Ryo waited for Sachi but when she went home she just ignored him and locked herself inside her room. So, Ryo texted Kinosuke and asked him how to cheer his sister up. With this, Kinosuke told him about the cat story.
He went online and searched for every pet shop in the city to look for a kitten similar to the cat who ran away. He wanted to surprise her tomorrow.
Next day, it was already past 11 AM when Sachi woke up, she hoped that Ryo would not notice that he cried but her eyes betray her. So she put on sunglasses to conceal that fact, but when she went outside to open the door, she found a present addressed to her, a box wrapped in red with a blue ribbon.
"Open it," he heard Ryo say. He appeared out of nowhere.
When she opened it, she did not prepare her heart from what she was about to see, she found a small white kitten with heterochromia – the left eye is blue while the right eye is green. Sachi was reduced to tears it scared and amused Ryo at the same time. He did not know if he should comfort her or not.
'Those are tears of joy, right?' he asked himself, unsure.
Then he suddenly remembered, Aki once showed him of a video compilation of women and kids crying when they were given cats as a surprise present.
Sachi was overjoyed, she played and looked after the kitten all day long. She kept calling it baby so Ryo suggested she pick a name for it.
"Yuki," Sachi said with a huge smile, eyes on the kitten. This whole time, Sachi's attention has been stolen by the kitten but thanks to that Ryo was able to steal a lot of glances and was able to just look at her to his heart's content.
"Yuki, it is," Ryo seconded, closely watching his wife.
The day passed by like a flash, he and Sachi continued to dote, play and watch over the kitten like it was their own child. Kuma-chi might have felt jealous as he would not get near the kitten at all. It was already 9 PM. Ryo and Sachi were in the living room watching TV, Sachi was leisurely stroking the kitten that was sleeping on her lap. Ryo would always steal a glance at her beside him. He saw her yawn.
"You should go to bed and rest," Ryo spoke.
Then Sachi made a face, like a grimace and then she pointed at the cat on her lap.
He gave her a questioning look, and then Ryo suddenly remembered Aki. Aki is a cat person, but is also a frustrated cat owner. Ryo's aunt, Aki's mother, unfortunately, is allergic to animal dander, so he couldn't have them as a pet while growing up. Now, Aki is living in sin with his long term girlfriend, who happens to be allergic to cats as well. Because of this, he secretly watches cat videos online to no end, even at work. Ryo clearly remembered Aki telling him not to disturb people with sleeping cats on their laps back when they were in college and he saw Aki watching one of those cat videos again.
"Why the hell is that?" Ryo asked.
"Because cats," was all Aki said.
Only then did it became obvious to Ryo that she was hesitant to get up lest she disturbs the kitten sleeping on her lap. Ryo smiled to himself, he thought it funny and amusing at the same time. He got up and stood in front of her.
"Put your arms around me," Ryo told Sachi
"What?" Sachi asked, dumbfounded by what he just said.
Ryo did not think twice nor hesitated, after all this was his chance. He crouched down, took one of Sachi's arms and put it around his neck and then he slowly lifted her off the couch.
Sachi was so surprised she did not even have time to react. The cat was still on her lap, sleeping soundly and unaware of the commotion.
"Hold him gently to keep him from falling," Ryo said to Sachi. Their faces were so close to each other's that Sachi could feel his breath on her face. Sachi consciously put a gentle hand on top of the kitten.
Ryo then carried her to her room. Kuma-chi followed them inside the bedroom. He set Sachi down gently to the bed. The cat was still sleeping soundly on her lap.
"There you go," Ryo said, more to the cat than to Sachi.
Their eyes meet briefly and they shared a smile. Ryo went back to the door.
"Goodnight," he said to her, still smiling.
"Goodnight," Sachi said, heart pounding like crazy.
Ryo went out of the room shutting the door behind him.
Inside the bedroom, Sachi had butterflies in her stomach. She was speechless and embarrassed. Outside, Ryo was thanking the cat endlessly in his mind. He remembered Aki and his invaluable information about cats, so Ryo grudgingly thanked his cousin, too. Because of the kitten he got the chance to carry Sachi in his arms, and that made him so happy. But, he was surprised how light she was. That night, the couple went to bed happy and they both had a goodnight's sleep. So did Yuki, who slept soundly with Sachi on her bed.
