Shinji didn’t sleep the night before Rien had to leave. He was stressed and grumpy when Rien and Kippei finally stirred in the morning, well before dawn and he slid out of bed and went to shower, needing to scrub at the sleepy feeling of his skin, rubbing it so hard he was red and raw and then wrapping himself tightly in Kippei’s dressing gown and going to sit grumpily on the end of the bed while Rien got up.

“Do you know how long? It’s not a week, is it? It’s not that far away?”

“Nah, darlin’, shouldn’t be that long,” Rien assured him, sounding almost contrite, coming over to hug him tight and kiss his hair, then framing his face with tender hands and tipping it up to kiss that too, soft kisses rained all over and finally a warm, lingering one on his mouth.

“Love you so much,” he murmured huskily, something dark and aching in his eyes as he met the sad blue ones with regret. “Wish I ain’t had to go, princess, y’know I ain’t wanna go anymore’n you want me to,” he noted softly.

“I know,” Shinji whispered softly, forcing himself not to cling and to take deep breaths and let Rien do what he needed to do without a screaming, sullen boyfriend. His head was aching but he could control it and he went to sit beside Kippei, soaking up that warmth, reminding himself Kippei would miss Rien just as badly.

“You promise to wear the bullet proof vest?”

Kippei wrapped an arm around him, tucking Shinji close against his side and rubbing his cheek against his hair, watching Rien finish packing and missing him already, dreading the curiously off-balance feeling that his empty space left behind.

Rien smiled faintly, glancing over at them briefly and then away again, because it hurt and he wanted to go over and curl up with them and never go anywhere again, but he still had a job to do and this one wasn’t going to be pleasant. He so wasn’t telling them anything about this mission.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I promise, though if I ‘appen to need it then I done fucked up good,” he noted wryly, a little amused but willing to do anything that made Shinji feel a little more secure about the whole thing.

Shinji preferred to pretend Rien stuffing up was not a possibility, and being reminded it was made him shiver and press closer in against Kippei’s side, seeking reassurance that Kippei, at least, was safe and sound and not going anywhere dangerous. He focussed on the fact Rien had promised, to be safe as well as come back.

“I love you, Ri,” he reminded him softly, wanting Rien to remember it when he was alone on the other side of the world somewhere.

It was definitely not something he was going to forget. Rien sighed a little as he finished packing, having run out of excuses to put off leaving; it was time to go. He came over to get a last hug and kiss from them both, leaning into them and wishing he could just stay right here, warm and surrounded.

“I love you too,” he whispered. “Both of you, so much.”

Kippei murmured in agreement, holding them both tightly for as long as he could. “Come back safe,” he ordered softly.

“You gotta say bye to Yuni,” Shinji reminded him. “Explain you’ll be back!” Because Hyun-ki had clearly had people she loved disappear before and Shinji was not having her think anything like that was going to happen to Rien. He wanted her to know Rien was just away on a trip, and that everything was okay and he couldn’t explain that himself in Korean, though he was getting better.

“Yeah, I know,” Rien agreed, sighing again as he straightened reluctantly and pulled away from them, giving them a brief flickering smile before he picked up his bag and left the room, pausing in the hall to stop by Hyun-ki’s room and say goodbye to her too.

She looked like she might cry, but Rien explained that he was just working, he would be back soon, and made her promise to take care of Shinji, knowing that the best distraction was to worry about someone else. She nodded solemnly as if she were ten years older, and he smiled faintly, kissing her forehead again and dragging himself away, aching all over and determined to just go and get done as fast as possible, and come back home.

Shinji slipped off the bed and went to pick up Hyun-ki where she stood hovering in the hallway watching Rien carry his bags to the door. He carried her after him, watching Rien toss his things in a cab and sighing, kissing the top of her head and waving with her until the cab was completely out of sight.

“Mmm…maybe I should take you to school with me. That would keep me distracted,” he pondered, looking down at Hyun-ki’s head thoughtfully. “They have free daycare there…you could make some friends.”

She looked worriedly up at him, not sure what he was saying but aware that he was worried and Rien was leaving, even if he was coming back it was still strange and uncertain, and she clung more tightly to Shinji as they went back inside, passing Kippei where he’d been leaning against the door frame.

“That might be better after Rien gets back,” Kippei pointed out as he followed them into the kitchen. “So he can explain?” He wasn’t sure she would understand why she was being left with people she didn’t know all day.

