this is the ending we all wanted :)
Draken seemed to be having trouble calming down the infant in his hands. You were by his side, trying to console the both of them. The baby was wriggling around, crying at Draken to let her go. The man, on the other hand, was tearing up because he had only been holding onto her for less than two minutes.
"I haven't fed her yet, Draken. That's why she's a bit grumpy. Give Kana to me," he begrudgingly handed the baby over to you. You already had prepared a bottle of formula and placed the nozzle into her mouth. "At least she got quiet."
"She hates me."
"She was hungry, Draken." While he was all sad, you looked over to your right. On the floor, were different baby outfits for Kana. You were just trying to figure out which ones were the best ones—perhaps you should take them all. You turned to Draken, wanting to ask his opinion, but he had his head towards the ground.
"[name]-chan!" Emma and Hina came walking in, tea in hand for all of you who gathered today. "Thanks for taking care of Kana for me. I really wanted to brew this special tea Hina got from Kyoto the other week. Apparently, it's supposed to have really good health benefits." Emma explained, already taking a sip of the drink.
"Careful you don't burn your tongue," you spoke too soon, she almost spit out everything.
"Emma-chan, you should've waited for a bit longer!" Hina handed her a tissue so she could clean herself up.
"I couldn't wait! After having Kana, I've been obsessed with these health things," Draken moved from his seat beside you towards Emma—his lover.
"Seriously, you guys should see how many health magazines she has in our room. It takes up an entire bookshelf," Draken laughed, rubbing Emma's head in the process.
"Geez, don't make fun of me!"
"A little help here, please?" Mitsuya's voice was heard from the kitchen. Hina jumped up from her spot and assisted him in bringing in another tray of snacks for you all. "How's Kana doing now? I heard her crying before," he took a seat beside you after putting the tray onto the coffee table.
"She's fine now that she's eating."
"It's like having another Mikey in your life," Mitsuya mentioned, taking a glance over to the said man laying listlessly on the couch behind you. "Crying because you haven't been fed yet. That's a Mikey thing."
"Mitsuya, I can hear you," Mikey's voice was muffled from the pillows.
"But seriously," Hina spoke, "Emma-chan, Draken-kun, you guys made the cutest baby ever! Look at her. She's so squishy and cute!" Hina squealed to herself. "Kana-chan is going to grow up breaking guys hearts!"
"As she should," Emma nodded, "[name]-chan, did you pick out a cute outfit?"
"I can't choose one. Mitsuya did such a good job at making all of these. But I think the pale blue one will match with her blonde hair. I'm glad she got Emma-chan's hair."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Draken questioned. In response, you just smiled. If you didn't have his kid in your hands, he would've punched you. Mikey during this time rolled off the couch to sit beside you, pushing his way between yourself and Mitsuya.
"[name], can you get me a chip?"
"Mikey, the chip bowl is literally in front of you. It's an arm's length away," he clicked his tongue, "Hina-chan, can you keep feeding Kana?" Mikey was currently clinging to your arm like a child wanting attention. He was jealous of a baby who wasn't even yours.
"Yep!" Hina gently grabbed Kana from your arms, "Mitsuya-kun was right, Mikey-kun is like a baby." The blond boy was about to give a remark, but the doorbell to the apartment rung. "Oh! That must be the others."
Draken quickly got up and let the rest of the gang inside—Takemichi, Baji, Chifuyu, Kawata twins, Kazutora, Hakkai and Inui too. "Sorry, we're late. Baji ended up getting lost and we all had to find him," Chifuyu explained.
"You guys told me to go down that alleyway. Not my fault."
"We said to go straight!" Nahoya poked Baji's chest.
"Now that we're all here, we can finally all eat, right?" you fed Mikey the chip that he 'begged' you to get. "Come sit down, everyone." And so, the others put their things down and sat around the small coffee table. Chifuyu and Baji on the other hand were bickering over who was going to sit next to you. In the end, Inui took that spot.
"...Did you cut your hair, Inui-kun?" you asked—his hair was shorter than usual.
