"Ah, Gin. We're joining you again for dinner in a bit at the house."

An hour before the restaurant's sign flips as closed, the head chef of Giotto's brought up all of a sudden to the sous chef as they are in the middle of the last batch of orders.

"You and Sis have been coming over quite a lot this month, huh. It's definitely gotten livelier there."

"It's just that Yu really wants to eat with her family."

"And it's every other day?"

"I guess…?" Hiroomi sheepishly chuckled. "Oh, and also… We'll be doing reservation-only in the holidays."

"Why the change?"

"I guess I just want to take it easy, yeah? I also want some of our staff that wants to go on a vacation to do just that. And there's also Sean; it'd be great if he can spend the holidays with Haru-san."

"Sure… that sounds nice, but I'll probably still be working that time. I've been gone for so long I don't really want to take a leave. But maybe I would at the new year since I'm moving back to my house."

"It's good that you're still motivated, but you still have to take it easy and spend time with your family and Ringo."

"More like I spend a heck of a lot of time with her."

"And then forever, I'm guessing?"

Gin chose not to comment, and instead focused on the pan sauce in front of him.

"Well, we'll have you, Chef Yuzu, and Jean on the team so I think we're in good hands in the coming weeks, and that's reassuring."

"You sound as if you won't be around."

"Because I plan to, but don't take that wrongly.

I'm not stepping down as head chef or something, just telling you that now. But I think I want to take things slow for now and next year. I've been very focused at work that I also haven't been coming down much to our base."

"That calls for an early team meeting right at the start of next year. The Blue Ink students are also coming next year so we alumni might have a change of strategies if you're going to be absent."

"Let's hold off on that for now. I'll announce things officially whether I'll be around a lot or not next month, but I can say that for the holidays, I'm set."

"Sure, then. I guess we'll have Sean reorganize shifts soon."

Seemingly, the conversation has ended there, but after a few minutes, Gin had noticed that his boss has kept taking glances of him, with which every peek a smile keeps growing brighter on his lips.

Instead of outright just asking "What?", Gin returned a stare to Hiroomi as thought he was waiting for an answer while they move towards closing.

"Ahahaha… Sorry.

I was just thinking that Sean and I was at around your age when we first met you."

Upon entering the staff room with only the two of them, Gin finally openly spoke.

"It's a little weird that our first encounter was when you were treating my broken bones, in hindsight. Why though?"

"I was just thinking… You were just a teenager back then, but you've pretty much grown up and all. I feel like since you becoming our sous chef, I was able to see you literally grow up over the years."

"I'm going to assume I'm also going to be saying those words when I reach your age."

"Hahaha, maybe. It's like the same feeling I got when I watched the younger ones grow up in the base. You look back for a second and they're already as tall as you."

"Not as much as me, yeah?"

"Can you not gloat about your anomalous Asian genes?"

"It didn't do much with my looks, though.

But man… I'm already surprised how much my nephew grew when I saw him in Kei's wedding. It hits home that your perception of time changes when we get to this age."

"You tell me.

I'll go warm up the car, so can you get Yu in the office for me?"

"Got it."

The garage of the second Sakato household was once again fully occupied with Hiroomi's arrival, as the next door could only park one vehicle.

Gin has taken notice that even before he settled things with Gaku, the Katsuto couple has been coming over for meals from time to time since the start of the month. Even if he wasn't currently living in the house, he would nevertheless find out about it as he welcomes the use of his house's parking spaces.

But as for the reason behind the abrupt visits, he does not really know and instead just enjoys the company the Akanami family gets when they are around. And as usual, he has been getting ahead of himself with the thinking that he would also be officially included in that family come a few years in the future.

This night, it would appear that the three of them went home with a dinner being prepared as per the request of Yuna. Upon finding that out, Gin hurried to help in the kitchen without going ahead on his own to respect the house's recipe.

But he took Sumi's simple words of "I don't think I have to direct you with everything since you basically know our recipes like it's the back of your hand already," as a special praise to him, as though he really has been getting absorbed into the family

"Mmmm…! It's always so good…!

