Work Text:
Golden orbits stared out of the two-layered window, burning the image of the airport during night time into their owner’s brain. The man felt his eyes itching at the effort of keeping them open for so long and forced them shut, rubbing his temples with a hand as he fastened the seatbelt with the other. It had been a rough three days, with barely five hours of sleep in total, sleep which had been caught as naps in between meetings.
Being part of the Ministry of Economics and Trading involved travelling for meetings, a thing he had been well aware he was signing up for. However, what he didn’t foresee was that his boss would set one of the year’s most important meetings right when his wife was seven months pregnant. Of course, Karma agreed that work and family shall never mix, but when it came to a situation such as carrying their child, the last thing the politician wanted was to leave Manami alone.
“What are you talking about, Karma?!” Manami had exclaimed in a half-surprised, half-angry voice, “Of course you are going! You have been preparing for this all year!”
“I may have, but that doesn’t mean I can leave you here, alone !” the last word came out in a slightly annoyed tone, no matter how much Karma had tried taming his voice down.
“Oh please, that is your reason?” the chemist had over ten years to break Karma’s facade and read all of the minor changes in his usually calm or mischievous speech. “I can take care of myself!” she protested, stomping her foot against the tatami carpet in sheer annoyance.
“I know you can, but should I remind you that you are also taking care of our baby now?!” Karma snapped completely, getting up from his place on the sofa and clenching his fists as he stared into his wife’s purple orbits. She held his gaze with equally fierce fire burning behind the glasses, as she announced him she wasn’t going to let this matter pass.
Slowly, Karma felt all the annoyance drain out of his body, understanding that she only dreaded him giving up the meeting he had been preparing for so long
for her. The redhead also had over ten years to understand her unspoken worries, burdens she shouldered alone. He felt his hand relaxing and placed both his hands onto Manami’s shoulders, pulling her closer to bury his nose in the crown of her hair.
“I want to be here for you.” he muttered, kissing the top of her head in a gesture that conveyed the deep feelings he held for her. He felt her hands wrapping around him too, nails digging into his back as she spoke, softly and understandingly this time:
“I know.” she stroke the top of his head, causing him to raise it and make eye contact with her. “But you’ll only be gone for a few days. I think we can manage.” A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she talked and her look shifted to the small bump. Karma’s eyes flew in the same direction and he gave up:
“I promise I won’t be long.”
He had indeed managed to persuade his boss to let him go without participating at the cocktail celebrating the annual meeting that was in Kyoto that year. Such an accomplishment required a lot of mental strength and diplomacy, qualities that suddenly amplified when seeing Manami again was the prize of the winner.
He leaned back in his business class seat and rested his head on the comfortable pillow, urging himself to sleep, no matter if only for the short duration of the flight. He didn’t want to make it back home and succumb into a peaceful slumber instead of attending to Manami’s strange desires. He felt his lips press into a smile as he remembered her bizarre urges, especially when it came to food.
“This is actually delicious!” she blurted upon tasting the dinner Karma had cooked her: omelette with cheese and chocolate, seasoned with tuna eyeballs. He had to keep his guts from twisting and gave up trying to eat along with her, since every bite he took seemed to revolt at the sheer sight of his wife’s plate. Grabbing a late dinner wouldn’t have been anything new.
“Manami,” he called her, unsure of whether he should have been amused or worried about her diet, “is that really to your liking?”
She looked up at him with furrowed brows and answered as if it was the most natural thing in the world: “of course, what are you saying? You are a great cook!” His cooking capacities were the least of Karma’s concerns, but she seemed happy enough with her meal, so he settled on feeling amused and allowed a smile to creep on his face.
“Actually, I think the baby might only like the food you cook!” she argued, faking feeling hurt.
“How so?” he asked, tapping his fingers against the kitchen table, his head resting atop his other palm. He found watching her fake frown incredibly entertaining.
“Because I puke whatever I cook for myself!” she declared, as if it was atrocious. Karma needed all of his self control not to laugh at her adorable pouting face and at her own efforts not to laugh.
“Are you sure that’s not because you just… have two left hands in the kitchen?” he tried putting it mildly. Manami brought a hand to her heart as she gasped:
“Whatever do you mean? I’ll let you know I make actual edible food!” she protested.
Indeed, compared to when they had first moved in together, she had gotten much better at cooking. In the beginning, she couldn’t do it to save her life, but she could actually fix herself a presentable meal now. Not that she didn’t still have a long way to go.
