Chapter Text
Earlier that day they had gone out for a walk and a trip to the market. They had come home with two little girls in tow, in addition to the groceries they had originally gone for. It had crossed his mind on the way home, that to anyone who happened to notice them, they’d look like a family.
Kazuma also realized that he actually had no idea how to take care of children.
Sure, he’d interacted with shinki their physical age before, but shinki don’t “age” and the “children” he’d known before had all actually been older than him.
They arrived home and Viina turned to him with a look that said “Ok, now what?”. Happy as she was, she didn’t know any better than he did what to do with a couple of kids. He wondered if all new parents felt this way.
I guess I’ll just have to figure it out as I go along.
“Alright, let’s take these groceries to the pantry and then we can get the two of you something nicer to wear.”
The two girls didn’t seem to mind that they were still in the plain white yukata’s that all newly named shinki wore, and putting the groceries away first would give him a few minutes to recall where he’d last seen clothing their size. He had spent months cleaning up the manor after the fall of his clan, but it had been years since he’d finished neatly packing away what he and Viina didn’t need.
Kazuma leads the way to the kitchen where he puts away the groceries as the girls look around the kitchen with Viina in tow. When that’s taken care of he once again takes the lead as they head to the room where he last remembers seeing child-sized clothing.
The girls have fun picking out what they want to wear. It was his first lesson in learning that to children, “fun” if often synonymous with “making a mess”.
As the girls set to work on pulling every last piece of clothing out of the dresser drawers they could reach, (“How can we see them all if they’re folded and stacked on top of each other?” ) Kazuma tries to refold pieces as they are added to the growing piles on the floor. Just when he thinks he’s catching up, he sees that not only have the girls moved on to the closet, but they’ve also recruited Bishamon to help them reach things on higher shelves.
When they’ve finished going through all the clothing and picking out their favorites, Kazuma sits them down to teach them how to refold everything.
“Which dresser should we put these in?” the younger of the two asks her sister, holding one of the kimono's they had wanted to keep.
“I duno.” She turns to Kazuma and Bishamon who are finishing folding what the girls did not want to keep, “Is this gona be our room?”
Viina frowns a bit at the question “It’s rather far from our rooms...” she says turning to Kazuma. She unsurprisingly doesn’t seem to like the idea of them being so far away.
It’s really not that far from what used to be the new shinki’s quarters. But we do have plenty of open rooms, so there’s really no reason for them to stay so far out. He hadn’t thought yet about what room the girls would stay in, or if they would even want to share a room.
The younger tugs on Viina’s sleeve, “Can we stay with you tonight?”
“Yes, of course you may.” The smile returning to Viina’s face.
Ok, choosing a room (or rooms) can wait until tomorrow then.
Someone’s stomach grumbles, and they head back to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
The girls explore the garden outside the kitchen as Kazuma and Bishamon cook. They make a simple dinner, something that’s easier to guess what the correct portions for four people would be. Bishamon never cooked before her fall, and Kazuma had never needed to cook for more than the two of them.
By the time they’re finished eating it’s obvious that all the excitement of the day is catching up to the girls. The older yawning as the younger leans against Viina.
“Alright, it’s a bit early but I think it’s time for you girls to get some sleep.”
“Mm, that sounds good. It has been a busy day.” Viina replies.
He had been referring to the kids, but it had been a big day for her as well.
He helps them get settled in Viina’s room for the night and he’s just about to take his leave when Viina calls out to him, “Aren’t you staying too?”
He hadn’t been intending to. She’d asked him to stay with her years before when she couldn’t shake off the nightmares on her own. Despite the nagging feeling that it really wasn't proper for the two of them to share a bed Kazuma had not been able to bring himself to turn down her request. Viina had quickly grown accustomed to curling up by his side at night, but he had thought that tonight she would be fine with the children by her side.
“Ya, you should stay too.” One of the girls sleeply chimes in.
All three were looking his way now, waiting, and he can’t help the smile that comes to his face as he crosses the room back over to them.
Tomorrow they will get the girls settled into their own room(s), and eventually Viina will be comfortable enough again to sleep on her own. But for tonight they stay together, the two new additions to their family tucked safely in between them.