Like a couple of idiots, after making out for god knows how long, they fell asleep on the floor. Neither one of them woke up until the next morning, Keigo being the first when he noticed his wings were sore and tingly from having slept on the ground instead of a bed. It was a bit annoying, but he got over it quickly as being able to wake with Mariko overshadowed all possible negatives.
He scooped the brunette up in his arms, smiling when she didn't stir at all, and placed her in the bed. Once upon a time she wouldn't have allowed herself to fall into such a deep sleep around him and he was incredibly proud of the fact that she could be so vulnerable around him now.
After tucking her in, he drifted off to the kitchen to make them breakfast. While he might not have been the best cook at one point, he'd picked up a couple of things from whenever Mariko made him help her prepare dinner. By now he could probably do something simple on his own.
Mariko woke up around twenty minutes later to the scent of cooked bacon. Slipping out of bed she walked downstairs to see Keigo at the stove, pushing around scrambled eggs and bacon in a pan. "I must be dreaming," she said as she walked towards him.
The blonde smiled at her and leaned down, pecking her lips in a good-morning kiss. "Good morning Chickee. Sleep well?" he asked.
The brunette shrugged. She hadn't slept terribly but she hadn't exactly been comfortable most of the night either. "I guess... You made breakfast?"
Keigo nodded as he plated their food. "Mhm, figure I'd give you a bit of a break today."
She smiled slightly and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, propping her head up on his shoulder. "That's nice of you."
"Well I am a nice guy," he said. Once he turned off the stove, he turned around and returned the hug. "Only for you though," he said rubbing his nose against hers.
"Hm I get special treatment then?" she asked.
"Absolutely. You're gonna be my wife one day after all," he hummed.
Mariko's heart fluttered as he once again referred to her as his wife. It was something he'd been doing often lately, and it never failed to make her flustered. "You've been doing that a lot lately," she said burying her face in his chest.
"Doing what?"
"Calling me your wife."
Keigo stilled slightly. "Have I been saying that a lot?" he wondered. He'd never felt this way about anyone before, maybe he was jumping the gun again? He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "Heh. Guess I might be, sorry 'bout that Chickee."
She shook her head. "Don't be, I like it."
A smile instantly bloomed across his face as he nudged his face against hers. He sighed contentedly and grabbed her hand, placing it right on top of his chest where his heart was beating erratically. "Ah y'gotta be careful with saying that stuff Chickee. It's not good for my heart," he whispered.
The brunette laughed lowly, "Guess I better stop then. I gotta make sure you last until the wedding at least."
He squeezed her closer to him, "Don't worry, I'll be there."
"You better be. You're supposed to be the groom."
Keigo chuckled and pulled away slightly, taking a moment to stare at his soon to be fiancée and wonder for the millionth time what the hell he'd done. "Let's have some breakfast shall we?" he asked suddenly.
Mariko rolled her eyes but nodded.
They sat at the kitchen counter this time as they ate. When she took a bite, the brunette honestly didn't know whether to be surprised or not by how good it tasted. She knew he was capable of cooking good food, but he did it so rarely the information usually drifted to the back of her mind. They ate in silence, both of them being too absorbed in their food to say much.
"What are we gonna do today?" Keigo asked as Mariko took both their plates to the sink.
The brunette shrugged. They were currently in hiding so there wasn't much they could do. "I guess we can walk around. Explore the house and the grounds a bit. Chances are we're gonna be here a while."
"Sounds like a plan. Lead the way my darling bride," he said grandly gesturing to the door.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Grabbing his outstretched hand as she walked past, she proceeded to lead him into the hallway.
To Keigo, touring the house was his favorite date. Though he knew it was subconscious, Mariko still avoided talking about her childhood with him. Most things he found out was either because it was forced into a conversation by someone else or he asked her about it directly. Today, however, she was volunteering information. As they opened doors and walked from room to room, the brunette would tell him a story. Maybe it was a memory she had in the room. Maybe it reminded her of something else. Whatever the case, it gave him glances into his girlfriend's childhood- to her life before him.
They wandered into another room- an office. Bookshelves lined the cream-colored walls; all of them filled either with knickknacks or books. In the center of the room facing a door, there was an elegant dark oak desk with a few picture frames laid out on it facing away from them. Picking one of them up, he smiled sadly at the picture of Mariko and Mineko- the latter carrying the former on her hip as they smiled at the camera in front of the mansion. Having only ever heard Mariko's feelings towards Mineko, seeing that photo on the woman's desk really put into perspective how close the two women had been, and how painful it must be for his girlfriend to have to kill her not once- but twice.