You really helped out with this, lil bro? I feel like you can do this 1:1 even if you make this alone!"

"Maybe it was just a fluke."

"Gin always says that. Don't believe him, Yuna," the mother of the house chuckled.

"You've really warmed up to this place, haven't you?"

"I better have to make up for all the trouble I've caused, you know."

"Hahh… So everything is still dwelling on you, Gin?" Hiroomi sighed.

"I literally gave advice to my former student that it's hard to forget bad things and they should set them aside instead with company of good people. And you know what he said: Even that's still something that's very difficult.

But the six months of leave you gave me really were very meaningful, so thanks for that even if I was seriously wondering how I'll do financially in the first month."

"You had me in the first half, not gonna lie…

I was about to tell you how good of a brother-in-law you would be, you know?"

Upon letting those words out, Hiroomi unconsciously directed his look towards Rin as it was never the first time he would tease about it. But his brain stopped for a moment after seeing her only listening with a bowl of soup to her lips, which was a different reaction to what he was expecting.

It was nothing new that she would be nonchalant about the teasing of tying the knot for a while now, but Hiroomi has always seen some kind of a reaction however little it may be hidden behind a straight face. Yet, now she is seeing a version of Rin completely devoid of fluster, at least outwardly.

He then turned at Gin with a question, "Did something happen with you two?"

To which Gin responded with, "Lived together here…?"

As though by intuition, Hiroomi could tell that it was not a lie, but also not the entirety of the answer inside his mind, just like Gin has always done. Something must have happened, Hiroomi thought, but he and Gin knew to themselves that they both will not be pressing further with another question-and-answer as it would only be annoying.

Knowing that they would just end up with a deadlock, they let it pass with the dinner peacefully concluding.

With Hiroomi and Yuna staying for a little later in the night, Gin and Rin gave their spot away in the kotatsu to the couple together with their parents and opted to sit on the couch, sharing a blanket, although they could still easily fit in without even trying to.

"Oh, right…" Yuna suddenly started, "Dad, Mom, there's something Hiro and I want to talk about with you."

To that, Gin suddenly felt out of place, with the thought that he should not be listening to this immediately clicking in his mind.

"Uhh… should I be seeing myself out."

"Why?" Hiroomi genuinely questioned. "You stay put with Ringo there, okay? Just listen to what Yu has to say."

Even with the confirmation, Gin was still just as confused as to why he was welcomed in to what seems to be a family discussion—with which he has always stepped out of even if he was living under the family's roof unless it was not anything serious. But with the way Hiroomi and Yuna are acting with a tinge of confidence, he thought that perhaps it really wasn't much to be worried about.

"I'm… I've actually been pregnant for two weeks now."

"Yeah… it really isn't much to be worried about…

…NOT?!"

On that night, the great silence of the White Street has been disrupted by a lengthy scream from the head of the Akanami household.

Synchronously, Gin and Rin stood up and pulled the blessed couple for an embrace, which the parents then followed.

"Congratulations, Hiro… And I'm definitely going to congratulate you again next year."

"Thanks, brother…"

The house then became filled with a very celebratory mood even after the departure of the couple. To no one's surprise, Shuu has cried more tears than his wife, uttering that he is now a grandfather every now and again. Meanwhile, the silver apple has been silent together as they let the now known fact sink in to them.

And things have made so much more sense in Gin's mind after that announcement. Just a few hours ago, his boss and also brother announced to him that he will soon be taking a step back from work in the coming holidays and next year, which now made sense with the added context that he wants to put his utmost focus to taking care of her wife and his child in the coming months.

This is a new experience for him, he thought. He might be an older brother by blood, but he was not yet conscious to know what it feels like to be around a mother on her first nine months.

All he could do was rely on the memories he inherited from Eijiro as a point of reference from a father's perspective, but even then, it would still not make things real for him. There are so many things he has related to his uncle after peering into the memories he left, but never the thought of being a husband watching his wife and his child at conception, as he is not one.

