Two weeks later Mizuki walked into the room that she and her sisters had always shared, and found her sister sobbing silently on her bed. "Did Shinichi-san call again?" she asked after a moment.
"I told him not to call me again last time, and he hasn't," Shizune replied tearfully without looking up.
Mizuki sat beside her, patted her back, and suggested, "You could call him?"
"I can't!" Shizune wailed at a volume that made her wince.
"Why not?" Mizuki asked reasonably.
"I'm pregnant," Shizune sobbed miserably.
Mizuki stared at her sister in shock for a long silent minute, then asked hesitantly, "Do you think it's from that jerk you were dating before? Is that why you think you can't tell Shinichi-san?" Shizune didn't answer, so Mizuki added, "I think you're underestimating him. If you want to be with him, shouldn't you at least give him a chance?"
"It's Shinichi's," Shizune finally insisted tearfully.
After a moment Mizuki asked a little angrily, "Then doesn't he deserve to know?"
"I'm too scared," Shizune admitted after a moment.
"Do you want me to call him instead?" Mizuki offered hesitantly.
Shizune sat up suddenly and exclaimed, "No! Don't you dare!" Mizuki just looked at her and after a moment she fell back onto the bed and added more wearily, "I'll tell him. I will. I just can't yet."
"Okay," Mizuki agreed.
--
Two weeks later someone knocked while they were all having dinner. As the youngest, Mizuki was the one who got up to answer the door.
A familiar figure waited on the other side. Shinichi merely glanced down at her, and then looked over her shoulder at Shizune. Mizuki silently stepped back, and Shizune leapt to her feet and fled towards their bedroom.
Shinichi immediately dropped his suitcase and demanded harshly, "Shizune come here!"
He pointed at the floor in front of his feet and her family stared in shock as Shizune halted, and then slowly walked back to him without ever looking up at his face.
"Are you pregnant?" he asked more gently.
She looked up at him with wide startled eyes, and then nodded hesitantly.
He ran his hand through his hair and told her bitterly, "You told me not to call you, but then you called me three times and hung up before I could answer." His expression shifted as he gave her a wry grin and explained, "I can count, you know, and I figured you'd know by now."
Shizune still didn't reply with words, but she started to cry.
He reached out, pulled her into his embrace, and hugged her. "You will marry me," he informed her.
"Okay," she agreed.
"If you try to run away again I'm going to tie you up," he warned her.
"Okay," she agreed again.
Mizuki almost protested, but her sister was finally smiling again. After a moment she returned to the table, where their startled parents were watching them with wide eyes.
--
Mizuki cornered Shinichi a while later and asked suspiciously, "Did you get her pregnant on purpose? You seem pretty smug."
Shinichi shrugged, but replied, "The first time, I didn't even think about it." After a moment he looked away as he admitted, "The last time, I was really hoping though."
She gave him a long look, and pointed out, "You know you'll have the baby too, it's not just a way to get Shizu-nee-chan?"
He turned back and smiled at her. "I know, and I think it's going to be amazing. Shizune is the warmest person I've ever met. She's everything I've ever wanted, and if our child is anything like me, we'll never get bored."
Mizuki regarded him with surprise, and after a moment he shrugged. "Were you a troublesome child?" she questioned curiously.
"Kind of, I got bored a lot. It wasn't so much that I tried to cause trouble though," he explained, "I was careful not to do anything that I'd already gotten in trouble for again."
He grinned at her and she laughed.
--
Two weeks later, someone knocked on the door. Mizuki carried her youngest nephew over to the door, and then opened it. She stared for a long moment and then gasped, "Sora! You came!"
He frowned and said simply, "Mizuki."
She set the baby on the floor, and then reached out to pull Sora through the door, as she exclaimed, "Don't move! Wait right there, I'll be right back!"
Sora watched her with confusion, and then called out as she yanked her bedroom door open, "Mizuki, the baby?"
She looked back and he pointed. She yelled, "Aka-nee-chan, the baby's going to eat cat food, again!"
Mizuki was already through the door before her eldest sister shouted back from her parents room, "Well stop him!"
Sora stepped over and picked up the baby gingerly. Mizuki dashed back into the room a moment later, and he held the baby out to her. She grabbed the baby with one arm, tucked him onto her hip, and thrust a small pile of notes into Sora's hands.
"I couldn't find any places that were currently hiring for your old job title, but I found some that have that position. I thought maybe you could apply for one of the entry positions and then make an internal application when the one you want opens up, and then they'd already know that you have good attendance and everything!" she told him in a rush.
He stared at her for a moment, and then informed her a little angrily, "I just came to return your clothes. Why did you leave them with me? You know I hate that kind of manipulative thing Mizuki!"
She stared at him blankly for a longer moment and then asked, "You're not here for the wedding? But the way you're dressed?"
"What wedding? I'm dressed like this because Takumi's wedding was this morning," Sora replied with confusion.
Mizuki gazed up at him and asked incredulously, "You came here from your best friend's wedding just to return my clothes? Shizune is marrying Shinichi-san this evening."
"You left your address on my pillow! Are you going to pretend you didn't leave them on purpose?" he asked angrily. He followed up with less force, as she just stared at him, "Are you going to your sister's wedding dressed like that?"
Mizuki's mother came out just in time to hear his question, and took the baby from Mizuki while saying, "Oh please, if you can talk her into wearing the dress, I'll be forever grateful! Please convince her!"
Sora stared at the woman disbelievingly, then looked at Mizuki, who grabbed his hand and demanded, "Let's talk in my room!"
He let her pull him into the room she'd entered before. It was a mid-size bedroom, beside the flat's kitchen. One small bed with drawers underneath stood to either side of the doorway, and a long closet took up the far wall. She pushed him toward a bed and he resisted.
She looked at his expression and laughed. "Just sit Sora."
Instead he held out the paper bag that held her clothes to her, and asked again, "Are you trying to pretend you didn't leave them on purpose?"
She grimaced as she finally took the bag, and replied, "It wasn't exactly on purpose. I did realize I'd left them when we were packing, but…" She hesitated for a long moment before admitting unhappily, "I didn't want to give back your shirt."
"My shirt?" he questioned blankly.
She glared at him as she asked angrily, "You didn't think I went back to our room naked did you?"
She swallowed, set down the bag, and rummaged in one of her drawers. A moment later she held out a familiar T-shirt. He sat on the bed instead of taking it.
After a moment he said, "I'm sorry Mizuki. You left your address, so I thought you just left your clothes to try to get me to come see you once more."
Mizuki looked at him and asked a little bitterly, "Then why did you actually come?"
He replied sharply, "I was afraid you were waiting for me." He held up the notes as he added accusingly, "And you were!"
"I was just hoping you'd change your mind Sora," she explained unhappily.
The outside door of the apartment banged open and Mizuki heard her father call out, "The car is here!"
She stared up at Sora as she told him anxiously, "There isn't enough time."
"You had better put on your dress," he agreed.
She bit her lip. "It makes me look like I'm five. But I'll wear it if you'll agree to come to the wedding so we can talk after?"
"Mizuki," he protested unhappily.
"Please," she begged. "You're already dressed for it."
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and agreed shortly, "Fine."
"Promise you won't leave until after we get to talk?" she begged again.
After gazing at her face for a moment, he agreed reluctantly, "I promise."