Something glinted in the corner of his eye and captured his attention immediately. Setting the frame down, he gravitated towards a bookshelf, where a red spiral notebook had been placed randomly amongst the books. Plucking it off the shelf, he opened it and began to skim through its contents. The words were written in messy handwriting he didn't recognize and as he looked over the covers, he saw that the author had been Mineko Shimizu. The pages were filled with designs on her experiments, concepts for bases, and observations about her own quirk; information that would be incredibly useful in the upcoming mission. Thumbing through a few more pages, he noticed a date scribbled in one of the corners, from the timeline Mariko had given him it seemed that the notebook had been written just a few weeks after Mineko had returned from being kidnapped. "Mari you should come see this," he called out softly.
The female turned towards him. Noting his expression, she quickly set down the small figurine she'd been holding and made her way towards him. "What is it?" she asked.
Keigo wordlessly handed her the notebook and watched as Mariko's face turned pale as she looked over the writing.
"Where did you find this?" she asked.
He gestured towards the shelf, "Right over here."
She stared down at the blood-red book. It had been written while Mineko was recovering at the mansion after being abducted. Had it been sitting there the whole time? How many times had she gone in that very room and missed it? If she had that, would she have been able to help Mineko before it was too late? Could Tanaka's death have been avoided? Could Mineko's death have been avoided?
One look at his girlfriend told him all he needed to know. She was blaming herself again, drowning herself in guilt for a situation that wasn't her fault. "Come're," he said, wrapping his arms around the female.
The brunette let out a shaky breath as she dropped the book and leaned into his embrace.
"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known to look for this Mari. It's not your fault." He told her repeatedly. "I know that it's not really a "bright side" but at least it'll give us an edge on Mineko during the next mission."
She nodded against his chest and allowed his words to sink into her. It wasn't her fault, but now that they had the information, they could use it to their advantage. "I wish this wasn't happening," she whispered.
She leaned into him, sighing as she buried her face in his chest, giving herself a moment to pretend none of this was actually happening. "I wish this wasn't happening," she whispered.
He propped his chin on her head and squeezed her slightly. He could hear the despair in her voice and he wanted nothing more than to be able to make her wish come true. He couldn't do that though; so instead, he distracted her with a question: "What kind of house do you want us to get?"
"What?"
"Y'know, when we're married. Married people buy houses, right? I'm pretty sure that's a thing."
Mariko wrapped her arms around his waist, knowing what he was trying to do and extremely grateful to him for it. "A house hm? I guess I'd want one that's got a nice kitchen," she muttered
"Okay, what else?"
"Something in a good neighborhood that's close to both our jobs?"
"What else?"
"Probably a big master bedroom."
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. "Always thinking about the bedroom aren't ya Chickee. How naughty."
The brunette rolled her eyes. "I was thinking more about the bathroom and the closets. You're using half of mine and the guest closet and we're sharing a sink. Doesn't exactly make for the most comfortable morning routines does it?"
"I dunno I kinda liked sharing the sink. Gives me an excuse to press behind you every morning."
"Hah, and you say I'm the one who's always thinking about the bedroom."
He laughed and squeezed her once more. "I won't deny it. It's just proof of how insanely attracted I am to you."
Mariko hummed thoughtfully, "Very smooth."
"Thanks sweetheart I try."
A brief silence settled over the two of them, both just took in each other's presence for a moment before she broke it. "How about you?"
"What about me?"
"The house. What kind would you want?"
Keigo smiled a bit. "Someplace high up and away from people."
"High up?"
"It's a bird thing," he shrugged.
The brunette snorted, "Okay fine. Why would you want it away from people though? You're pretty sociable."
"With you maybe. But after dealing with people all day long I wanna get away from it all, come home to my secluded little bubble of happiness," he said nuzzling into her neck.
"Okay, what else?"
"Lots of space for kids to play in."
"Kids huh? How many were you thinking?"
"Not sure. I want a big family though."
Mariko nodded in understanding. "We'll figure it out when the time comes... Anything else?"
"Just that you're there when I get home."
She smiled slightly and softly kissed his chest right over where his heart was. "Of course, I'll be there."