And as he retired for the night, the thought has persisted and kept him awake for a few hours, eventually hearing his own intensifying heartbeat as he also became nervous on behalf of her brother and sister.

▪ ▪ ▪

An almost silent sigh left Rin as she listlessly plopped on a chair in the staff room of Claude—the restaurant she is formally interning at and employed at the same time. Meanwhile, the chef that is in charge of observing Rin on her probation is mulling over what they should pick for lunch from the buffet the other chefs made as staff meals.

"You haven't been acting like yourself, Ringo."

"Did it really show, Ms. Yna…?"

"It did, it did. But I'm not faulting you for having a bad day."

"It wasn't really bad per se… but I just have a lot of things in my mind right now that I can't completely focus on the kitchen right now.

Can I maybe change places and do prep work and go out to waiting for the rest of the day instead?"

"I guess it's really something when you're the one suggesting that—you who is always keen to be in the kitchen.

Are you sure you can drive home on your own?"

"Ah, I took the train today, so no worries."

With a serving spoon lifted on the supervisor's hand, she slowly turned to Rin with a slightly astonished face.

"Don't take it the wrong way, but sometimes you're weird, Ringo."

"Uhm, ma'am?"

"Most of the people I know that are out of it, are out of it. You on the other hand are out of it, but you're very conscious of it, maybe extremely so."

"Maybe it's because I'm around weird people."

"Are you telling me I'm included in that?!"

"N-No…

What's your marital status, Ms. Yna?"

"Girl, you really are out of it today…!! Can you give this single, 29 year-old lady a break?!"

"Oh…" as though in disappointment, Rin's head dropped down.

"Am I really living that miserable of a life for you to react like that?!"

"Ah… I'm sorry. I just thought that I could talk to you about something if you were married, but I guess the status doesn't really matter, in hindsight."

"Are you getting married soon, Ringo?"

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"No, no. There's just something I feel uneasy about. But maybe we can talk about it some other time. I'm also hungry."

"Hahh… make sure you eat lots so you can get your energy back, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Maybe I should ask Rena when she's going to be free…"

~ ~ ~

One step outside and Rin felt her foot sinking down to an at least three inches deep covering of snow as she has clocked out for the day. A glance at her phone told her that train operations have only resumed, which she surmised the station would be crowded by that time. Thus, she unfolded an umbrella and went out at a slow pace towards the train station, under a light snowfall and hearing her footsteps amplified by the crunch of the snow.

With her guess correct, she waited for the volume of people to decrease as the carts come and go.

Then, her curiosity was captured by a shop within the station selling soup dumplings, in which she ordered takeout for herself and sat on a bench faraway from the crowd and blew the steam away from the still freshly cooked dumplings on her hand.

"Mmm…"

"I'll have to learn how to make this…"

By the time she arrived home, it was no surprise that her home street would also be covered in snow, and upon reaching the walls of Gin's house, she decided to check the car she was loaned for work and pick up something she forgot to take out from.

The silver paint of the vehicle has mostly turned white as the snow has accumulated onto its roof. And as she wiped away the thankfully thin layer that has built up, the thick snow under her feet has suddenly urged her to build a snowman.

…

As Nagi descended the stairs of the house, he found Gin taking out a box of blender from the storage room.

"Oh, good timing. Did you just get home?"

"Yeah? I went here first thing to get this, though."

"I was live earlier so I can't go down but I think Ringo was doing something outside after she warmed up her car."

"Did she take long? It's really cold outside."

"Not really sure."

Before even finishing unpacking, he rushed outside the porch to see not even a shadow of anyone, but a car that has been cleaned from snow.

But as he stepped out of the shade covered by his solar roof, Gin saw three things that have stuck out on the bed of snow, emphasized by the shadow rendered by his fairly bright outdoor lights.

In this peaceful night outside, he crouched down to see two snowmen not even a foot tall, and an even smaller one right in between the two of them.

