Chapter Text
Ever since Akira and Sumire started living together, it’s been a yearly tradition for them to travel across the country during the summer to visit the many different summer festivals other cities have to offer. Of course, they had to put that tradition on hold during the years Sumire participated in the Summer Olympics and when the twins were very little, only able to go to the summer festival in their local city of Tokyo. Thankfully, with the twins having turned 6 this past June, Akira and Sumire decided it was time to continue their summer tradition.
The two parents waited until the twins’ summer vacation was near to let them know what they had planned for the end of the month of August. To the surprise of no one, both Kazumi and Ren were ecstatic over the news, counting down the days for their trip to begin.
Until finally…
8/24/2032 - Tokyo Station
“Woohoo!” Kazumi began to charge down the aisle of the train, unknowingly tugging at Akira’s arm. “This is going to be so-”
“W-Wait until we’re seated, Kazumi… haha…”
“Oh, right! Sorry Papa!” Dialing down on his excitement, Kazumi waited for his dad to lead the way to where they were sitting. Once seated, Kazumi looked out the window. “This is going to be so cool!”
Ren mimicked her brother, pressing her forehead on the glass.
“I can’t wait for- Hey!” Ren turned around to see her mother was the one responsible for pulling her away from the window. “Mamaaaa! I wanted to look outside-”
“You can look outside, Ren.” Sumire offered her hand to Akira, who jokingly gave his hand for her to hold before handing her a napkin from his bag and situating all of their carry-on luggages in their designated spots. “Just don’t put your head against the glass because it’s dirty, okay?”
And just like that, Sumire started patting Ren’s forehead with the napkin to clean off any dirt that found its way there, making her blush.
“M-Mama…”
Ren kept her head down to avoid the teasing smirk coming from her brother for being pampered by their mom. Catching wind of this because of the blush she saw on her daughter’s face, Sumire looked at Kazumi and gave him a smirk of her own.
“U-U-Umm!” Kazumi sank into his chair as far as he could while his mother approached him. “Y-Y-Yes, M-M-Mama-”
Alas, Kazumi found his forehead being patted with a napkin by his mom.
“Looks like you were also putting your head against the glass, right Kazumi?”
The boy refused to say anything, deciding to groan instead, going as far as resting his head on his knuckle when he heard his sister and mom giggle.
“Oh! Oh! Mama!”
Sumire turned around to see Ren pointing her finger at Akira, who stopped fixing his bag he just placed down in front of himself.
“I think Papa is dirty too! Hehe! On the same spot as me and Kaz!”
“Ohhhh! He is!”
Sumire stared at Akira while the twins continued to encourage her to pat their father’s forehead, listening to their cheers get louder and louder. Aware of where they are, they both snickered.
“I think you two are just saying that because you want Mama to do to me what she did to you both, huh?”
““Hehe! Nooooo!””
Akira ruffled Kazumi’s hair as the family laughed. Sumire went to sit back down on her seat next to Ren, only to be stopped when Kazumi called out to her.
“Can I sit next to Ren, Mama? Pleeease?”
“Yeah! Can Kazumi-niichan sit next to me, Mama? Pleeease?”
Taken aback by their requests since they thought the original arrangement of having the girls sit across from the boys was the way to go, Akira and Sumire allowed the twins to sit next to each other. Wondering if they had any ulterior motives, Sumire kept her eyes on Kazumi and Ren to see if they would say or do anything now that she’s sitting next to Akira. To their surprise, the twins simply grabbed the handheld video game consoles Futaba and Ayaka gifted them for their birthdays out of their respective backpacks, as well as their accompanying earphones, and started playing on them.
“Umm, Kazumi? Ren?”
““Yes, Papa?””
“… Mama and I can hold your backpacks-”
““Okay!””
Without removing their eyes from their screens, Kazumi and Ren handed over their backpacks to their parents.
““Thank you, Mama! Thank you, Papa!””
Sumire gave an odd look at Akira before the two of them laughed again.
“And here I thought Ren would like to listen to some other moves I did…”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Of course I’m not! It seems to me you’re the one that’s disappointed since you can’t duel Kazumi anymore.” Sumire gently pushed Akira’s shoulder with a giggle and waited for him to open his bag so she could pet Morgana’s head once it popped out. “Can I ask you something, Aki?”
“That depends.” Akira lifted his bag and rested it on his lap so that Morgana wouldn’t be on the floor. “Am I allowed to give you an answer, Sumi?”
Both Morgana and Sumire rolled their eyes at his reply, though Sumire checked her surroundings before resting her head on husband’s shoulder.
“Should I really be letting Ren follow in my footsteps?” A sigh left Sumire as she and Akira watched Ren talking happily with her brother about something on her handheld console. “I know it’s almost been three months since I started bringing her with me to train my students, and she’s been playing with the other girls her age there, but something feels wrong…”
Akira offered his hand for his wife to hold, making sure to give her a tender squeeze when her fingers slid in between his, and leaned his head on hears.
