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Ena sat down in her chair and heaved a heavy sigh.
Finally, Mizuki was safe.
The thought still makes her heart pound. “What-if”s threaten to plague her mind, still. She doesn’t think they’ll ever go away. They scare her, but when she thinks like this, distractions help best.
Like now, it’s 25:00 once more.
Mafuyu’s voice asking Kanade a question about the recent demo. Kanade responding.
What if you hadn’t been able to catch up to her?
Ena whines, softly enough that her mic doesn’t pick it up.
Stop it, voice in her head! It doesn’t matter, Mizuki’s safe now! That’s what matters most!
She draws, then erases, then draws, then erases the same line on her drawing tablet multiple times.
She looks at her screen, and an anxiety that she can’t quite understand grips her heart like a vice when she sees Mizuki’s icon light up green.
“Ahhh, Yuki! Can I get your opinion for this part, real quick?”
“Mm, sure. I have a minute.”
Ena can’t help the itching feeling she has, now. After being away from Mizuki for so long, she now has her back. But, what if she runs away again? What if Ena can’t get her back that time? What if what if what if what if what if—
“Enanan, are you there?”
Hearing her name, she looks up at the screen in front of her. It’s blurry. How long has she been crying?
She roughly wipes her tears away.
“Y-yeah. Um. Kanade? Can we go into a private call for a sec? I want to… um… talk about the vocals?”
The call goes silent for a moment. She squeezes her eyes shut, hoping Kanade is merciful and understands where Ena’s coming from.
“Oh, sure. We’ll be right back, you two.”
Ena thanks her and leaves the call before the other two can make some sort of comment. She knows she must look strange, suddenly leaving the call like that. Something she never does.
She clicks on Kanade’s profile, starting a call with her. Kanade immediately answers.
“What did you want to talk about, Enanan?”
“U-um…”
Her voice gets caught in her throat. No, nonono, this can’t be happening. Her breath hitches, and she lets out a soft sob. She can hear Kanade gasp in alarm.
“Ena?” The soft, gentle voice echoes through her headphones, forgoing her friend’s username in favor of her real name. She can tell this moment is serious. “What’s the matter? Are you able to type it out to me?”
Ena looks at her keyboard. All the characters jumble together through tears. She whimpers softly, feeling her headspace drift away from her. She doesn’t want it to. She tries pulling it along with her through every click of the keyboard, but it’s clear through the messy river of letters that it’s still trying to stray away.
What’s written is, however, still legible.
[Sorry. Feel bad. Wan Mizu, but…]
What if she doesn’t want to see you? She probably needs alone time, you know. She just went through a really hard time. You’re so selfish for—
Kanade seems to understand where Ena’s coming from, and everything beneath it, from the way she hums. She’s silent for a beat, and then,
“Are you feeling small, Ena?”
The artist has never truly understood how Kanade can always tell. Is she really that obvious, or is Kanade just perceptive like that?
She nods, and it takes her much too long to remember that Kanade can’t see her. Instead, she mumbles “Mhm…” and types out something else.
[very]
“I see. Don’t worry, love. I have a plan that you might like. Do you want to come to the Sekai with me?”
A little confused, but trusting, Ena opens her phone and heads where Kanade asked her to be.
—-
This had been… a strange meeting, in Mizuki’s eyes. First, Ena asking if she could call Kanade separately, and then Kanade asking if everyone could meet up in the Sekai? She briefly, worriedly wondered if Ena was okay, but tried to not let that worry manifest too much.
After playing the song previously known as “Untitled”, she blinked her eyes to adjust to the harsh light.
She spotted Kanade and Mafuyu a few feet in front of her, but as her eyes were adjusting, she didn’t see Ena anywhere. However, upon further inspection, Mizuki spotted a head of brown hair behind Kanade. While the face of the girl was obscured, there was a hand holding onto Kanade’s sleeve that couldn’t belong to anyone except Ena.
Mizuki fought the urge to laugh. What was Ena doing, exactly? Choosing to hide behind a girl that was a handful of inches shorter than her? Was this a prank?
She smiled as she approached everyone, noticing that none of the vocaloids seemed to be around.
“Hey guys~!” She cheered as she stood in front of Kanade, who smiled at Mizuki in return.
Kanade didn’t respond, but patted Ena’s side and whispered something in her ear, causing two brown eyes to peek out and look at Mizuki — who pretended to not notice, but it was so cute! — over the composer’s shoulder.
“Say, what’s going on? You asked us to the Sekai pretty abruptly, after all. Is everything okay?”
“Ah, well… about that.”
Kanade looked once more at Ena, before giving her a reassuring smile and turning back to Mizuki. The pair of eyes that had peeked out now hid once again.
“Mizuki… when you left Niigo, it affected the three of us very much. Despite that, I think it affected Ena the most. She missed you so much, and… wasn’t able to regress without you there.”
Mizuki frowned at what she was hearing, and heard a whine coming from behind Kanade’s back.
“Now that you’re back, she’s been overthinking a lot. She really wants you here, with her, but she feels selfish to ask for that. She was spiralling earlier, and ended up slipping really hard. So, I talked to her and Mafuyu.
“We all know you’re not 100% yet and are still recovering, so we’d never ask you to care for a baby on your own. But, if me and Mafuyu support you, would you be willing to help with Ena?”
Mizuki, a bit stunned from everything, stood still for a moment. She had no idea Ena felt that way, after all. It made sense, now, but it still made her frown deeper. It also explained why Ena was adorably hidden behind Kanade, too shy to be seen but also wanting to hear the conversation.
