Chapter Text
[ Name ] felt the arm around her waist tighten, which stirred her up from her sleep. Her eyelids lifted open slowly to see her slumbering lover, Kyojuro. His expression is soft as he breathed in slowly through his nose. he wore an oversized shirt and his hair is tied into a messy bun with some loose strands hanging over his face. She smiled softly and lifted her hand, the jewelry on her finger shining from the sun outside. She cupped his cheek and pecked his lips. Kyojuro grumbled and pulled her closer to his chest by the waist while pressing his face into her hair. She heard him inhale softly and felt his body relax after.
"Kyo, it's time to wake up." She told him though sounded slightly muffled due to her face being buried in his chest.
She didn't receive a response, just soft breathing. With her fingers, she pinched his waist. It was enough to wake him up since he jolted. His eyelids lifted open as he tiredly looked around the room.
"[ Name ]?" He called quietly, not aware he'd been pinched.
She pushed his chest a bit to give herself space. "I'm right here. You almost suffocated me to death."
He looked down and upon seeing her, he smiled blissfully. He kissed her forehead lovingly.
"I'm sorry about that. You're just so comfortable to hold."
[ Name ] sat upright while pushing some of her hair out of her face. "Come on, let's get ready. Haruka and the others want to visit the park today."
Kyojuro hummed as he rubbed circles around her hip. "Ah right, they wanted to see where we used to play as kids after we mentioned it."
"Yes, but I also want to see it for the same reason. It's been years since we've been there."
Then, several knocks on the door interrupted them.
"Mommy wake up! I want to go to the park today! You promised!"
Kyojuro laughed. "That must be Asashi."
[ Name ] shared his amusement. She turned away from Kyojuro and left their shared bed. She walked towards the door and opened it. Her eyes lowered to see her son Asashi who is an exact copy of his father.
Asashi giggled and hugged her waist. "Come on! Hurry we have to go now or else it'll be nighttime!"
"There's no need to rush Asashi. Its morning and nighttime won't come till a long while."
"Na-uh! If you blink it'll turn nighttime! It happens to me all the time!"
"Well, if you keep clinging to me and not wake up your siblings, it'll turn nighttime."
Asashi gasped. "No!"
He pried his hands off her and scrambled to his older sister and brother's room. With a soft smile, she turned away and closed her bedroom door to get ready herself.
With Asashi, he ran to his older sister's room first. He attempted to open her door but realized she had locked it. He pressed his mouth on the wood and shouted. "Wake up Haruka! Mommy is gonna take us to the park today!"
No response.
"WAKE UP OR ELSE IT'LL TURN NIGHTTIME!"
Then, heavy footsteps sounded from outside the door. Asashi stepped back with a smile as the door slid open aggressively. Haruka, who had the same features as her father, glared at him with tired eyes.
"Stop with that. It's not gonna turn nighttime! It's morning Asashi! It would take more than ten hours for it to be nighttime!"
Asashi countered. "Yeah but it goes really quick! But that doesn't matter, mommy is gonna take us to the park today!"
"Yeah yeah I know but you don't need to yell!"
Then, a low voice from behind them spoke. "Will you guys stop screaming so early in the morning?"
Asashi squealed and turned around to see his older brother, Kaito. Kaito pushed back his hair, the exact color of his mother's. His golden eyes stared at his little siblings with tiredness.
"Hurry up and get ready you idiots. The more you scream, the less time we get to go to the park."
Asashi scrambled past him and sprinted to his room to get ready. Asashi sighed and closed her door to do the same. Satisfied that the noise has been resolved, Kaito returns to his room.
By the time the children were ready, [ Name ] and Kyojuro was in the kitchen cooking breakfast. The children arrived one by one, Kaito being the first, Asashi second, and Haruka third.
"Mommy! What does the park have? Does it have swings and monkey bars?" Asashi asked as he swung his feet while waiting by the dinner table.
"I'm pretty sure it does. It's a park after all." Kaito answered as he scrolled through his phone.
Haruka agreed. "Yeah, I think it's like the other parks. You should be asking if it has anything special."
"Oh yeah you're right!"
[ Name ] answered after separating the food onto the plates. "Yes, it does have swings and a monkey bar. It has all the things most parks have. However, it does have one extra area that I don't notice in others."
"Ohh what is it!"
"Well, I'm not sure of the name but it's a kind of rope equipment. Like a spider web in a way. You'll have to wait till we get there to understand."
Asashi's eyes sparked. "That sounds so fun!"
"Yes, but it's also dangerous. Kyojuro and I almost got hurt playing on it."
Kaito smiled. "Guess you can't go on there Asashi."
"What?!"
Haruka agreed. "Uh yeah, don't forget how clumsy you are! Do you know how many bandages dad had to get? You were literally covered by them at one point!"
Kyojuro joined the conversation after placing down a few plates of food. "I agree young Asashi, I don't want you getting hurt playing on it."
Asashi frowned. "But I promise I'll be careful! Please? Mommy, won't you let me play on it?"
[ Name ] placed down the rest of the plates while taking a seat. "Alright, but you can only play on it in some conditions."
Asashi smiled. "Well, mommy says it's okay!"
Kaito shook his head. "What a momma's boy."
"You are too!"
"Settle down everyone. Breakfast is ready and I'm sure all of us are eager to go to the park!" Kyojuro interjected. "I know I am!"
With idle chatter, the Rengoku family enjoyed their breakfast.
‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Autumn ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙
"Woah...." Asashi stared at the playground in awe. "It's so big! Wait, is that the thing you were talking about mommy?!" He pointed to the large rope equipment.