"Cute…"

▪ ▪ ▪

The weekend has arrived the next day, and Gin opened the door of Rin's bedroom with her covered in layers, a cooling patch over her head, and a redness on her tired face.

"I woke up and Auntie told me immediately that you got a fever. You shouldn't have built those snowmen when it was so cold last night."

"So you saw them. Ahaha…"

"They were very cute, though, so I'll forgive you," said Gin jokingly. "Anyway, I changed shifts so I'll be here all day today. I'm probably the most suited to take care of you right now."

"And yet, when you catch a cold it feels like you're about to spontaneously combust."

"…

T-This is this, and that is that."

"Thank you, though."

"Anyway, have you had breakfast and drank medicine?"

"Yup."

"That's good."

A touch from the back of Gin's hand on her neck has given her a jolt of chill to add to her shivering, but for him, he could only feel the increase in temperature brought by the fever.

"Go rest for the entire day so you can get better soon. I'm going to borrow your desk so I can do a bit of work there and watch over you, okay?"

"Mhm."

"And one more thing…"

In a swift motion, Gin shifted the blanket to Rin's back as his arms tightly wrapped for an embrace on the sick maiden.

"How is this?"

"…

It's really warm…" finally feeling the comfort of the hug, Rin also mustered the strength to also close her arms over Gin's back.

"Also… just remember that I'm always ready to hear you out if something is weighing down on you, got that?"

"Mhm…"

With that, the two of them synchronously let go of each other with Gin pulling back the chair of the desk and Rin lying back down on her bed.

"I'll try to catch a bit more sleep.

And don't you think the cure would still have an effect on my fever?"

"I strongly hope so. If your constitution has changed because of it, then I hope it would make you well a lot faster."

"It's like you're saving me again.

…

Ehehe… you're like a huge but cuddly bear, Potato…"

"What, and why so randomly…"

▪ ▪ ▪

2024.

Six days into a new year and the Akanami household has already been busy. As it was a weekend, the family has decided to do a big cleanup of the house, thinking that it would feel strange when it was only a single room that was being cleaned not even by a member of their family.

As soon as everyone has woken up, Gin has begun packing his things up for his return to his own home after 13 months of his stay.

But even on his own, packing his stuff up inside the room he has been using did not take long at all, only taking up half a day which was way far from his overcalculation. That being said, what became difficult for him to pack were what is within the house itself—either they were articles as proof that he has completely assimilated to the household, or that they were objects that held memories of a year that was hard to let go and be sent back to his home.

Needless to say, Gin has been wholly accepted into the house in the past year, and even thinking of the less rational things like finding no point of moving out of the house as he had very much warmed up to it.

Nonetheless, the logical thing has eventually caught up to his desire, much like he had to remind himself to use both his heart and mind in making decisions for himself.

By the time it was past lunch, most of his things were ready to be carried next door, but he has not touched it for some hours and instead decided to help the family on the house cleaning.

"Oh my goodness… I feel like this is the first time I've seen this room this clean since we moved here."

A tone of awe was heard from Sumi's voice while her eyes take in the fact that the room that Yuna, then Gin, used has been reorganized neatly, even with the things he brought to his house to make space has come back.

"Well, you told me to reorganize the things that were put here when it was turned into a storage room and bring them out."

"No, no… You went above and beyond for even organizing them within our house and it doesn't feel cramped at all…

You're a household genius, Gin."

"I've been quote-unquote a househusband for six years already. I have to at least do this much so I can keep myself sane living alone."

"But what time are you going back?"

"I'll just drop my stuff off at 5 but look forward for an extra special dinner made by yours truly. If I'm going to leave the house, then I might as well go all out."

"Aww…" the mother of the house then opened her arms to Gin for a hug. "I know you're just going to be next door, but I'll miss seeing you at the morning when you just woke up."

"Hey… I'll be sure to drop by always. I've pretty much called this my home already."

"That's why you have to keep our spare key. Or maybe we could also ask you to have them duplicated."

