"You seem... Very nervous, love," she called out as she looked at him, watching as he was checking everything in the car's boot to ensure the things were secured. He flinched when he heard her voice, the panic look on his face disappeared within a second.
"What? No. I'm not nervous," he managed to get out past his lips but it was in a rushed manner that caused her to have a confused look on her face for a moment before it clicked into her mind about what he had said.
"You are nervous... I thought you were fairly confident earlier on that my grandmother will like you?" she taunted, finding joy in it as she watched him getting all flustered once again at the fact that he may or may not have overestimated himself in the morning.
"Just get in the car..." he mumbled out and she hummed in satisfactory that he had the lack of words to retaliate. Hopping into the passenger seat with ease, he easily got into the driver seat and reached over, pulling the seatbelt from her side and securing her safely.
Kissing her on the lips in the meantime.
"Should we get something to drink? I was thinking a be-,"
"You are driving. Don't drive and drive. Gosh, you are so nervous!"
"I am not nervous!" he quickly shot out before she could add on to whatever she had said. Hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he tried to calm himself down. There were times he would mumble under his breath about how this situation doesn't exactly benefit him.
But he needed to visit the grandmother, that's one of the supposedly major hurdles in his life. Especially since he intends to have [name]'s hand in marriage, all the more he had to ask for the blessings of her grandmother.
He was worried, what if he ends up dead by the end of the trip?
"It's green! Drive! Drive! The car behind us is honking!" and he snapped out of his thoughts when he realized he was hoarding the lane, quickly accelerating as she lets out a sigh, shaking her head at the nervous state he was in.
"No, I'm not nervous," she mocks as she held her hand out to him, where he removed a hand from the steering wheel and held onto her tightly. Interlocking their fingers together, she could feel how clammy his hand were.
Either from gripping the steering wheel tightly or due to how nervous he was, she would take a bet on the second but would speak that the reason is the first just to save him some of his pride.
"I think we should stop by to get some fo-,"
"I want to eat grandma's cooking," she was torturing him, he knew. Her love for her grandmother is immaculate that no matter how he tried to persuade her when it comes to her grandmother, she always has the upper hand.
"You are out to see me get killed," he whispered out, bringing her hand up and planting a kiss on the back of it while his eyes remained on the road.
"I have seen it before, it didn't end well," and she giggled just a tad bit when he turned to shoot her a look since she was enjoying her 'freedom' with having the upper hand for the ride since he was all nervous.
.
.
She chuckled nervously, watching as her grandmother was standing there before them. Even though he had bought tons of gifts along despite the number of times she said he doesn't need to, that her grandmother would reject them and say he is wasting money, he went out of his budget and bought a little too much.
Maybe she forgot to mention that her grandmother runs a dojo and was a martial arts master as well. Maybe that's why he was all nervous as he watched her grandmother look at him from head to toe, holding onto the bamboo sword that was often used for training.
The tension was present, her grandmother was smiling but one could tell it was a sarcastic smile indeed. The way she gripped the bamboo sword tightly, as she continued to look at the hand that her granddaughter had placed upon the man's arm as if trying to reassure him.
"Grandma," she called out, hoping that it would somehow distract her, which in fact it did for a split second as her grandmother turned to look at her, eyes sparkling at the sight of her granddaughter calling out to her.
"[name]! MY darling! You have come to visit. Has everything been alright for you? How is work?" her grandmother asked as she held her arms out which was a sign for her to run into her arms and hug her tightly.
"Work was alright, grandma. I'm hungry, did you cook today?" she asked where the response was positive and she couldn't help but get excited since it has been quite a while since she last ate her grandmother's cooking.
"Don't you need to oversee the training?" she asked.
"Don't worry about it. The instructors know that my granddaughter is visiting, hence they are doing a good job in overseeing the classes for me today so I can spend time with you. And... This... Being," the way Muzan felt attacked as he shivered under the gaze of her.
"You! Go and clean the third dojo! While I have a little catching up to do with my darling here," she spoke out, turning and [name] shot an apologetic look to her lover who was unsure of where the 'third' dojo was, and where he should be putting the gifts in the first place.
"Grandma, why are you making things difficult for him?" she asked.
"Am I now? I don't think it is difficult," she spoke out, and [name] knew all too well that it wasn't going to be a good day for Kibutsuji Muzan whenever her grandmother, Fujimori Ayaka, decided to use such a sassy way to answer.
