory has some use for him as he is in a similar situation. He shook Mina awake, excited, “Mina. I have an idea.”
Her screen buzzed to life, and she asked, “Did something trigger that?”
Kenji ignored that question, “Let’s take Emi out.” Mina reminded him of the last time Emi went out, “At this time, it would be perfect for her to roam but it would cause some disruption among the citizens.”
“No, I mean like driving her around until she falls asleep,” Kenji explained.
“As well off as you are, you do not own a vehicle large enough to fit her,” Mina responded. Right, forgot about that, he thinks. Kenji did not own a large enough thing for Emi to be comfortable around this time. Maybe I'll get a boat, he thought to himself. Then another idea struck him. Filled with energy, he stood up and stretched, “What if we don’t need a vehicle?” Mina is puzzled.
Breezing through the night skies parallel to the ocean below them, Kenji as ‘Ultraman’ flies amongst the clouds. Cradled in between his arms is Emi, who previously was filled with so much happiness when she learned they were going outside. Now, she sleeps comfortably in his arms as sea mist hits her and Kenji’s underside, but he doesn’t mind as long as Emi is asleep. It was remarkable how little time it took from when he hit the skies to when the little one fell asleep, not that he kept track. He glides effortlessly; though he takes time to hold Emi delicately. Kenji looked up at the beautiful stars that shone, admiring them before looking back down to check on Emi. Her face visibly relaxed as she snuggled closer to Kenji’s chest. It reminded him of when he first met her, looking at her with fondness as he held her carefully. After flying for a while, he headed back towards his home, where a nice bed awaited him and something he considered as a family.
Kenji having to care for something like Emi warms his heart and fills him with love, and he thinks what he went through today is as rewarding as winning a trophy.