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Sleepovers always came with a high likelihood of someone regressing.
As a matter of fact, Luka, Meiko, and Kaito planned the nights around as much. Now, the most likely culprits were the twins, but they weren’t the only ones who regressed. Gumi usually did whenever she could make it. Even Kaito has regressed once or twice, but more often than not, it’s the twins.
Luka’s babysitting them while she waits for Meiko and Kaito to come down. They usually require a lot of chasing, running on a shared supply of infinite energy, but Miku’s managed to wrangle them for the time being.
She has a twin on either side, meticulously working to braid her pigtails. Len’s side is much neater than Rin’s, the plaits even and smooth. In fact, upon closer inspection, it doesn’t look like Rin’s even trying to make a braid. She’s just twisting Miku’s hair, clumsily trying to imitate her brother.
Luka’s sure that will be fun to untangle later.
“Great work, Rin!” Luka says instead. She knows that encouraging them is important, but she can never pump the enthusiasm and authenticity she thinks she needs. Not that the kids notice, but she still feels bad about it.
“Luka’s turn next?” Rin perks up at the notion, but Luka’s scalp aches from the mere mention of it. She’s not sure if she could handle the real thing.
“How about later?” Luka suggests. It’s the most she can get away with, and it secures her fate. She just hopes she can brush it out easy.
Thankfully, Meiko arrives just in time.
“Alright, where are my hellions?” Meiko enters with Kaito on her heels, both of them already dressed in their PJs. She promised not to drink during the sleepover, but she still has the faint scent of sake hanging from her clothes. Apparently promises don’t account for a little pregaming.
“Meiko!” Rin shoots up from her spot, Miku’s braids all but forgotten. Meiko doesn’t get the pleasure of getting her hair played with—but Meiko also keeps her hair short for this exact reason.
Rin launches herself right into Meiko’s arms, where she hangs just high enough for a fall to be painful. Len pads over a second later, talking to her in a hushed but excited tone.
All the kids love her. Maybe it’s the cool big sister energy she gives off. Either way, it’s something Luka certainly doesn’t have.
“Has everyone eaten?” Meiko asks. She gets a headshake from Len, who’s old enough to be honest, and a nod from Rin, who’s young enough that lying is infinitely fun.
Luka will never understand how they choose their ages, because it’s always relative to one another. They regress together but never the same. If one of them drops young, the other will drop older. Today, it seems that Rin is the younger one.
“Well, who cares about that noise?” Meiko says. “Popcorn’s dinner enough for me!”
“Can we have candy too?” Rin asks.
“Of course!” Meiko replies, just as Kaito is about to say no. Someone has to be the responsible adult, but unfortunately for him, Meiko is louder.
They leave in a whirlwind of excitement, their chattering trailing in from the kitchen. However, there’s one notable straggler that catches Luka’s eye.
Miku sits half-asleep, pressed against the back of the couch. It can’t be comfortable to hold her neck like that, but she clearly has no intentions to move. Her chest rises and falls with a gentle breath, undisturbed by the movement and noise. How long has she been dozing? Because now that Luka thinks about it, Miku hasn’t spoken a word in a long, long while.
Luka would be remiss if she didn’t know what that slumped posture meant, the tress of hair tucked into Miku’s mouth. The only question is, does Miku realize she’s regressing? Or will Luka have to be the one to tell her?
“Miku?” She treads lightly as she approaches, sinks down so she and Miku are on the same level.
A single eye peeks up at her. Miku does not lift her head.
“I think someone’s rather small, wouldn’t you agree?”
Miku thinks on it, and when the realization hits her, she slumps in agreement. There’s no denying it, just like there’s nothing they can do about it.
“Do you want something to drink?” Luka parses her memory, trying to remember if Miku had anything. It wouldn’t hurt to push for some water, right?
But Miku just shakes her head, and Luka doesn’t feel comfortable enough to push that matter. She’s not like Meiko, able to bark out orders and still make it sound fun. She shifts her approach.
“You did a good job keeping an eye on the twins,” she says, though immediately grimaces. Miku shouldn’t have to do that if she was feeling small, and she feels bad for even bringing it up.
Miku doesn’t say anything, and Luka can’t decide if she’s just tired or if she’s ignoring that comment on purpose. After that, Luka decides it’s best not to say anything at all.
Luka will be the first to admit she has no idea what she’s doing. She can barely get by looking after Rin and Len, and at least with them, she has the luxury of experience. She can count the number of times she’s seen baby Miku on one hand.