[ Name ] nodded. "Yes-"
Asashi rushed to the rope equipment while squealing. Haruka let out a shout before chasing after him.
"Kaito, could you keep an eye on them, please?" Kyojuro asked while chuckling.
"Got it, those damn rascals. By the way mom, did you want me to relay anything? They just up and left without letting you finish."
[ Name ] nodded. "Just let Asashi know he can't go to the top. He needs to stay on the lower level."
Kaito nodded and sprinted to his siblings.
[ Name ] and Kyojuro watched their children play on the rope equipment. As expected, Asashi was climbing and twisting his body over the ropes. His laughter and giggles can be heard clearly in the air. Followed by that is Haruka's stern scoldings that concealed her worries. Kaito is following them quietly and making sure they aren't doing anything dangerous.
Kyojuro intertwined his hand with [ Name ]'s which caught her attention.
"Why don't we go on the swings?" He suggested while gesturing to them.
"That would be nice."
Hand in hand, they walked over to the empty swings. They took a seat and began swinging back and forth slowly, dragging their feet along the sand. The swings were close to the rope equipment so they could still keep an eye on them. They swung in silence for a few minutes as they held hands. Simply basking in the morning sun and the laughter in the air.
"I'm surprised this park hasn't deteriorated." [ Name ] said, breaking the silence. "I'd expected some of this equipment to be rusted and dull. These swings don't even creak in the slightest."
"I was thinking the same. Then again, I remember this park being pretty popular. I'd imagine a lot of people would want to make sure it's in shape."
"That's good, guess I didn't need to make any plans to clean up this place."
"Aaaaah!"
[ Name ] stood up abruptly upon seeing Asashi slip but fortunately, Kaito was there to catch him by the leg.
"See!? I told you to be careful!" Haruka hollered.
[ Name ] sighed in relief before sitting back down on the swing. "Ah that boy, he's gonna give me a heart attack one day."
Kyojuro laughed and rubbed her arm soothingly. "He's a reckless one but he's got a good spirit. It's a good thing he has his brother and sister to look after him."
"That's true, I just hope he's more careful in the future."
"I'm sure he will. He's a kid right now so it's granted he'll experience his own falls and tumbles. That actually reminds me of us back then."
"Right, if I remember correctly, you fell down there when we were playing tag."
Kyojuro hummed. "Yep! If it wasn't for my mother, I would've gotten hurt. Still, I feel guilty about what happened back then."
[ Name ] chuckled. "I already told you there's nothing to feel guilty about."
"Yeah but I still remember how shaky you were when you were holding me."
"Well, I was a weak little thing back then. Ah, speaking of which, we've been reminiscing a lot about our past lately."
"That's because we're getting old," Kyojuro laughed. "you know how us old folks like to talk about our past."
[ Name ] laughed along. "Oh no we're really reaching that age, huh?"
Kyojuro smiled fondly at her. He leaned his swing toward her and pecked her lips. "Even so, I don't mind growing old and talking about old memories. As long as you continue staying with me."
[ Name ] shared his smile and pecked his lips back. "I completely agree."
Then, [ Name ] stood up and began to stretch which caught Kyojuro off guard. "Well, before we grow old and senile, why don't we play a game of tag? For old time's sake."
Kyojuro's eyes glimmered in excitement. He practically jumped off the swing and stretched as well. This obviously meant he was in. He walked up to her with a huge smile.
"Rock paper scissors?" He inquired while holding his hands up.
"Absolutely." [ Name ] raised her hands.
Then, in unison. "Rock, paper, scissors shoot!"
[ Name ] shot scissors while Kyojuro shot paper. Without sparing even a single second, [ Name ] jolted away; literally leaving a dust cloud behind. Kyojuro sprinted after her in joyous laughter. He could feel his blood pumping through his veins, the adrenaline sending him into speed. All of these emotions brought him back to when he was young.
"Come back here!"
"Like I'd listen to you tagger!"
They leaped over the equipment, sliding underneath the slides, flipping over the metal bars; it was like they never aged. While most people would say they are far too old to be playing kids' tag or far too old to be moving in such bizarre ways, it didn't matter to them. Especially since no one is ever too old to have fun and fill their bodies with laughter.
"I want to play with them!" Asashi said while hastily climbing down the rope equipment.
"Not so fast there kid." Kaito grabbed his arm and dragged him back up. "Let mom and dad have their fun."
Haruka snickered. "Even if you could, you wouldn't stand a chance against either of them."
The three children watched their parents zoom across the playground. It was quite an amusing sight to them. They'd have always known their parents had remarkable physiques but seeing it always puts them in awe.
Kaito smiled softly. 'It's ironic how they're the ones enjoying the park the most.'
Suddenly, [ Name ] stumbled on the mulch which caused her to fall.
"Ah, [ Name ]!" Kyojuro shouted with surprise as he slowed to a stop to her fallen body.
"Mommy!" Asashi jumped off the rope and sprinted over to his mother.
Kaito also jumped off as worry consumed him. "Mom!"
Haruka sighed. "All of yall are momma's boy."
Haruka knew full well a fall like that wouldn't hurt mother....
Right....?
Haruka grumbled as she jumped off the rope and scrambled after everyone. "You better be okay mom!"
[ Name ] laughed in the end as she was surrounded by her wonderful children, the light in her world. Her beloved husband who was the the brightest sun in her life. Whisking away her cloudy days.
She's truly blessed to have such a wonderful family who loved her.
"I love all of you so much."
[ Bonus Ending Complete ]
Thank you once again, and for the very last time.
10/8/2022