A caregiver headspace… that would feel really refreshing right about now.
She grinned. “Of course, I’ve missed my little one, after all! But, where could she possibly be? I don’t see her anywhere!”
Kanade giggled, and even Mafuyu cracked a soft smile. Ena peeked out once again, and Mizuki feigned a gasp.
“Ah, could it be this little hedgehog hiding behind Kanade?”
Mizuki rushed over to envelop Ena in a warm hug, rubbing her back softly. The former gently lowered them both to the ground, tracing all kinds of shapes onto her little’s back.
After a few moments, Mizuki gently pulled her face away. Ena let out an involuntary whine, not wanting there to be any space between them, no matter how small. However, her eyes immediately widened, and she looked up apologetically at Mizuki, not wanting to be a bother. Mizuki only cupped her cheek and smiled at her.
“Hey, it’s okay. It’ll only be a moment, okay? And then we can cuddle all you want.”
The animator gently kissed Ena’s cheeks on both sides, comforting her further and ridding her of tears. Ena’s big eyes, housing her dilated pupils that signified her regression, seemed to ask, “Is this okay?”
“You can be so sweet, huh?” Mizuki chuckled. “Everything’s okay now, flower. Mimi’s here. You didn’t give up on me, so I won’t let you go.”
Noticing the baby’s eyes begin to well up with tears, Mizuki guided her head to sit on her shoulder, fully embracing the little one again.
“There you are, Ena. Mimi’s got you.”
And with that, Ena allowed herself to fall down, all the way, knowing that Mizuki would catch her. She softly cried into her caregiver’s arms and held her tight as if Mizuki were a kite about to be blown away.
She unlatched an arm from Mizuki’s waist. The latter was momentarily confused until she realized where the thumb of that arm was now: in the baby’s mouth. The editor only chuckled, not bothering to scold the little one for it since there was currently nothing better for her to suck on. It seemed as though Kanade and Mafuyu realized this, as they told Mizuki they would “Be right back,” as they left to get Ena’s little gear. The baby began sniffling instead of crying; a good sign, one that told her caregiver that she was feeling better.
“Hmm… How old are you feeling, hon?” Mizuki asked her baby, expecting a verbal answer. When she didn’t get one, she softly pulled away once more, bouncing the little thing so she wouldn’t fuss. Ena’s eyes were wide and a bit watery with leftover tears. “Ah. Can you maybe show me on your fingers, babygirl?” Mizuki tried, however, Ena continued to suck on her thumb, giving the animator the same blank eyed, no-thoughts-in-her-brain stare. Clearly too tiny to even comprehend Mizuki’s question, much less answer.
Mizuki sighed fondly, giving her little a look of pure tenderness and love. Oh, well. At least she tried.
“You’re too cute, baby! Mimi loves you. I’ll always care for you, no matter what.”
The baby began to whine and tried snuggling into Mizuki again, so the latter complied and the two were cuddling closely once more.
After a few moments, Mafuyu and Kanade appeared with their arms full of baby gear. Picture books, Ena’s baby bottle, and her favorite pacifier along with a blanket and two large pillows. Mizuki looked up at them with gratitude.
She carefully took the bottle in one hand, still holding Ena close in the other. “Are you thirsty, little thing? I’m sure you are, after all those tears.”
Ena didn’t respond, but perked up when she saw her bottle and pointed to it. Mizuki giggled, holding the bottle close to the little one so she could have her angel milk in her carer’s arms. As she drank, the editor made sure to pat her back and hold her close, ensuring the baby wouldn’t be upset.
She finished the milk quickly, so Mizuki placed the bottle to the side.
“She’s being so good!” She said, to Kanade and Mafuyu. “I probably would’ve been fine on my own—“
Mizuki spoke as she reached for the little’s pacifier. As she did, Ena got fussy and started to cry, thinking her carer was leaving her. Mizuki became startled, and started bouncing the baby softly and shushing and cooing at her. However, Ena continued to cry until Mafuyu came to the rescue with the pacifier.
Ena looked up, sniffling and taking in the reassuring gazes of her caregivers. Kanade, who was to her left, was petting her hair and giving her head pats. Mafuyu, to her right, brought out a handkerchief to wipe Ena’s tears. Finally, Mizuki, right in front of her, was looking at her with all the love and adoration in the world.
That’s right, the affection reminded her. She’s loved.
—-
“…And then the white rabbit and black rabbit played together again.”
Ena giggled and clapped as Mafuyu and Kanade took turns reading her bedtime stories. While she was too small to understand what was being read, she loved hearing the voices of her caregivers. It was endearing to see how much she loved them all.
She yawned, her pacifier slipping out of her mouth and falling from the clip on her shirt. Mafuyu was quick to place it back in her mouth.
“Ah, looks like someone’s sleepy, huh?” Kanade said, kissing Ena’s cheek, receiving a sleepy giggle in response. Mizuki chimed in with a giggle, agreeing. She helped Ena lay down on the pillow, before joining her and cuddling her as the big spoon. On the second pillow, Kanade and Mafuyu were just about to lay down as well, but didn’t get a chance to before Ena whined and sat up.
“Hm? What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Mizuki asked, concerned, as she sat up as well. The baby pouted as much as she could with a pacifier in her mouth, before pointing to her forehead and tapping it.
Ah, of course! They’d forgotten to give her a goodnight kiss!
After a few rushed apologies, the three of them took turns giving the little one the kisses she was due. Once all of them had done their duty to serve their princess, she smiled once again, making grabby hands for Mizuki once again.
Surrounded by the people they love, both Mizuki and Ena are finally at peace.