"You always do this whenever I talk about him," she pointed out and yelped in pain when she got hit on the head by the bamboo sword, a pout on her face present as she rubbed the top of her head.
"I knew it was a bad idea to bring him along to visit you. But he was insistent on tagging along and said it was good enough reason for him to come because I wanted to visit," she mumbled out as her grandmother had placed the bamboo sword by the side and took a seat.
"There you go, protecting him again," she pointed out and [name] stuck her tongue out as she settled before her grandmother, just as they were about to eat. But she realized that Muzan has yet to return, causing her to look out of the dining room.
"I'm going to go check on him," she spoke out, getting up just as Ayaka lets out a sigh, shaking her head as she too got up, following her granddaughter closely. When they arrived at the third dojo, which was familiar to [name] since she would often run along the dojos to ensure everything was in place before closing for the night.
The Fujimoris watched with a rather amused expression on their faces as there was Kibutsuji Muzan, who was wiping the dojo from start to end by running the cloth with his hands across the floor. He looked so dedicated to the task assigned by the head of the dojo, causing [name] to chuckle slightly.
"He doesn't even put in this much effort at work," she whispered out.
"Is that so? Then he should quit that job and come work here as the dojo cleaner," which [name] vigorously shook her head to reject her grandmother's suggestion.
"By the time you return him to me, he is all skin and bones because you will starve him on purpose," but when she turned to look at her grandmother, she realized the older woman had walked deeper into the dojo.
"Here!" and the bewildered look on [name]'s face appeared as she watched Muzan wiping down the floor again at the area where her grandmother said it was dirty. Watching as he went from left to right, across and through, it was as if he was partaking in some sort of a cleaning competition.
"Over here!" an idea struck her mind as she got her phone out, a small smile present on her face as she started to record everything that was going on. She couldn't wait to share it with Nakime when she was done filming.
"Why are you filming?!"
"Why are you shouting at her?!" what a chaotic mess indeed before her as Muzan ended up getting a full-fledge lecture from her grandmother because he raised his voice. As much as she wanted to help him out since he did it out of embarrassment, she knew better than to do so.
Since her grandmother was holding onto another bamboo sword, she would probably get hit if she were to interfere with what was going on. He looked at her, somehow his eyes were pleading with her which was a first in forever.
But the way her lips moved as she mouthed those words of rejection, he knew he was in deep trouble.
"Lunch," was all her grandmother had said after giving him a full two-hour lecture about him raising his voice at her precious child. Even though lunch was silent between the trio, the way his attention was solely on [name]'s instead.
Picking food for her when her bowl was getting empty, picking the bones out before placing them into her bowl. Ensuring she wasn't overeating or she might have indigestion problems. The little details he took notice of it and executed it perfectly.
"Kibutsuji, after this go, hang the dojo's laundry," her grandmother was having fun, and [name] knew it all too well as her grandmother lifted the bowl of soup up, which covered her lips slightly.
"Let me do it," she called out as she looked at him, having trouble with hanging the laundry onto the laundry line behind the household. He lets out a sigh, it had been a good hour ever since he had to sit through a two-hour lecture from her grandmother about him raising his voice at her.
His knees were killing him.
"I should have kept quiet," he mumbled out as he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on the top of her head as she flicked the laundry with ease and threw it over the laundry line before adjusting it quickly.
"Hm? If you are going to keep quiet, how are you going to get on her good side? Your hands are all wrinkled too since you were washing the dishes earlier on," she asked, turning to look at him, hands on either side of his face as she pulled him in for a deep kiss.
"And I think it's best for you to hang the laundry, she's coming over here," she whispered out and in a panic mode did Muzan quickly took the position of [name] where he was previously and hung the laundry out just as her grandmother returned, nodding her head slightly when she saw Muzan was doing the chore.
"Darling, have some fruits," and she ran towards where her grandmother was, settling on the patio with the plate of cold fruits in-between them. A gentle smile on her face as she watched her only granddaughter savouring the fresh fruits that were bought from the market in the morning just because she was coming to visit.
"Next time when you come to visit with him, tell him not to bring so many gifts. It's a waste of money, and I don't have use for most of the things he got," she spoke out, sipping on a cup of hot green tea, where [name] hummed in response as she bit into another slice of fruit.
Till it clicked in her mind.
"Next time?!" she asked and her grandmother nodded her head in response.
"He didn't complain about anything when I made him do unnecessary chores. He bit his tongue and did not make any snarky comments about it. But what was most important was during lunch," she pointed out and [name] wondered what her grandmother had meant.