“I don’t get it.” Karma admitted, placing his other hand under his head as well and staring across the table at Manami, who was gulping down the last bites of the tuna eyeballs. “Isn’t cooking like chemistry?”
Manami placed her fork elegantly on the plate before her and wiped her mouth with a napkin before fixing her look on Karma. “Please”, she started, “never insult chemistry like that again.”
The redhead chuckled at her annoyance and got up, taking the plate to the dishwasher.
“Seconds?” He offered, this time prepared for the somersault his empty stomach would make when smelling the food.
“No. But desert does sound good.”
Karma complied: at least she still had good taste when it came to sweets (even though it was an outrage for chocolate to be used in her meals with tuna eyeballs).
He turned with a plate filled with toffee, but Manami pushed it away unceremoniously. Karma quirked an eyebrow in surprise. She explained simply:
“I feel like eating strawberry shortcake.” Upon seeing Karma’s flabbergasted look, she broke out in a fit of giggles: “don’t be so surprised. It’s your child, too.”
“Yes, but that means we’ll have to share!” He sulked, reluctantly grabbing the last piece of cake and placing it in front of a victorious Manami.
He kept pouting until she nudged him with a spoon in his cheek. “Come on,” she said, holding the spoon out for him, “it’s no fun if you aren’t eating too!” Karma stared at her for a few moments before taking her up on her offer and swallowing the desert she held out for him.
“Wait, there’s some more here.” He said mischievously, bending over the table and licking her cheek, close to her lips. He watched satisfied as a very pleasant shade of rose colored her cheeks and proceeded to kiss her.
Karma heard the safety instructions roll in the background, but paid little attention. He had lost count of how many times he had heard them, and after having travelled with Korosensei at Mach 20, airplanes didn’t seem all that scary. Instead, his mind found it much more thrilling to think up possible names for the baby.
“Mrs. Akabane Manami.” The medical sister called, and the scientist got up with a small stagger. Karma squeezed her hand tighter as he hot up with her and the two of them exchanged a brief look before entering the hospital guard together.
Karma had insisted on going to this specific medical control, no matter what it took, since it was going to determine the gender of the baby. He had changed the date of a meeting just to be here, and now he felt the tips of his fingers go cold as he anxiously waited for the revelation.
Honestly, Karma would have been happy no matter the gender, but he felt it was an important enough consultation not to lose. He had wanted to be there for Manami every time she had gone to see the doctor Takebayashi had recommended, but failed to do so most of the times. This time, however, he even took the day off just to be sure he wouldn’t be called back at work.
The doctor greeted Manami and him friendly, motioning for her to sit down. She did so, Karma plopping on the chair next to her heavily and waiting for the verdict. It felt like an infinity until Manami unbuttoned her shirt and the doctor rubbed her bump with that gross-looking gel Karma had often begged Manami to get him for his pranks.
“Oh!” his wife yelped when she saw the scan, obviously able to read it as well as the doctor, who turned to offer her a smile and to congratulate them. Karma frowned annoyed at his incapacity of reading the black and grey picture and raised his questioning eyes to Manami, who was beaming uncontrollably. Her happiness made it easy for Karma to guess:
“Is it a boy?” He asked, trying to control the slight trembling of his hands by squeezing Manami’s even tighter. When she turned around to lock eyes with him, he noticed hers were watering and she choked on her words when she tried agreeing, so instead went with a happy nod.
Karma had never felt happier for ditching work.
He should have ditched it now, as well, he thought as he leaned his head against the cold window and watched the track losing its borders as the plane caught speed, and finally disappearing once it took off. He had missed a weekend with Manami, which was an abomination, to say the least. Last time he had done that was last year, when she was in Moscow at a science convention. He had taken up working in the weekend so he would stop feeling lonely and worried about her safety.
The sight of the night time city was soon swallowed by a cloud and the outside became pitch dark, the window only reflecting Karma’s face.
“Why did you wish for a boy so badly?” Karma asked after they had gotten home from the consultation and Manami was lying on the bed next to him, head resting against his arm as she reread through her latest article, which she had to send for printing the following day.
She looked up from her laptop and answered naturally: “because I always imagined you with a boy.”
Karma’s face must have been confused enough to become amusing, because Manami had to stifle a chuckle in order to explain: “I’ve only ever been able to picture you with a boy. I think you could bond better with your son. Besides,” she laughed, “you’d be overprotective if you had a daughter.”