“Mmm true, but I want to go to school at least tomorrow. I think it would be okay if I took her just to my lectures? Then when I have workshop you could take her to your lecture? It’s not like she cries or is noisy or anything. Just give her some crayons and she can colour through it.” Shinji didn’t bother pointing out he just wanted someone to be able to hug until Rien got back.

Kippei looked extremely doubtful – that did not sound like a good idea at all, and he was not at all sure that it would be allowed.

“Maybe,” he murmured. “Is there someone you can ask?” He thought overall it would just be better if one of them stayed home with her. “I could just stay home tomorrow if you want to go,” he suggested.

“No!” Shinji balked at the idea, gaping at Kippei and feeling suddenly cold and terrified. “I don’t want to go by myself!” The whole idea was not being by himself. He frowned and shrugged, dropping the idea. “I’ll stay home with her, I’m ahead anyway. You’ll have to hand in my experiment report though.” He wandered down to the kitchen, putting Hyun-ki in her chair and going to make them some fruit salad, because he was definitely not tired now.

Kippei wasn’t entirely happy with that plan either, but overall he thought it was better than the alternatives. He sighed as he followed Shinji and wrapped his arms around him from behind, hugging him and kissing his hair.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I know it’s hard. You could let her spend the day with Nana-Kimi,” he pointed out. He didn’t really want to go to school by himself either, had come to count on the times he got to see Shinji throughout the day.

“Nah…Rien actually set up all these stupid activities for us to do,” Shinji laughed softly, pointing to the list on the fridge. “Things Yuni likes, apparently. We’ll have fun. And it’s not like school isn’t expecting me to be absent heaps anyway. You’ve got no excuse…” He smirked and turned to kiss Kippei, hot and open on the mouth, soaking up the feeling of being home. “Besides…you have to become a sexy professor to fulfil my little fantasy.”

Kippei snorted softly and rolled his eyes, half amused and stupidly annoyed that he couldn’t have Shinji to himself where he wanted him all the time, that they couldn’t work out a way for all of them to have what they wanted and stay together while Rien was gone, but that was just apparently the way it was, and he sighed as he rested his forehead against Shinji’s, looking into his eyes.

“I’ll miss you,” he muttered, feeling silly for admitting it, but it was true.

“I’ll miss you too,” Shinji agreed, kissing him again, softer this time, just wanting the gentle contact, sighing as he dropped back down onto his heels and finished making the fruit salad, dishing it into three bowls and grabbing the leftover whipped cream from last night’s dessert and putting huge dollops on his own and Hyun-ki’s, raising a brow questioningly at Kippei.

“You want? Or is it too much sugar first thing in the morning?”

Kippei shook his head, smiling faintly as he took the bowl without any topping. “No thanks, I’m good.” Definitely too much sugar.

Yuni was eyeing hers with solemn curiosity, reaching out to poke at the white stuff with her finger, blinking as it stuck to her fingertip and then cautiously licking it off, her face lighting up with surprise and delight as the sugary stuff melted in her mouth.

“Good, Shinji!” she told him, beaming happily as she waved a white covered finger at him. “Yum good, Yuni like this.”

Shinji didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, it hurt anew every time he realised how deprived she had been, and made him desperately grateful she was their’s now and he could show her so many wonderful things. He forced a smile and nodded, going to sit next to her with his own bowl and petting her untidy bed hair down.

“Yeah Yuni, it’s yum. Cream is yum.”

“Kyim,” she agreed, nodding as she went about methodically eating all the cream off the top before she started on the fruit, humming to herself as she ate the small pieces of fruit. Shinji always had the best ideas.

Kippei watched them both as he ate, smiling to himself at the rather adorable picture they made, feeling like his heart was too big for his chest, aching with how much he loved them.

“So,” he said after a minute, clearing his throat and looking questioningly at Shinji. “Since nobody has to go anywhere today, what do you want to do?” He had a couple of ideas, actually, but he waited to see if Shinji had anything in mind.

“I…dunno?” He was always confused the day Rien left and really hadn’t thought past that small fact that Rien would be gone. He looked at Kippei curiously, hearing the possibility of an idea behind the words.

“You got an idea?”

“Sort of,” Kippei answered, shrugging as he took another bite of fruit salad. “We could take Yuni over to visit Sada, let her play for a bit and meet your mum and dad,” he suggested, feeling a little guilty about how long the little girl had been with them without even having met his or Shinji’s parents yet. Since it was the weekend they should both be home, and it would if nothing else be a definite distraction.