For day three of "Win Sachi back in thirty days", Aki had another surprise for Sachi. This time, he invited their parents over to dinner without telling her. He decided that he will cook for them. In the morning, he did grocery shopping. After that, he cleaned and prepared the kitchen and dining area.
"What's going on?" Sachi asked him as he was setting up their dining table.
Ryo smiled. "It's a surprise."
"What?" nowadays, she really could not understand him anymore. She was fighting the urge to also smile.
"Just go play the PlayerStation in the living room. Or, take Kuma-chi and Yuki out for a walk. I'll handle this," Ryo said to her and pushing him away from the dining area.
"What are you doing?" Sachi asked, this time she was smiling.
"Go, go," he shooed her away.
So, Sachi went back to the living room to play with their PlayerSation. In the middle of the afternoon, Ryo suddenly came out of the kitchen.
"Go get dressed. Put on a nice dress," he told Sachi.
"What? Why?" she asked but he ignored her. "We're just having dinner right? Are we having people over?"
Ryo nodded with a huge grin on his face.
"You should have told me then. I could have helped you out," Sachi protested.
"I wanted to do this alone," Ryo replied.
"Who's coming? Your cousins?" Sachi asked.
"It's a surprise. Now go," he said and pulled her to her room.
"You're so weird today," she said before shutting the door to her room. She did as she was told. After getting ready, Ryo was already done with the cooking and all the preparation when she came out of her room. She put on light makeup but decided to apply striking red lipstick. She was wearing a lavender dress.
"I don't think I've ever told you this before, but you're so beautiful," Ryo said while staring at her, mesmerized.
"Of course, it's because I have makeup on, you dummy," Sachi blushed but quickly brushed his flattery aside.
He took a step forward towards her but remembered how grimy he was from all the cooking, so he stopped.
"I'll go get ready then," Ryo said to her.
Sachi nodded and off he went to his room.
Sachi let out a big sigh after he left her alone in the dining area. For a moment there, Sachi thought he was going to do something. The thought made her blush.
'Snap out of it! You guys are getting divorced in thirty days, remember?' she heard her inner voice say and this was all it took to dampen her spirits again. She went back to the living room, turned on the TV and played with Yuki on the couch.
After a while, she heard the doorbell rang. She immediately went to the door to open it. She was surprised to see Sanada.
"Darling," Sanada greeted her, kissing her on the cheek.
"Mother, what a pleasant surprise," Sachi said with a smile.
"My son did say that you didn't know I was coming," Sanada said as they were making their way to the living room. "Speaking, where is my son?" Sanada said as she was looking around.
"He's in his room probably still taking a shower," Sachi said without realizing.
"In his room?" Sanada asked Sachi, confused.
Sachi nodded, still unaware of her blunder, and then she suddenly realized her mistake. "I meant to say 'our' room."
"Oh good, it's just as two for now," Sanada said sitting down on the couch, making herself more comfortable. And then, she noticed their wedding picture in the living room, she noted that this was not displayed before. "This looks nice."
"Ryo decided to hang it here," Sachi said as she sat down on the couch with Sanada. She picked up Yuki in her lap.
"I see that you have a new addition to your growing family," Sanada remarked with a smile.
"Ryo just got him for me yesterday. His name is Yuki," Sachi said with a bright smile.
Sanada noticed one thing immediately, she knew that her daughter-in-law was not much of talker from the start, especially about matters concerning her son and their marriage, always giving her general or indirect answers when they pry on them, but tonight, Sachi has referred to him twice. This put a smile on Sanada's face.
'Looks like they have been getting along,' Sanada thought to herself. She did notice that the couple don't really seem very close to each other, despite being married for three years now. 'Work hard, Ryo,' she cheered for her son in her mind.
Ryo came out of his bedroom and was surprised to see his mother already in the living room.
"Mom," he greeted and walked up to her mother. He crouched and kissed her on the cheeks.
"Missed me?" Sanada quipped.