“You’re afraid she’s doing it for you and Kasumi, and not for herself, right?”
Sumire answered with a gentle nod.
“I just… don’t want her to go through what I had to…” She took a deep breath and stared at the red ribbon holding Ren’s hair in a ponytail, moving her thumb back and forth along her husband’s thumb. “It makes me very happy that she wants to be a rhythmic gymnast… but… it’s so many sacrifices-”
A soft blush found its way onto her face as she found her chin being lifted, now staring into her husband’s gray eyes.
“And we’ll be there with her.” Akira gifted his wife’s forehead with a tender kiss. “You, me, Kazumi, and Morgana.”
“Please tell me you didn’t say my name because I’m here!”
Morgana’s comment was the perfect thing Akira and Sumire needed to lighten the mood, finding themselves laughing at what he said.
“Would you prefer it if I didn’t say your name at all?”
“Hey! That’s not funny-”
Interrupting the three of them was an announcement made from the conductor informing the passengers that they will be departing shortly. Realizing what that meant, Akira and Sumire checked their surroundings and saw their somewhat empty train car was now filled with numerous passengers, with a family of four sitting in the aisle next to them. The two adults immediately backed away from each other, Akira making sure to delicately release Sumire’s chin from being lifted, to avoid any unwanted looks from anyone nearby.
Unfortunately for them, Kazumi and Ren caught them in their act, sending their parents kissy faces before going back to their gaming devices.
Morgana looked up to see what his friends were doing now, poking fun at how they’re trying to sit as far apart from each other as possible.
“Some things never change.” The cat exited the bag and stretched across Akira’s lap. “Anyways, what’s the plan for the vacay? We’re going back to that town in the countryside we went to for Ren’s gift so you could also return that umbrella, right-”
Watching Akira making the gesture to remain quiet made the cat remember he was never supposed to bring up that trip whenever Sumire was around. Obviously, Sumire was right next to them, so she heard everything. And for that, he and Akira were subjected to her terrifying glare, her glasses doing nothing but adding more fear to her red eyes when one of her lenses was shrouded in light.
“S-S-Sumi-dear…” Akira did his best at avoiding the eyes of his wife while Morgana hid back in his bag, only feeling her glare dig deeper into his soul. “I-I-I-It was an a-a-accident, r-r-remember?”
“Hmph!” Sumire crossed her arms and turned her head to face the window, already aware of Akira lowering his head in shame. “Still doesn’t excuse you for forgetting to get Ren’s present from Akihabara after I made a reservation for it AND making a 4-hour round trip on their birthday-”
She stopped herself from finishing her sentence, the feeling of guilt washing over her after being aware of what she said. Without a second thought, she rested her head on his shoulder again, not caring about any judgemental looks they may receive.
“I’m sorry for bringing that up again, Aki-”
Hearing him snicker was definitely something she wasn’t expecting, not expecting his fingers to intertwine with hers.
“There’s nothing you have to be sorry about.” As proof, Akira kissed the top of her head. “It was kinda mine and Morgana’s fault, after all-”
“What do you mean it’s ‘my fault’ too?!”
“You’re the one that went with me, remember?” Akira chuckled and scratched the back of Morgana’s ears, listening to his content purs as he went back to comforting Sumire. “If there’s anything you want to be sorry about though, it can be about being the biggest meanie in the world.”
Sumire squeezed her hand and shook her head back and forth on the crook of his neck prior to sitting up straight and showing him a lovely smile.
“Well that’s too bad, because I never apologize to the biggest dummy in the world!”
The two of them laughed and separated from their loving embrace just in time for the train to start moving, telling their kids to watch with them as they exited the station through the window. Once the station was no longer in sight and the train began to pick up speed, the kids went back to their game consoles while Akira and Sumire went over their vacation plans with Morgana.
One hour later…
Akira and Sumire were trying to figure out what they could do on the days nothing was planned, mainly because Sumire didn’t like Akira’s answer on how they’ll find something to do, when they heard the twins begin to argue over something.
“Yes, I am!”
“No, you’re not!”
“Yes, I AM!”
“No, YOU’RE NOT!”
“Kazumi? Ren?”
The twins immediately stopped their argument when they heard their dad’s voice, Ren now looking out of the window and Kazumi staring at the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
Ren was the first one to respond, joining her mother’s side.
“Kaz is being a meanie again…”
“No I’m not!” Kazumi groaned and slouched in his chair. “Ren won’t stop talking about meeting a Prince during our vacation! And I keep telling her there won’t be a Prince there, but she won’t believe me!”
“That’s because there IS going to be a Prince waiting for me! Hmph!”
“That’s what you said last time when we visited Shion-obaachan! If there wasn’t a Prince waiting for you that time, there isn’t going to be waiting for you this time-”
“Kaaaaz- Ahh!”
Ren wasn’t expecting her mom to swing her into the seat next to her, finding out that her dad stood up and took her old seat to sit next to her brother.
