This the last chapter of Shrimp. Thank you so so so much for making it this far!
You guys have been the GREATEST READERS OF ALL TIME! You patiently awaited my updates and your comments are just the funniest I have ever come across and I am blessed to have supportive readers like you!!
*OMNI COOKIES AND LOVE COMING YOUR WAY*
This chapter is dedicated to you. Please listen to the song while reading or you can listen to it afterwards. The lyrics were literally meant for this chapter.
Enjoy reader-chan!
____
10 years later.
As the bell chimed by the front entrance, Ayato sighed in relief. That was the last customer for the day. It had been a busy day and he almost thought he wouldn't be able to close shop early.
He swiped the sign on the glass door backwards, announcing that the flower shop, Cookies and Flowers, was closed. It was called cookies and flowers because that was exactly all they sold, cookies and flowers.
He made a mental note to bring more geraniums from the greenhouse because all of it was bought out and none were in stock. He ran his fingers through his now long tousled hair as he glanced at the clock. The time read 3:16pm and he realized he was late.
Closing up shop was easy; he just had to sweep up, spray the plants and put the rest remaining cookies aside, which weren't much since the customers loved buying them. However since it was a Friday he'd have to take it home with him and make a new batch for the next week. He placed the cookies into a rectangular box and took it out with him, balancing it on one hand as he locked the door with the other.
He carried it over to his car and placed it in the backseat. After securing it in place, he drove out. His gentle blue orbs remained on the road but he glanced at the time again and saw that it was now 3:30pm. He winced and drove a bit faster. He hated being late to pick her up but he knew she was patient; still, he drove as fast as he could.
Ayato parked in the parking lot and got out. He looked around as he walked closer, eyes strained for a familiar (H/C) hair amongst the people walking about.
"Dad!" A high pitched voice called.
He turned immediately to the voice and saw a cheerful and grinning (H/C) haired girl wave at him. She was wearing her sailor type uniform with her school bag on her back. She turned and waved back at her small group of friends before running over to him.
"Hey, Princess." He said, grunting as her small frame collided against him. If he were a human he'd be flying back. She hugged him, lips curled into a wide grin.
He smiled and hugged the small ten year old girl back before she jumped away and ecstatically told him about what she did that day with her best friend, Alex as they walked to the car.
She was so much like her mother, looks and behavior both. The way her (E/C) eyes would light up and the way she'd cheerfully and optimistically face any situation. Ayato couldn't help but chuckle in amusement and adoration.
He opened the door for her and she jumped in, now telling him about her drawing project in arts class and that she had been working on. He nodded, adding a few questions and commentary to show that he was indeed paying full attention.
When he got in he reached to the back and grabbed the rectangular box and dropped it on her lap.
"Ooh cookies!" She grinned, taking the lid off and grabbing a cookie before stuffing her face with it.
Though she was a half breed, she could enjoy both food and human flesh both with no hindrance from her intricate taste buds. Aito had explained that it was due to the serum he had injected before she emerged.
"Thanths dat." (D/N) said through a mouth full of cookies, distorting her speech.
The drive home wasn't long and before long they were parked in the car garage Ayato had built next to the house. A lot had been done over the ten years. Out in the backyard he had built a greenhouse and he was planning on extending the house a bit to create an extra room but that was a plan for the future.
"Did you finish the cookies?" Ayato asked, turning to (D/N) after he parked the car.
The corner of her lips had crumbs of cookies and the innocent smile she gave him was the answer.
"It was just so good." She muttered guiltily, swallowing the last bit.
Ayato chuckled, shaking his head as he ruffled her hair. "It's okay Princess."
She hopped out and Ayato picked out the box. "Hey I know it's Friday but you gotta finish your homework before heading up to the Observatory."
"Okay dad." She chirped back, heading into the house. Ayato closed the garage door and made his way into the house as well. He placed his jacket on the coat stand by the door, his previously tired blue orbs lighting up when he caught the aroma of chocolate and baked flour wisping into his nostrils. He loved that scent.
He heard the muffled voice of (D/N)'s animated ranting in the kitchen and chuckled, shaking his head; she was an ecstatic hyper explosion of color and noise.
Ayato made his way into the warm kitchen that smelt like chocolate and vanilla, the scent making him smile already. He stood and leaned on the doorframe, gazing into the cozy and warm kitchen.
(Y/N) was by the kitchen table, nodding to show that she was listening to (D/N)'s ecstatic rant about the mythologies she read about during her library period. She was in a knelt position next to a small four-year-old boy with messy blue hair. His cheeks had smudges of dried up flour. He had a brooding scowl plastered on his face as he glared down at the flour he had shaped. It looked more of a round chubby circle than a flat circle and it annoyed him beyond comprehension. (Y/N) laughed softly because he looked so much like his father when he was irritated.