"Not really," Ryo joked and made a face at Sachi, who did not know how to react to his goofy side that she had only witnessed now so she just gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"Shall we start dinner? Mother must be starving from traveling out here," Sachi said out of consideration.
"We still have other guests," Ryo said to her with a wink. He was wearing black pants and a simple white button-down shirt. He was folding its sleeves up to his elbow.
It made Sachi's heart flutter. Meanwhile, Sanada had been closely observing the couple. She was so happy to see them getting along and acting more like a real married couple now.
"What's this? Why doesn't Sachi know about the other guests," Sanada asked his son.
"Because this dinner is a surprise for her," Ryo said with a smile to her mother.
'Good job, son,' Sanada thought.
It was five minutes before 7 PM when the doorbell rang revealing the other guests. Ryo opened the door and happily greeted his in-laws inside. Sachi was surprised to see her parents and brother.
"Oka-san, Oto-san?" she exclaimed.
"We hope we're not late. Iyoshi took his time in the bathroom," Ayumi said.
"You're just in time. How are you lot?" Sanada said to Ayumi and the two hugged.
"We're all well, thank God. And you?" Ayumi said to Sanada.
"Never better," Sanada said with a smile and two women started laughing.
"It's so nice to see you again tonight, Sanada," Sachi's father joined in the conversation.
Meanwhile, Sachi saw Ryo approach Kinosuke and the two of them were all smiles and exchanged a brief hug. Kinosuke was holding a bottle of wine which he handed to Ryo. It seemed like the only person who was clueless about the whole thing was Sachi.
Ryo went to Sachi's side and whispered to her ear.
"Surprised?" he said.
Sachi looked him in the eyes and smiled. She nodded and thanked him.
"You're welcome. I'm happy that you're happy," he said and suddenly took one of her hand and interlocked it with his. "Dinner's ready on the table, let's go," Ryo said to their families. He and Sachi led the way to their dining area, holding hands while walking.
They had an eight-seater rectangular shaped table. Ryo sat at one end and on his right was Sachi and his mother. To his left were the Furukawas – Iyoshi, Ayumi and Kinosuke respectively. The group started eating and happily chatted about family, business and other things.
When dessert was finally being served, Iyoshi suddenly asked Ryo about the progress of their new project.
"I haven't been able to read the reports on that one lately. I' was planning to check on it tomorrow," Ryo answered.
"Why is that?" Iyoshi thought it strange. "Aren't you personally seeing it yourself?"
"Not at the moment, no," Ryo said. "I'm currently on leave from work starting last Monday," he added.
"Leave?" Sanada, Iyoshi and Ayumi all said in unison.
Ryo laughed at their reaction. "Yes." He paused before continuing, "Sachi and I are working on something."
"Don't tell me," Sanada exclaimed and looked at Sachi.
"Is it what we think it is?" Ayumi asked Sachi who was confused by the two mothers' reaction.
"Are you pregnant?" Sanada asked Sachi with a big smile.
"Is it the reason why you invited us for dinner, to tell us that?" Iyoshi asked his daughter who was speechless.
Ryo took Sachi's hands in his. "She's not pregnant," he answered for her. "But, that's one of the reasons why I took a leave from work. So that I can focus more on our family." Ryo was looking at Sachi's eyes the whole time when he said this.
And then the three old folks started laughing together.
"I keep telling my son that he better hurry up, or else, I won't even be able to hold my own grandchild without assistance," Sanada said to Iyoshi and Ayumi.
"I know, right?" Ayumi seconded.
"I can't wait to see little children running around our gardens at home," Iyoshi spoke.
"Me too, honey," Ayumi said to her husband.
"You heard that sis? Work hard tonight," Kinosuke said joining in the adult's conversation.
Ayumi smacked her son on the arm.
"Aww!" Kinosuke said and looked helplessly at his mother.
And then, Iyoshi, Sanada and Ayumi all burst into laughter again.
"Then, shall we all get going so that we can leave them alone?" Iyoshi asked his wife and Sanada.
"Hurry up and finish your dessert," Ayumi good-naturedly said to her husband.