"Ahaha… I'll get on to it at some point."

~ ~ ~

That evening, the family was treated to a menu that ought to have been served on a table with a high-quality tablecloth. Instead, Gin was able to see three heartwarming smiles at a home dinner table, and such a sight was burned into his mind as he returned to his own home… for good.

He has not unpacked the boxes he brought back with him, and instead he dove face down on his couch.

"That's right… I left the kotatsu there until the end of winter…"

All of a sudden, his body has felt a strange sense of tiredness, with the loneliness finally creeping back to him in the sudden silence that he had not heard in a while at this time of the night everyday.

"Man… I took so many things for granted up until I was 15, huh…"

But then, he could hear a loud clack that reverberated across the house coming from the opening of the front door he made sure to have already locked.

From the half-wall Gin could see the black hair with white hints waving as Rin walked up to the living room with a paper bag on her hand.

"I should have just gone from my room if I knew you've already locked up."

It has not even been ten minutes since he last saw his significant other, but he was taken aback by the sudden surge of flashbacks about how things were some years back when his normalcy was within this house.

The arm that has supported his weight has given out and he fell back to the couch, but with a chuckle this time.

"Hahh… I'm going to have to get used to this again, huh?"

"I'm pretty sure you're just going to do the same in our place with your key, so we're even," Rin has caught on.

"Well, yeah, I still own the kotatsu.

But you're not going to be resting for the night yet?"

"It's only just 8," she grumbled as she walked straight to the living room, briefly placing the bag on the coffee table, and forcing her way to sit on the couch Gin was lying down on.

"You just put something on my table."

"Yes I did. That's for you."

"Huh?" hearing that, Gin got up to grab the bag and pulled out what seems to be a tall box the size of a large water bottle, but the inside of the box was not something he had expected to come out of it.

"Rin… You bought a sous vide machine?"

"What better way could I have used my pay? You can consider that a 'welcome back' gift from me.

Although~ just be aware that I'm probably going to use it a lot too so keep it plain sight!"

For some reason, Gin was suddenly overcome with emotions as a smile was directed at him and as the voice of Rin echoed in his head.

Abruptly, he stood up and walked to the foyer putting on a pair of sneakers as though getting ready to go outside.

"Wait, you're going out with just a hoodie?" asked Rin with her following.

"Can you stay for just a little bit?" he asked of Rin upon opening the door and doing stretches.

"Give me ten minutes, and I'll be back."

Instantaneously, Gin disappeared to a blur with a small curve of smile at his front porch with snow leaping high as though it jolted from surprise. There, Rin was suddenly on her own standing on the entranceway of the house, incredibly confused.

On the other hand, Gin has arrived in the underground base in no time, and borrowed the White Room for a ratio of one minute in the real world to an hour inside.

Immediately as the door of the room closed, he started sprinting to a speed that allowed him to even run a meter or two on the walls, going back and forth touching the other end of the room.

He felt that his heart has really started pumping, and his legs have begun to burn up, but so was his face, he easily realized. And as soon as he could hear his audible breaths, it was as though a fuse has exploded in him with a yell taking all the power of his throat.

"Damn it… Damn it all…

DAMN IT… I REALLY WANT TO MARRY HEEEEEERRRRRRR…!!!!!!!!!!"

…

Ten minutes have passed outside.

"I'm home."

"Oh, you really meant it when you said ten minutes. Welcome back."

Emerging from the semi-wall, he could see that Rin has been setting up with a wine bottle on the coffee table and two wine glasses on her hand.

"That… wasn't what you were wearing when you went off?"

"I forgot something in the base and I took a change of clothes I had left there in the first place," lied Gin.

"Maybe we could also call Nacchi down here?"

"He's doing an endurance stream right now so let's just have it to ourselves. I'll just drop my clothes upstairs so give me a sec."

Needless to say, the sudden exercise has made the climb difficult for him as in the span of "ten minutes" his legs have become very sore. But after running who-knows-how-many kilometers, his heart has calmed down.