"He even washed the dishes although I didn't tell him to do so. He said something about not wanting your hands to get too cold, wasn't it?" she added on and [name] couldn't help but hear some sort of fireworks in the back of her mind.
"I won't let him live if he ever makes you cry though. I may be older than him now, but I still can move and swing swords either way. I still can kick and punch if you want to add that in,"
"Grandma..."
"That wasn't too bad now, was it?" she asked, but she knew it was somewhat a nightmare to him at the very end when they were leaving to head home. The way her grandmother had held a real nichirin blade in her hand and pointed it right at his forehead, with a smile on her face as her eyes were closed.
Threatening him if he ever made her granddaughter cry, she will make sure he goes through whatever has happened back then. This was the only time she will close an eye and forget about the past, but if ever her granddaughter sheds a tear, the nichirin blade will have its first blood spray.
"Wasn't too bad?" he mumbled out, face buried into the crook of her neck as he sat behind her on the sofa, arms wrapped around her tightly as he felt exhausted from the day's event. He muttered incoherently, she couldn't make out what he had said from the beginning till the end when it was all silent.
"She said next time when we visit her, there isn't a need to spend so much money and bring gifts. I told you, you shouldn't have spent so much," she spoke out, ruffling him on the head as he lets out a loud sigh.
"Hold on, next time?" he asked in a whisper, where she hummed in response and he looked towards the tv screen that wasn't switched on. The reflection shows her smiling happily where he couldn't help but turn her head and kiss her deeply.
"Next time? So she is alright with me? Fuck yes," he called out and she watched as he got off the sofa and ran into the kitchen returning with a bottle of wine and some wine glasses in hand.
"What?" he asked as he settled them down and started to pour the wine.
"Nothing... Just, I'm looking at you in a different light," she spoke out and Muzan looked at her, wondering what she had meant.
"Back then you didn't care about what people think of you. You were ruthless but sweet to me... But now... You get all happy over something minor like this. Do you love me that much to the point that I'm seeing a totally different side of you?" she asked and Muzan sets the wine bottle down.
"[name], I have spent most of my years as a mortal in this era finding you. Each time I thought I found you, I ended up getting disappointed and frustrated. Now that you are here with me, I'm just that happy that you are with me," he spoke out, filled with nothing but sincerity that startled her.
"I guess Grandma really hit his head hard," she thought to herself as she was engulfed in a tight hug, lips against hers as he gave her a deep kiss.
"I love you so much. I love you," he whispered, causing her to flick him on the nose where he blinked his red plump eyes a few times in confusion.
"What was that for?"
"I just find the former demon lord to be adorable now. All clingy and lovey-dovey with me. I wonder what will happen if the former Upper Moons know about this," she taunted and she chuckled nervously as she might have pushed his buttons a little too much.
"Is that so?" he spoke out, irk mark on his forehead as he easily hoisted her over his shoulder, walking away from the wine bottle that was left open.
"The wine!"
"Don't care! I think you have been hanging out with Douma too much that you think whatever you say I'll let it slide that easily?"
"That's because you were panicking the entire time in the morning, and now that she has given her somewhat 'approval' of you, you start going back to this! Put me down, this is unfair!"
.
.
"I'm sorry, please don't sulk anymore," he spoke out, looking at her as she was wearing his shirt, sulking as she turned to look away from him. He chuckled slightly at how cute she was acting, before planting a kiss on her lips as he got up dressed in his sweatpants.
"You are cute when you are angry, you know that?" he spoke out, and she turned to look at him.
"I'm about to be adorable then," she called out as he left the room, returning with some snacks he had bought during mid-way home by the gas station along with a glass of warm water, setting it at the side.
"Love you," he mumbled out, kissing her on the lips again and handing her the snacks while he went to take a call. Scrunching her nose up as she open the bag of snacks hastily and started to munch angrily.
But as she watched him by the side, standing close to the window as he looked outside while talking on the phone. The way he turned to look at her, a soft smile present on his face as he acknowledge her attention.
"Do you need something else?" he asked in a whisper as he placed his phone against his shoulder to not trouble the person on the other end of the phone. He chuckled when she shook her head in response, walking over and kissing her on the forehead.
Even after all these years, he still loves her deeply.
A/N: I have added an "AUTHOR'S NOTES" chapter before the "SERENITY II" chapter, please ensure you have read through it before continuing with the story. Much love, stay happy and healthy.