“Sorry I’m not very fun.”
Miku sits up just enough to curl up on her side, her head falling into Luka’s lap. “I like you best,” she admits quietly, and her eyes slip shut again.
It makes sense. Rin and Len are high-energy performers and high-energy regressors. They’re always up to something because they’re incapable of sitting still. And it’s for that reason that they work so well with Meiko and Kaito, who are more than happy to play whatever games the twins want.
Miku has a finite amount of energy, most of which she uses for performing. She doesn’t regress to play, but to rest. By the time she’s noticeably tiny, she’s already curled into that quiet place, unable to form more than basic sentences.
But still.
Luka never thought she’d be anyone’s favorite.
A giddy sense of pride bubbles up in her as she cards her fingers through Miku’s hair. She does her best to undo Rin’s work, but the knots are stubborn, unwilling to yield to the minimal force she’s applying. That’s fine, though. She doesn’t want to try too hard, especially not when she’d risk waking Miku up.
She’s not sure how long they sit there, Miku dozing contentedly in her lap. From the sound in the kitchen, she traces the movements of Meiko and the twins. The ding of the microwave, the rattle of the items in the fridge. Popcorn and soda, then. The twins are sure to sleep easy tonight.
Luka keeps her pace even and her touch light as she strokes Miku’s hair. She must hit a good spot, because Miku hums and presses up into her touch. In that moment, Luka swears her heart fills to bursting.
Luka thought she wasn’t good at this.
Maybe she just needed a lower energy regressor.
It’s not long before Miku gets restless. Not Rin and Len’s level of restless; she just squirms, the pinch of her nose giving away her discomfort.
Admittedly, Luka doesn’t react as fast as she’d like to. She knows what works for distracting Rin and Len, but she doubts that would be just as successful with someone who just wants to nap and cuddle.
“Why don’t we watch a movie?” she suggests. By the time Rin and Len settle, they’ll be too worn out to care about having missed the beginning. Clearly their popcorn isn’t just a movie time snack. “Is there anything you’d like?”
Miku thinks it over, her mouth pursing in thought. However, the moment passes, and she nuzzles back into Luka’s lap. “You pick.”
Before Luka realizes it, she’s grinning like a fool. It’s such a simple request, but no one’s ever asked that of her before. She’s usually stuck to the background, going along with whatever the twins want to do.
“I have to get up,” Luka warns her. She absently tucks a lock of hair behind Miku’s ear, but Miku only leans into the touch, reluctant to move away. “Or else we can’t have our movie.”
She doubts Miku would be too invested, but to her surprise, Miku scoots down the couch, giving Luka the space she needs to get up.
“Thank you.” Luka pats her head. “I’ll be quick.”
She searches down the line of DVDs before settling on something bright and pink and pastel. Surely Miku will be alright with anything, seeing as she’s barely awake to begin with. It’s colors and noise at best. Mostly just noise though.
Luka pops in the DVD, skipping through the opening previews before joining Miku on the floor. Miku’s half propped up against the couch, her eyes suspiciously alert.
Luka, however, is no stranger to the “wants something” stare. “Yes?”
Miku averts her eyes, an uncharacteristic bout of bashfulness dusting her cheeks. “Can you braid my hair?” Her fingers twist into her left pigtail—the one marked by Rin’s handiwork. “But good?”
“Of course!” She’s no expert at braiding herself, but she can at least try her best.
Miku stays on the floor while Luka sits on the couch, just to give her a good enough angle to do a proper braid. She brushes the tangles out of Miku’s hair with her fingers, running down the length. The touch alone has Miku melting, sinking deeper against the couch.
Luka tries her best, and admittedly, she has to look up a couple tutorials on her phone, but Miku doesn’t seem to care about what kind of braid it is. In fact, she seems much more concerned with the action itself than the final results.
The movie chugs along in the background. For the life of her, Luka can’t follow the plot, but there’s a lot of singing, and thank goodness Miku doesn’t have a negative connotation with that through her work.
“No more,” Miku decides, and Luka’s stomach drops at the idea that she’d done something wrong.
Instead, Miku gives up on the braid entirely, in favor of climbing onto the couch and resting her head in Luka’s lap. With a deep breath, her head goes heavy against Luka’s thighs.
By the time Meiko and the twins return, the movie is halfway done and Miku is fast asleep in Luka’s lap.
Luka couldn’t be happier.