"Please don't tell me you opened a new bottle, Rin."

"I'm not that rude. I saw one that was half full from your shelf and I took it."

"Well, at least that isn't as strong as the one that completely destroyed Jean with a hangover. I guess it's fine to have this every now and then since I'm officially back here.

But don't you dare drink too much."

"I won't, I won't.

…

Remember when you told me when I was sick?"

"Of course."

"Honestly… I don't even know how I should begin to start telling you. No, I still kind of hesitate, so maybe a little bit of liquid courage would do it."

"Uh-huh. When you put it like that, you seem very troubled about it. Well, I've already noticed that you've been in the dumps sometimes, quite frankly."

"I really am an open book when I'm with you, huh…"

"And that's fine," Gin assured as he poured into each of their glasses.

"But before that…! Let's drink to your return here, Potato!"

"Yes, yes. I got you."

A few glasses later, it was made clear to Gin what has been on his mind, and while he could not exactly understand the feelings of his partner, he clearly understood the worries that was weighing on her.

In the end, the two of them retired for the night with heavy sighs as they closed their eyes.

▪ ▪ ▪

The next day—Sunday.

It somewhat felt strange that Gin has woken up seeing a wide white ceiling in contrast to the smaller one he has so gotten used to. The natural light is now beaming on his right, rather than over his head.

The fact that he has completely moved back to his house has finally sunk in as his first thought upon waking up.

Around 8 in the morning, the clock said. He would usually just get up and head straight down in the very few times he had to sleep in his own room when he was living next door. But now, there was no need for him to rush.

Instead, he had thought of doing something he had not done for a long while. Thus, he slowly got up and pulled open the curtain of the window nearest to his bed, and sat on the chair of his desk after washing his face and grabbing a cup of coffee from a batch that Nagi has freshly brewed. To his surprise, Nagi was up early even after a total of seven hours' worth of live streaming yesterday.

After periodically scrolling through his phone, Gin saw a faint silhouette from the adjacent window next door getting up, thus he knocked on the glass of his still closed window.

As the window of the other side opened, Gin was met with the sight of a turtle whose head is only out of its shell, or its comforter, in this case.

"We're going to have a to get used to this again."

Amidst fighting the extreme gravity that wants her eyes to just shut right then and there, Rin brought out a listless smile.

"It's like the novelty of all of this is back again… hehe…"

A sleepy Rin could not have expressed more in just a few words what Gin has been feeling since yesterday. While other eyes may not see the significance, Gin cherishes the closeness that he has built with Rin, which is why the simple act of her freely entering his home or meeting by their windows that they used to have done so much in the past, have so much value in his life.

~ ~ ~

"What the… was this really the room I used to use back then?"

From the door of the now unoccupied bedroom, Yuna turned around with a look of disbelief in her eyes directed at Gin who is leisurely enjoying the warmth of the kotatsu.

"It was an adventure trying to put your things into place, Sis. I get one thing done and ten more things come up.

I used to live like that as a teenager… now I can't imagine myself doing that again."

"Yeah, yeah… go brag about your house skills somewhere, Mr. Househusband."

With a sigh, Yuna joined the couple in the kotatsu only for Gin to get out of it after a few minutes.

"I just moved back but I'm on duty for today's meals in my house so I'll leave you two sisters for now."

"Give us our portion~" Rin shamelessly asked.

"I know, I know…" his words, getting weaker as he exited the house towards his own.

Thus, the two Akanami sisters were left on their own in their house, while the parents have decided to go out together, leaving them with each of their own company.

And not even a minute after Gin's departure, Rin has moved seats and instead sat beside her older sister as the table is big enough to have two people on each side. Yuna however thought that her sister has somehow become somewhat cat-like as their shoulders touched and felt each other's warmth.

"…? You're awfully clingy today, lil sis."

"I'm just worried about you," Rin expressed honestly. "And maybe… there's a bit of a projection on my part."

"You've really rubbed off on Gin's habit of making a build-up of the things that he wants to say."