"Yeah, just last week. You're the first to notice, I appreciate your attention to detail."
"[name], I cut my hair too."
"I know, Mikey. I was the one who cut it for you," you brushed off the irritation that was visibly displayed on his face, "So, what's everyone up to these days? How's the pet store, Baji?"
"It's going well! Chifuyu and Kazutora make great slaves. It's pretty fun just standing around watching them restock everything."
"Oi! Can you treat us like normal people please?" Chifuyu shouted, Kazutora nodding along.
"Chifuyu! Shh!" Emma threw a plastic spoon in his face. "Kana's sleeping right now. Hina-chan, let's go put her in her crib." The two girls got up and headed out of the living room.
"Nice one, Chifuyu," Takemichi muttered. "Mitsuya-kun, how's the business?"
"I was lucky to have a good start. I've been selling stuff like crazy. I don't think I could've done it alone though. Thanks to Hakkai for being my model and [name]-chan for giving me her feedback."
"I doubt my opinion makes a difference in your work," you chuckled, "I have no expertise in the fashion industry."
"You don't have to, it makes me happy that you're even looking at my designs–"
"You're very welcome, Taka-chan! I'm always happy to model for you," Hakkai interrupted what Mitsuya was going to say.
"It seems like everyone has their own business to look after," you mentioned, "I went over to the twins restaurant last week. They were so busy."
"Yeah, that's right!" Nahoya smirked, "We're successful business owners now, aren't we Souya?"
"Yeah. But without [name]'s help with the paperwork, we wouldn't have become a legalised business in the first place."
"[name]-san, you're helping everyone!" Takemichi clapped his hands, "How cool."
"Yeah, but it seems like Draken doesn't need help with his auto shop."
Beside you, Inui pat your shoulder and shook his head. "That's not true. You come around every once in a while and help control Mikey."
"Watch your mouth, Inui," Mikey snapped back.
"Hey, don't start a fight. Takemichi, I heard Hina-chan's doing well as a teacher now."
"Yeah! She comes home with a smile on her face and she tells me how much her students like her. It's very heartwarming."
"And Emma-chan's working hard as a mom."
"You bet she is," Draken rubbed his nose to brag for his wife. "So, what are you doing, [name]? Did you and that kid... I don't know his name, start up that dojo?"
"Yeah! It's been a few months of paperwork and stuff, but we'll be ready to open next month. I already have a list of kids who want to join."
"Draken, when you say 'that kid', do you mean Akio?" Chifuyu grimaced at the name.
"That name rings a bell. Probably."
"I remember that kid!" Nahoya blinked a few times, "He made quite the impression on me when he punched Baji in the stomach last year, I believe."
"Yeah, don't ask me why Akio did that. But anyway, now he's done with his studies, he's been assisting me with everything here."
"...You mean Akio's in Tokyo?" Mikey tilted his head.
"He's been here for a while. In fact, he's been living with me for the past six months." You thought you had told your friends this, but judging from their reaction, they had no clue.
"Why did you guys go quiet?" Hina and Emma finally came back from the baby room. "It was so loud just a few minutes ago."
"Did you two know that Akio was staying with her?!" Baji pointed towards you.
"Of course we did. Why is it a problem?" Emma raised a brow. He just spurred out some nonsense afterwards. You tried to hold in a laugh, but ultimately you just burst out in giggles.
"I wonder," you stopped yourself from laughing, "where we would all be if we didn't meet each other."
Mikey tugged your arm and held you close, "I'm sure I would come find you anyway, no matter where you are in the world." Draken was the first to make fun of his friend.
"What on earth are you talking about?" he rolled onto the floor laughing holding onto his stomach. The whole room joined in on this funny moment and teased Mikey.
However, soon enough, the cries of the baby were heard once again. "She was just sleeping soundly too!" Emma hurried back into the baby room. You all looked at one another and chuckled once more.
You were just glad that everyone was here, in this very moment.
word count—1548
this is finally the end everyone! once again, thanks for reading and you're always welcome to come back anytime :)
much love to you all, see you again soon <3