Both Akira and Sumire began their talk to Kazumi and Ren respectively by reminding them where they were. When they both answered they were inside a train in a quiet voice, they were each reminded that because they’re in a train, it’s important for them to not raise their voices to respect those around them.
Once that message was across, Akira and Sumire took their time in calming down their kids’ annoyance at each other. While Akira understood Kazumi’s point of view, he told his son he shouldn’t say something like that to Ren because it’ll make her sad, and the duty of the older brother is to always make sure his younger sister is happy. When Kazumi asked if they really would see a Prince at where they’re going, Akira answered by ruffling his hair and telling him he should keep his eyes open.
Sumire, on the other hand, was explaining to Ren that her brother only said those words because he really cares about her. Confused at how his mean words could mean he cared for her, Sumire told the little girl that because it’s Kazumi’s job as the older brother to make sure she’s always happy, he has to make sure the person who she falls in love with is someone he knows can take care of her too.
“That’s why Kazumi said there isn’t going to be a Prince waiting for you when we get to the town we’re going to, because he’s letting you know that the Prince there won’t be the one to make you really happy.”
“Oh… But how would Kaz know that if he hasn’t even met the Prince-”
Ren found her nose getting booped by her mom.
“Because he’s your older brother, and he’s always taking care of you even when you don’t know that.”
Those words seemed to resonate with Ren, as she and her brothers locked eyes just as his conversation with their dad ended. At first, they both avoided each other’s line of sight due to feeling embarrassment for the fight they just had. However, after listening to the encouraging words from their parents, the twins faced each other.
“... I’m sorry, Kazumi-niichan…”
“... I’m sorry, Ren…”
““... I love you…””
As those three words were said, Kazumi and Ren bursted into laughter, apologizing to each other once again and thanking their parents for helping them understand why the other twin acted the way they did. Unknownst to them, Akira sent a wink to Sumire, who giggled as a result and blew him a kiss just as twins asked the parent they were sitting next to if they could sit next to their other twin again. Being reminded once more that they have to behave and play nice with one another, Akira and Ren switched seats.
Right as their dad sat down, the twins watched their mom whisper something into his ear. Judging by the smile that was on his face, they had a feeling it was something good.
“Me and Mama decided that as a reward for you both being nice to each other…”
Akira waited for the twins to lean forward, taking in their excitement from how they couldn’t sit still in their chairs.
“We’re going to have story time right now!”
“WOOHOO-”
“YES-”
Remembering that they were in public, Kazumi and Ren apologized to their parents and celebrated again, albeit more quietly.
“Buuuuuut!” Sumire clapped her hands together. “On one condition!”
Kazumi and Ren tilted their heads to the side, wondering what this condition could be.
“Because me and Papa want you two to know how much you both love each other, we want you two to hold hands-”
The twins wasted no time holding each other's hands, going as far as raising their joined hands together.
Not expecting them to be so compliant at their request, Akira and Sumire laughed and continued the story from where they last left off.
…
“Can we do it now, Papa?” Kazumi did his best at dragging Akira outside of the station. “Pleeeeease?”
“Not just yet, Kazumi.” With the exit in sight, Akira pushed the door open and stepped out of the station with his son, holding the door open for Sumire and Ren. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
Akira and Kazumi walked past Sumire and Ren, took a deep breath, and smirked at each other.
“Wait! I almost forgot!”
Akira opened his bag, letting Morgana pop out his head.
“You weren’t going to do this without me, were you?”
“Of course not!”
Whether or not Morgana believed his friend was uncertain. However, this didn’t stop him from joining the other boys in taking a deep breath.
“““WOOHOO!”””
“Oh dear.” Sumire giggled with Ren and kissed Akira on the cheek. “Aren’t boys weird, Ren?”
“Hehe! They are, Mama! Even Morgana tried to yell like them!”
“Oh yeah? Well if I’m weird, then that means you’re weird too because you’re my twin!”
Kazumi poked Ren’s waist and let go of his father’s hand.
“Kyah! Kaaaaaz!” After finding that Kazumi was already running away from her, Ren let go of her mother’s hand and started chasing him. “Get back here!”
Morgana watched the twins run around the open area they had access to.
“Aren’t you two going to tell them to stop?”
The cat saw Akira and Sumire give each other hesitant smiles.
“… Well, they were on a train for two hours…”
“And we kinda thought it would probably be best for them to blow off a little steam before we get picked up…”
“I see… Wait who’s picking us up-”
““Kazumi! Ren!””
The fact that Akira and Sumire didn’t even let the twins run around for 2 minutes made the cat chuckle to himself, waiting for Ren to be nearby so he could jump on her shoulder.
“Are you two feeling better?”
“Yup!”
“Mhm!”
“Great! Because Papa and I were thinking we could go to the hot springs at the inn we’re staying at before we all go to sleep so we could all feel even better!”
The twins shouted in joy at their parents’ idea just as their means of transportation arrived. After loading all of their luggage into the vehicle, Akira told the driver where their destination was: the Amagi Inn.
8/24/2032 - Yasoinaba Station, Inaba