She placed her hand on the dry white powdery flour and clapped it in front of him. The look of irritation on his face melted away and he stared, wide eyed in fascination as he watched the powder disperse. (Y/N) knew that he loved to watch that and it was an easy way to get him to stop a tantrum sometimes.
(Y/N) whispered something to the small boy that Ayato couldn't quite pick out over (D/N)'s hyper rant. He realized he made a mistake by giving her the cookies in the car, she was now too hyper.
(Son's/Name) nodded to what she whispered and sat up in his seat. His eye's shone in determination and concentration as he molded the flour together with the chocolate chips, oreo pieces and vanilla chips. His tongue sticking out adorably, something he did when he was really hell bent on achieving something.
(Y/N) chuckled and ruffled his tousled blue hair, kissing his chubby cheeks. She looked up and her eyes met with Ayato. She couldn't help but blush because of the intense way he stared at her, as if she was the most beautiful girl on the face of the planet.
Her hair was tied back into a messy bun and dried flour was sloppily smudged on her cheeks. Ayato realized that she had probably smudged flour on (S/N)'s face and he had smudged her face in return.
Usually it was him and her at the flower shop with little (S/N) but that morning their son felt under the weather so since it was Friday Ayato thought not much people would come in so he opened up shop himself.
Later on that evening the small family gathered upstairs in the observatory with cookies and coffee to watch what the media predicted, would be a meteor shower.
Ayato and (Y/N) decided to replace the glass with a strong and clear glass. When they did they let the ceiling remain blank and just set up the glass all around the dome, reaching twice Ayato's height before it ended; leaving the ceiling empty. During the day birds and butterflies would fly in through the open ceiling and (D/N)'s favorite thing to do was stay up here with the plants and the birds. She fed the birds so they'd come on a regular basis.
That night was firefly season and since they were in the woods and no lights were on, the fireflies flew in through the open air ceiling, attracted by the plants. (Y/N) and Ayato sat back on a mat, with her leaning back against his chest and him holding her close. They sat there and watched (D/N) and (S/N) giggle as they danced with the fireflies among the flowers.
The night sky lit up with stars and the full moon basked them with her glowing light. (D/N) held (S/N)'s hands and they gleefully laughed and twirled around, her (H/C) hair dancing in the wind with the fireflies following their movements gracefully.
"Fiwefwies!" (S/N) exclaimed, giggling loudly in his baby lingo, blue hair whipping around his rosy cheeks.
(Y/N) chuckled in amusement and leaned back. Ayato stared at her for a moment, appreciating the way her skin glowed under the moonlight and the way her eyes lit up like the night sky.
She was alive and that was all that mattered, nothing else.
Giving birth to (S/N) was easier then (D/N)'s labor. She was injured, that was difference. He remembered with a pang in his chest and a burn in eyes, that she almost died then and there. He'd felt death in the room, like a cloud gathering itself somewhere up near the ceiling, and its presence felt strangely familiar as if he'd somehow been expecting it, as if a part of him knew all along that this might be how it ends. It was like strange cruel realization that it was all good to be true.
Even now, ten years later, he still feels that raw and agonizing pain. The pain he felt when he watched all the blood drain from her veins until she was deathly pale and as fragile as a piece of glass. He could only stand there, breath hitched, heart dropping and eyes burning with tears; he had never felt so and utterly weak before.
He pulled her close and when she tilted her head, turning to him, he crashed his lips against hers. Her eye's widened in surprise and her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. Slowly she closed her eyes and kissed him back just as passionately.
"Eww (S/N)-kun! Close your eyes baby brother! Save your innocence!" (D/N) squealed dramatically, quickly shielding her baby brother from her parents by covering his eyes.
(Y/N) pulled away and laughed. "How can you even see us? It's dark."
"I am half ghoul mom, now please don't kiss again that's gross." (D/N) shuddered.
Ayato chuckled. "Don't worry, no more PG rated scenes. You have our word."
Suddenly a bright burning light shot against the sky and hundreds more followed, shooting past the vast blank space that was the night sky. They danced across the sky and the sight was beautiful.
"Mummy! Daddy! Look it!" (S/N) yelled pointing excitedly up at the sky that lit up with shooting lights.
As (D/N) and (S/N) busied themselves with staring up in wonder and fascination at the beauty of the sky, (Y/N) turned to Ayato, still blushing. He hadn't kissed her like that in months.
"What was that about?" She asked softly.
Ayato pecked the tip of her nose and rested his head against hers, staring into her bright (E/C) orbs.
"I love you. That's why." He answered softly.
She smiled, her eyes slipping shut in content. "And I love you."
With that they turned and watched their two kids point up at the sky ecstatically, faces filled with happiness and excitement.
There they stayed, in the home they built; and Ayato Kirishima was finally complete.