Work Text:
When it came to Tokyo after dark there was nothing better than watching as the city lights burned bright illuminating everything around it. For some, it was pleasant being able to walk down the streets and enjoying the atmosphere while for others the thought of returning home to a different sort of atmosphere was much more desired.
Makoto was walking back home across the very streets that were illuminated by the bright city lights but it wasn’t what Makoto was focusing on. After finishing everything she needed to do for the day back at the Police headquarters she was able to leave the building and make her way home.
There were many things to enjoy about ones home. Makoto loved the warmth it offered in the winter and the coolness in the summer. She also enjoyed the peaceful and calming atmosphere that it offered, knowing you were in the walls of the place you call home. But there were two other things that Makoto loved most about it and it was the other occupants that were in the building.
“Ren, Maeko, I’m home,” Makoto said as she closed the door behind her.
Ren peaked from the kitchen with a smile as he went up to Makoto and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Hey, sweetie. How was work?”
“It was okay, sorry that I’m a little late, I had a bunch of work to do,” Makoto replied after returning the kiss.
“What did I say about saying sorry all the time?” Ren asked crossing his arms.
Makoto rolled her eyes. “Come on, you can’t expect me not to say sorry for being late, it wouldn’t be polite. I assume Maeko is home?”
“She’s just in her room doing some assignments. She said she’d be out for dinner. I can see where she got her hard focused trait from,” Ren said with a smile.
“Mhm, I’m staring right at him,” Makoto replied crossing her arms.
Ren shook his head with a chuckle as he went back to the kitchen. Makoto laughed as well as she took off her shoes and put up her bag before following Ren. The smell of his homemade curry filled her nose and caused her to shiver in delight.
“That smells great. Though I guess it will always smell great if you make it,” Makoto said taking a look at Ren’s work.
“Should I let Boss know you said that?”
Makoto blushed shaking her head. “You wouldn’t dare. Besides he knows I’m biased to you.”
“So you’re saying that you only like my cooking because I’m your husband?” Ren asked with a smirk.
Makoto glared up at Ren. “Keep this up and you’ll be on the couch.”
Ren held up his hand in surrender before having to return to stirring the curry. “Okay, you got me Officer Nijima. I’ll refrain from teasing at least until we go to bed.”
Makoto rolled her eyes lightly punching Ren’s shoulder. “I’ve been with you for years and I still need to suffer your terrible tease attempts.”
“They aren’t that bad, worthy of being passed on maybe?”
“If you dare teach those tactics to our daughter you aren’t going to leave the house alive,” Makoto replied before walking off down the hallway.
“Wouldn’t dream of it!” Ren shouted back.
Makoto laughed to herself as she shook her head. After all these years he still remained to keep the Joker persona he had during their school days. Nonetheless, she didn’t really mind them, she still fell in love with him after all.
Approaching the closed door she gently knocked on it.
“Maeko? May I come in?”
“It’s unlocked!”
Makoto smiled opening the door to see her daughter resting on her bed her arm over her eyes showing the exhaustion she was currently feeling. Makoto had a pretty good idea of what had caused her daughter such tiredness.
“Hey, sweetie. Feeling okay?” Makoto asked walking into the room and sitting on the end of the bed.
Maeko nodded her head. “I’m fine. Just wish the teachers would stop giving us so much work before the holidays.”
Makoto remembered that the summer break was coming up soon. She had something planned but decided to hold it off for now. Instead, she reached to gently rub her daughter’s leg.
“I understand how you feel and I won’t sugar coat it, it will get tough as you go through the year levels. But I know all the effort is worth it. At least you won’t end up like Ryuji did when he was in school.”
Maeko leaned her head up tilting her head at her mother. “I keep hearing that he had bad scores but you make it sound like he flopped.”
“I’m surprised he didn’t but I guess I can’t really talk. He has grown up quite a lot since those days. Anyway, my point is the effort you put in now will mean a lot more in the future. And you never know the rewards that will come from it,” Makoto said with a smile.
Maeko nodded her head leaning up. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, mum.”
Makoto nodded as she stood herself up. “Dinner is almost ready as well so if you don’t want your father and me to hog all the food you’ll want to come out soon.”
“I’ll be out in a minute. I don’t want to miss any of dad’s curry,” Maeko replied with a smile.
Makoto chuckled before leaving the room. She couldn’t be anymore prouder of her daughter, and she knew that she would love the announcement she had for her and Ren that she had planned for after dinner.
---
Dinner itself was filled with light chatter about school for Maeko and work for Ren and Makoto. Ren couldn’t help but try to put in as many police-related flirts and teasing whenever Makoto was talking about her day at work which was always met by a Niijima glare from both Makoto herself and even Maeko.
Nonetheless, dinner went by quickly allowing for Maeko to quickly clean the dishes. After finishing the cleaning Maeko walked to the hallway looking back at her parents.
“I’m going to go have a shower if that’s okay?” Maeko asked tilting her head.
“Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to both you and your father about, sweetie,” Makoto said as she approached her bag taking something out of it and keeping it hidden.
Ren looked to Makoto suspiciously as he and Maeko stood side by side. Makoto approached them with a serious look but a hint of a smile creeping onto her face.
“So, I wanted to keep this a secret for as long as possible but I doubt I’d be able to keep it a secret for long. After all your father is good at sussing out things,” Makoto said looked to Ren with a smirk.
“Hey, that’s the old me. I only do it 50% of the time compared to a majority of the time back when we were still in school,” Ren replied crossing his arms with a smile.