"Eh-

What I'm trying to say is that… when you announced that you are pregnant, I kind of got scared for you."

"How so?"

"Well… about everything, I guess? You're now carrying a new life with you, and when it comes to the delivery… aren't you afraid that something might go wrong?"

Yuna's face slightly frowned hearing the worried words of her own sister, and gave Rin a pinch on her nose.

"Yep, Gin really has rubbed off on you if you are this negative about these things.

Duh, it's probably going to hurt like hell at times, but why am I going to think like that for my own child, huh? It is my child which is especially why I have to look forward to this, and of course I'm excited to see him or her at birth."

"Of course I know about that…! But I'm pretty much on the sidelines not knowing how exactly you feel in the coming months and just that thought is eating away at me because I'm worried for you, your child, and then myself!

Sis, I'm not a kid anymore that would be embarrassed about talking about this kind of thing. I am at least aware that I will go through this in the future, but I'm just scared that I won't be ready for what's to come…"

The declaration has taken Yuna aback. She had realized that looking back, she was not yet at the point of worrying about this concern when she was at her sister's age now, and yet Rin is.

It was made clear to her the difference in the way they are living their lives. For better or worse, Rin was exposed to a romantic relationship at a young age, and even experienced bad things that they could have lived not having felt and seen. And to top everything off, she has battled a situation where she was closer to death than anything.

With that reflection came together a sudden embrace to her sister.

"Sorry. I should have thought about it better."

"I know we're dealing with our own things, so it's okay…"

Feeling suddenly tired after a surge of emotions, Rin lied down on the floor to come further inside the kotatsu.

"There's also… something I've kept to myself and Gin. We've never told Mom and Dad because in the end, nothing happened, but we got close to crossing the line at one point when we were in Japan. But the experience of Rena, a friend and a mother, kept us from doing so.

I guess that's where my worries started… since she had her son when she was in high school. Because of that, Gin and I told ourselves that we would be careful, and so far, we have been.

But I know that time will come where I'll be in her, and your position. That's why I'm asking you now, since I'm the youngest child, and I've never really experienced what it's like to watch a mother with her child."

The sudden weight within Yuna's mind was proof enough that Rin's feelings have reached her.

After removing her glasses and letting out a sigh, she joined her sister further into the table.

"Why do you think I asked Gin to have my room cleaned and decided that I would be moving back especially in the coming months? It's because I don't think I could do this without Mom's help.

Sure, Hiro has some medical background from treating a person with shattered bones to assisting with midwives in the base. I actually have talked with an Exile in the base who he helped on giving birth to their daughter. But even so, I wholly trust Mom when it comes to this.

In the end, she was the one that gave birth to us.

But my answer to your question remains the same. I'm not so scared about all this, because I am all in on protecting my child, and I know that there are people that are going to protect us. All I have to do is learn, experience, and be ready… I'll add talking to my OB-GYN to that too…

And also, Hiro and I planned this thoroughly, you know? We're hoping that the labor will happen in September when the temperature is just perfect.

Anyway, don't overthink it too much. You still have a few months before you graduate so focus on that first. But wow, girl. You talk with so much confidence as if you're going to be with Gin in the long run."

"If there's one thing we have in common now, we have both nearly flatlined and we were by each other's side in those time."

"But Gin ran away in the middle of it."

"But he was the one that saved me in the end."

"Fair."

"L-Let's just not talk about the dark history behind the reason why I was able to be saved…"

"Now that we're at it, you two better not trauma dump on my kid or I'll actually hate you."

"It's a given that we don't want another repeat of Gin. I want my nephew/niece to be happy, after all."

"It's good to know that we're not going to fight on that."

"Ahaha. We shouldn't. We argued just now."

"And I kind of lost, but that's completely on me."

"Hahh… Let's just leave it at that and start making our lunch."

Even if by a little bit, Rin was relieved by her anxieties, and her desk now has a framed picture of the three snowmen she made, as she was very proud of the praise Shiro gave her on the way she took the photo.