Shinji paused, trying to figure out if Kippei had really just suggested what he thought he had, then he just felt completely stumped. Not about Sada, because Sada was obsessive when it came to playing, and she had played well enough with Hyun-ki at their house. But taking her to his parents house to play? And to meet his parents?

“I guess we can?” He looked down at Hyun-ki while he fished his phone out of his pocket. “But I should try to find out if Mum’s in an okay mood?” He hadn’t gone to see her since she didn’t come to their wedding.

Kippei sighed and nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed wryly. “And it’s okay if you don’t want to, I just… they’re her grandparents too, sort of, and they haven’t even gotten to meet her yet. It seems kind of rude or something, I guess.” He wasn’t entirely sure what he thought about it, but it made him feel vaguely uncomfortable somehow.

“Nah, Dad will want to meet her no matter what, and Mum…well, I’ll talk to her first,” he noted softly. “Guess I was just putting it off.” He kissed Kippei’s cheek and left him with Hyun-ki, going down the hall to sit in bed while he called, cuddling Kiri and staring at the picture he had taken of Kippei asleep wrapped around the stuffed tiger the afternoon he and Rien had returned from the zoo. It made him smile every time he saw it, despite the bruises fading on Kippei’s skin.

The phone rang and he wasn’t surprised when Sada answered, but he was pleased when she sounded happy and he talked softly to her before asking her to put his mother on. It was an awkward conversation but she sounded fine and she wanted him to come over so he arranged it quickly and sighed as he hung up the phone, smirking a little because Ashi wasn’t home and he knew where she was.

Kippei looked relieved when Shinji came back in, holding out his own phone for him to take. “Here,” he noted, “trade. Ri called from the airport.” And he wasn’t really any better than he’d ever been about talking to Rien while he was working.

Shinji lunged for the phone, putting it on speaker so Hyun-ki could talk too, already grinning.

“Hey Ri! I’m jealous, you get to go on a plane!” Shinji was still yet to do any such thing and was more than a little fascinated by the idea, even if he suspected he would get bored at some point and want to land again.

“Yuni hadn’t had whipped cream before! She ate it all off her fruit salad before even touching the fruit!”

Hyun-ki stared wide-eyed at the phone as Rien’s laugh echoed out of it, looking faintly confused. She knew what a phone was and how it worked generally, but she’d never heard it out loud like that.

“Hey, pretty girl,” Rien greeted her, wishing he was there to scoop her up and snuggle her, but of course Shinji would see to that. “How you doin’, Shin? D’you miss me yet?” he asked, teasing gently, knowing that they missed him as much as he missed them, which was insanely.

“Miss you more than anything,” Shinji replied, forcing himself to grin instead of cry. He could cry later, at night, when it was just Kippei and him in bed and he could hide in the dark and warmth of Kippei’s hugs. “Yuni looks pretty confused about the phone bein on speaker…she’s so cute, her hair is all messy from bed and she smells like cream.” He grinned at her and leaned down to inhale the scent. “Cute Yuni, say hi to Rien!”

Rien squeezed his eyes shut, smiling helplessly, painfully, listening and wishing he was home, wishing he was free to go home whenever he wished. He definitely had to quit this job.

“Hi baby,” he said to Yuni, crooning at her in both languages, making her laugh, though he could tell by the tone of it that she still looked a bit uncertain and wary. “I be home soon, angels, don’t you worry none. Love y’all now.”

Shinji sighed as the phone went dead, then picked Hyun-ki up and cuddled her in his lap, kissing her cheek loudly, wishing he knew what she was thinking and if she was okay because he wasn’t. He wanted Rien back, but had enough sense these days to know he just had to wait. Rien would come back, with silly presents no doubt. ‘

“Okay. So we’re going to my parents house…we better get some nice clothes on then, hmm? Wouldn’t want Nana-Ashara to think we were grubs.”

“Nana…shara?” she repeated, half curious and half worried, hearing an undertone of tension in Shinji’s voice. “Go with Shinji, yes? Shinji come too?” As long as Shinji was coming, wherever they were going was okay with her.

Kippei chuckled softly, coming around and hugging them both from behind, kissing Shinji’s hair and brushing a finger down Hyun-ki’s cheek, smiling faintly when she giggled and hid her face against Shinji. It was a far cry from the flinching fear she’d shown him when she’d first come to them.

“Yeah, baby. Shinji come too.” They would all go, because they were a family. Even if one of them was missing right now.