Maeko rolled her eyes at her parents before returning her focus to her mother. “So, what is this secret?”
“Patience, Maeko. I know Ren will very much enjoy this but it’s mainly for you more than it is for us. With the summer holidays coming up I wanted to do something special for you. You’ve worked so hard at school and we are so proud of you that you are putting so much effort into your studies, wouldn’t you agree, Ren?” Makoto said turning to Ren.
Ren nodded his head wrapping his arm around Maeko. “Of course. It’s not an easy task to focus on studying while balancing your home life with school life.”
Maeko smiled trying to hide the blush as she leaned into her dad. “It’s nothing that special.”
Makoto shook her head. “But it is. And I feel like you deserve a chance to have an even better summer holiday.”
Makoto pulled her arms from behind her back revealing in her hands three tickets, three plane tickets to be exact.
Maeko took the tickets looking at them before a surprised and excited look appeared on the girls face. “W...wait. This isn’t real, is it? This isn’t one of Dads pranks right?”
Makoto shook her head. “When it comes to me I don’t play pranks as your father does. And I made sure to do this when he wasn’t around.”
“S..so that means...we’re going to Hawaii?” Maeko asked looking up at her mother.
Makoto nodded her head. “Yup, we’re going to Hawaii.”
Maeko beamed happily jumping into her mother’s arms. Tears of joy were covering her cheeks as she hugged her mother tightly. “I can’t believe it, thank you so much!”
Makoto wrapped her arms around Maeko holding her closely enjoying this moment with her daughter. She looked up at Ren who was smiling at the two. Makoto didn’t need to say a word as she gestured Ren over to them.
Ren nodded joining in on the hug making it a family hug. “I must say, I never expected that but I think this is something that really highlights just how much you’ve achieved so far, Maeko.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Maeko said in between her parents.
The family remained in the hug until they needed to step away. Maeko was wiping her tears careful not to get the tickets wet. Makoto had almost cried as well but managed to hold back as she watched her daughter.
“We still have a few days to go before the holidays but it’ll be something to look forward to,” Makoto said with a smile.
“Yeah, though haven’t you guys been to Hawaii before?” Maeko asked looking between her parents.
Ren nodded with a smile. “We did way back in school. It was a school trip so it was sort of restricted but I’d say it was a very fond memory.”
“It’s a very fond memory considering it was one of the first dates we went on,” Makoto said blushing at the memory.
Maeko tilted her head with a smirk. “So, should I prepare myself for you two to be lovey-dovey on the trip?”
Ren laughed at the comment. “Well, I’m sure you could give your parents a bit of time to be lovey-dovey on the beach. Hawaii can be quite romantic and I certainly plan to show your mother the sights...oof!”
Makoto was blushing but she was quick to elbow Ren in the stomach. “Save that for when we get there, honey. Anyway, I’m sure we will all get to do things together and we will certainly have more time than we did on the school trip.”
Maeko smiled once again wrapping her mother up in a hug. “Thanks again, Mum. I love you so much.”
Makoto smiled rubbing her daughters back and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love you too, dear.”
“Hey, how about some love for the dad?” Ren asked crossing his arms with a fake pout.
Maeko giggled turning to her father and poking out her tongue playfully.
Makoto laughed shaking her head. “Come now, sweetie. You know your father needs plenty of family love to fill the daily quota. Plus he gets jealous easily.”
“I mean, that is one way to put it,” Ren said with a smirk.
Maeko stepped away from her mother before quickly hugging her father tightly. “I know, I’m sorry. Love you too, Dad.”
Ren chuckled wrapping his arms around Maeko. “Haha, it’s okay. Love you too my little Maeko.”
“Dad, I’m not that little anymore,” Maeko said with a pout.
“Well…”
Makoto gently punched Ren on the shoulder. “Okay, that’s enough teasing for you today. Maeko, why don’t you go have that shower now.”
Maeko stepped back once again with a nod. “Alright, thanks again.”
Makoto and Ren watched as Maeko sped off down the hall to the bathroom. Makoto beamed happily seeing how happy Maeko had gotten. But she knew she deserved that happiness.
“So, how long did you have that one in secret for?” Ren asked looking to Makoto.
“A few weeks now. I was so nervous that I’d lose the tickets so I couldn’t hold out for the start of the holidays. Though now that I think on it I could have just printed them again,” Makoto said tapping her chin in thought.
Ren shook his head with a smile wrapping Makoto into a hug drawing her close to him. “No need to get lost in thought about it now. You’ve made Maeko the happiest girl in the world. And I’m pretty happy too.”
“I assume that means you will be taking me sightseeing then?” Makoto asked resting her head on Ren’s chest.
“The sights and the delights of Hawaii that we didn’t get to experience while we were there. And it’s just us and Maeko,” Ren said with a smile.
“That is true, but just remember, this is more for Maeko than us. I want it to be the best time of her life,” Makoto replied looking up at Ren.
“Don’t worry, I’ll help make it the best time ever. You’ve done this part I’ll be sure to up it when we get there.”
Makoto nodded knowing Ren wasn’t going to let her do everything when it came to the surprises. She even knew that right now Ren was most likely thinking of what to do for Maeko and planning out the trip. There was still time till the day they left but it felt like the trip was already beginning.
Makoto loved her family, she loved her husband and she loved her daughter. Every day when she returned home from work, she was able to embrace the happiness that she could provide for her family and the happiness that they shared with her.