Karma wasn’t prepared for such an explanation, so he stared at her blankly until she decided he looked so adorable he deserved a kiss. “And I want to have a son with your red hair.” She added.
“Well I hope he gets your eyes.” Karma finally spoke, staring into her purple orbits, their noses touching. “And I hope he inherits your passion for science, because I don’t want to share politics with him, too.” He added, planting a kiss on her nose before she pulled apart with a frown:
“What else will you share with him?” She questioned, making Karma fake being hurt:
“Strawberry shortcake!” He lamented, bringing a laugh on his wife’s lips again.
Karma’s eyes snapped open when the flight attendant tapped his shoulder to offer him a drink. He groggily asked for a glass of mineral water, rubbing his eyes after her leave and searching through his pockets for the headphones. He shoved them in his ears, and then started scrolling down his playlist for something to suit his mood. He stopped with his finger over a couple of songs he had grouped under the name “Manami” and grinned as he pressed the play button.
Falling Slowly , her personal favourite, started playing in his ears, helping him relax and making him drowsy yet again. He closed his eyes once more and didn’t open them again until the plane started preparing for landing.
“I’m home!” Manami’s crystal clear voice rang through the hallway, reverberating in the living room and pushing Karma to get up from his comfortable place on the couch. He walked into the hallway to greet her with a warm hug, wary of the bump that was getting bigger with each passing day.
“How long are you still planing on going to work?” he asked her in a cautious tone, knowing she may react defensive as soon as the words left his mouth. Indeed, the chemist withdrew from the hug and passed by him to reach the living room and drop her purse on the sofa. He should have phrased it differently. And maybe prepare the ground, now that he thought about it.
“I told you I’d go for as long as I can.” She answered in a displeased voice, avoiding his gaze to glance over the notes on the coffee table and crumble a few of the post-its in her hand. It must have been a good day if she had managed accomplishing so many of them. But he couldn’t ask about that now, Karma realised, cursing himself.
“Manami…” he called her name apologetically, but she continued ignoring him. He approached her and started playing through her hair, unbraiding it and running his slender fingers through the purple locks. She didn’t brush his hand away, which was a good thing, but she didn’t relax under his touch either, like she normally did.
“I know you love your work,” he assured her, “and I also know you mean no harm to the baby.” He kissed the top of her head before continuing: “I just don’t want you overworking yourself. You know you have a tendency to.” he chuckled, finally drawing her eyes towards his face.
“Look who’s talking.” she snorted, brushing his hand off her hair when he offered her a sheepish smile and taking his hand in hers. “Look Karma, I know you’re worried and it’s only normal. I promised I would back away if I felt sick, right?” He nodded, unconvinced.
After holding his gaze for a few moments, Manami seemed to make up her mind and sighed: “I promise to withdraw when I’m seven months in. Does that help?”
“Six.” Karma bargained, making the woman roll her eyes and answer categorically:
“Six and a half.”
Karma nodded happily, knowing he wasn’t going to get a better offer, and his wife’s face finally relaxed into a smile. She planted a kiss on his cheek before declaring: “You always worry too much!”
The politician blinked slowly at the announcement that the plane was preparing for landing, bidding farewell to the teal of sweet dreams. He must have caught at least half an hour of sleep, but he only felt more exhausted than before.
Outside the window, Tokyo was brimming with thousands of lights, as if it was the middle of the day. Karma still found it fascinating how he could watch over those millions of people from one mere office and how his decisions could affect their lives.
But what he found even more compelling was that somewhere in that sea of shimmering lights and busy people, in that overload of information and possibilities, there was one person waiting for him, one woman that was carrying one child and they both meant the world to him. And in no more than one hour and a half, he would see her sleeping frame.
It was roughly midnight when Karma headed for the taxi station, having claimed his luggage back and now entering the last body of the airport.
To his surprise, he noticed, from the corner of his eyes, two twin tails fluttering through the air as their owner grinned at him and waved her hand to catch his attention.
At first, he thought his tired mind must have been playing tricks on him, but her voice seemed way too real when she welcomed him home and her body too warm when she threw her hands around his neck to be just an illusion.
Happiness overcame exhaustion as Karma wrapped his hands around her waist, careful not to crush her in his hug. An hour and a half suddenly seemed too much to wait, and despite a small voice in his head arguing that she should have been sleeping now, he was delighted that Manami was waiting for him here.
“I’ve missed you.” Karma muttered into her neck, inhaling the familiar scent of her perfume and shampoo. “Both of you.”