Ryo and Sachi just watched and listened to their parents talk about grandchildren. Ryo did not let go of her hand. She threw him a side glance and was surprised to see that he was looking at her too as their eyes meet.
'Why are you doing this?' Sachi wanted to ask him but she knew she can't, at least not in front of their parents.
"What?" Ryo asked her. He did something he has never done before, too. He kissed her hand, the one he was holding.
Iyoshi suddenly cleared his throat. "Looks like we're really interrupting them," he directed his statement to Sanada and Ayumi. The couple did not notice that all eyes were on them now.
"Hurry up and finish that," Ayumi glared at his son who was enjoying eating his share of tiramisu.
Kinosuke made a 'what's your problem' kind of face to his own mother.
Finally, dinner was done and everybody was happily sipping their wines, except for Kinosuke, who was stuck with orange juice because Ayumi would not hear about him being old enough to drink.
After their dinner, Sanada, Iyoshi, Ayumi, and Kinosuke said their goodbyes. The time already said 9:30 PM. Sanada warmly said her goodbye to her in-laws, and the Furukawas likewise to her.
The couple only had a momentary alone time, as the doorbell suddenly rang. In came Sanada with her bag. She suddenly declared that she would like to spend the night with them on their suite and not in the room that Ryo booked for her a few floors down.
"This is the guest room, right?" Sanada asked the couple who had a bit of a horror-stricken expression on their faces.
"Mother, if you stay here we won't have time to do all the baby making practices," Ryo said for Sachi's sake. But, the truth of the matter was, he actually wanted for his mother to stay, for a whole week even. That way he will be able to spend the nights with Sachi in his room as they don't have another spare bedroom since he made the third one into his study and office.
"Oh, don't mind me. You two do what you got to do," Sanada said with a wink and shut the door behind her.
Inside his room, there was an awkward silence between the couple.
"Would you like to use the bathroom first?" Ryo offered.
"No, you go first," Sachi said. So, Ryo washed up and he came out of the bathroom wearing his bathrobe. Sachi then immediately entered the bathroom after him.
Ryo noticed that Kuma-chi and Yuki were with them, too. The two were snuggled next to each other in Kuma-chi's bed. He made a mental note that they will need to buy Yuki his own bed. He gently patted both of them.
He changed into a black cotton jogging pants and a white cotton round neck shirt. He suddenly remembered that her clothes were on the other room so he got her a change of clothes, too. He took out one of his many white cotton V-neck t-shirts and cotton shorts.
But, when Sachi came out of the bathroom, she was already wearing his discarded white button-down shirt that he hang on the towel rack.
"I used your towel and your spare toothbrush from your cupboard. I hope you don't mind," Sachi said upon coming out of the bathroom.
Ryo shook his head lightly, mouth open. He wanted to protest and offer her his newly washed shirt but his eyes and mind were not prepared by the effect of seeing Sachi wearing one of his shirts. None of his past girlfriends were able to wear any of his shirts to sleep before, so seeing Sachi in one was a first for him.
His simple button-down shirt looked so damn sexy on her that the image of her coming out of his bathroom wearing only that will be forever etched in his mind. Ryo knew that he'll have another sleepless night again because of her. Not only that, the fact that he knew she had nothing but her underwear underneath his shirt was also driving him crazy.
"Which side of the bed do you sleep in?" she asked him, pulling him out of his reverie.
He pointed at the side nearest the door.
"Okay," Sachi said went to the other side. She pulled the covers over and said her goodnight.
Ryo hurriedly laid down on the bed too. Sachi suddenly turned to him.
"I forgot to tell you this," she spoke. "Thank you so much for tonight. Seeing my parents and brother and your mother, of course, made me very happy. Thank you," she said looking straight into his eyes.
"Anything for you," was all he could manage to say.
"Goodnight again and sleep tight," Sachi said and turned to the other side.
"You too," Ryo replied softly.
That night, Ryo called on all the Gods to calm him down lest he'll turn into a savage beast and devour the prey beside him. He fought the urge to hold her that night with all his might. If their pets weren't with them and Sanada in the other room, he would have probably unleashed the beast within him tonight. He stared at her back the whole night as he waited for fatigue to set in and put him to slumber.
***