Kotori Tsukumo (nee Mizuki) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
longingfreesia) wrote2020-10-20 12:24 am
longingfreesia) wrote2020-10-20 12:24 am
[Story] Responsibility
[Synopsis: Yuma learns about having responsibility for a child while he and Kotori are babysitting Asami.
[Story] Responsibility
Over the last six months, Kotori had taken to babysitting Asami whenever Juudai and Asuka needed someone to look after her for bit. She always enjoyed her time with her, though now she was a year old and toddling about, she'd become a bit more of a challenge to look after. Kotori couldn't take her eyes off her for even a second before she was wandering away or getting into something she shouldn't.
Everyday tasks while she was around became a lot more challenging.
Wandering into the living area, holding Asami in her arms, Kotori found Yuma sat on the sofa watching a duel on the TV. Gently, she placed Asami on the sofa beside Yuma.
"Yuma. I just have to go out and fetch the washing in that's outside on the balcony. Would you watch Asami for me for five minutes?"
"Oh, sure! I can do that!" Yuma replied while barely looking up from the TV. Kotori frowned a little, noticing that he didn't seem to be paying attention, but she wanted to trust that he'd do what she'd asked him too. She wouldn't be gone for long anyway.
With that, she left the room and Asami in the care of Yuma.
After a few minutes, Hope curiously appeared in the room, looking over Yuma's shoulder.
"Yuma. Where is Asami?"
"Huah? What do you mean?" Yuma asked as he shot Hope an annoyed glance. "She's right heeee---rrraaaah!!"
His sentenced turned into an exclamation of shock when he realized the small child was no longer sat next to him on the sofa.
"W-where did she go?? Hope, did you see where she went!?"
"Kotori asked you to watch her."
Yuma shot Hope a glare again, before starting to look around for the baby. "She's like a year old! She couldn't have gotten far!"
Yuma searched the living area, the bathroom, kitchen, the bedroom, but she was nowhere to be found.
The last place to search was the spare room, which Kotori used as the room for her fashion designing.
There were various mannequins set up at the back of the room, some with half complete dresses and other garments on them.
"She HAS to be in here. There's nowhere else she could be!"
"Maybe you should tell Kotori that you lost the child and have her help to look." Hope suggested.
"What! Are you crazy!" Yuma exclaimed. "If she finds out I lost her she'll never trust me again! We just gotta find her before--"
"Yuma!"
Yuma stopped dead and slowly turned around in fear to face Kotori who was standing in the doorway behind him, hands on her hips and giving him a death glare.
"Where's Asami?"
"Er, well... you see..." Yuma stuttered and stumbled over his words as he tried desperately to search for an explanation, which only worsened the harder Kotori's glare at him got. The moment was only broken when the distinct sound of a baby laughing came from the back of the room, followed by Asami toddling out joyfully from underneath one of the half made dresses in the room and towards Kotori.
"...weeee were playing hide and seek! We found her, yaaaaaay..."
Yuma's voice trailed off, knowing that he wasn't fooling anyone, let alone Kotori, with such a feeble excuse. Kotori just gave out an exasperated sigh as she bent down to pick up Asami, before silently turning to leave the room.
"Kotori, I--"
"It's fine, Yuma." Kotori replied, with a disappointed tone, not even attempting to look back at him. She then simply walked out of the room with nothing more said.
Yuma knew it wasn't fine though and the only reason Kotori wasn't yelling at him right now was because Asami was there.
He'd really messed up.
-----------
Later that day, Kotori was busy in the kitchen making dinner, while Asami was sat in a high chair at the table, playing with a small toy. Occasionally, she would throw the toy on the floor which Kotori went to pick up, distracting her from the meal she was making.
After the fourth time she did it, Kotori was starting to feel the pressure of trying to cook and look after Asami at the same time. It wasn't so much of a task when Asami was younger, but now she was older and demanding more attention, she really could use an extra pair of hands in looking after her.
She quickly composed herself when Yuma walked into the kitchen. She briefly glanced up at him before returning to the cooking.
"Dinner won't be for a while yet."
"Yeah. I know." Yuma replied. The air was still pretty tense. "I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry."
This made Kotori glance back over at him. "It was dumb of me to not watch her when you asked me to."
Giving out a sigh, Kotori turned to face him.
"I could tell by the way the reacted that you probably didn't take my request seriously enough, but I wanted to trust you. Instead you lost her and you couldn't even admit to me what was going on straight away. You tried covering it up." she glanced momentarily over to Asami as the child once again threw her toy to the floor. "If I can't trust you to look after her for five minutes, how could I trust you if we ever have kids of our own?"
She could see by his hurt reaction that the comment had cut him pretty deep. She felt bad for saying it, but he needed a little bit of tough love to help him learn responsibility in looking after a child.
Silently, Yuma walked over to where Asami's toy was and picked it up. He glanced at it, then at Asami, who was fussing and waving her arms, wanting the toy back.
"Hey... it's gotta be tough looking after her and cooking the dinner too." he said, as he wandered over to give Asami her toy back. He then reached out and picked Asami up out of the high chair, holding her in his arms. "I can play with her while you're doing that."
Kotori wasn't convinced at first, but seeing the determined look on Yuma's face, she found it difficult to stay mad at him. He understood that he had messed up and was now wanting to prove himself to her.
That 'Kattobing' attitude melted her every time.
"Alright." she agreed. "Just make sure you turn off anything that can be a distraction. I'll check in on you in a little bit. Juudai-san and Asuka-san should be by in about an hour to pick her up."
"No problem!" Yuma exclaimed. "We'll have lots of fun until then, right, Asami?"
Asami squealed happily and flailed her arms, but as she did she kept hitting Yuma in the face with the toy she was holding.
"Ow, ow, heeeey stop thaaaat!"
Kotori couldn't help but laugh a little as Yuma carried Asami into the living area, being beaten up by the one-year-old the entire way.
Yuma still had a lot to learn, but maybe there was hope for him yet.
[Story] Responsibility
Over the last six months, Kotori had taken to babysitting Asami whenever Juudai and Asuka needed someone to look after her for bit. She always enjoyed her time with her, though now she was a year old and toddling about, she'd become a bit more of a challenge to look after. Kotori couldn't take her eyes off her for even a second before she was wandering away or getting into something she shouldn't.
Everyday tasks while she was around became a lot more challenging.
Wandering into the living area, holding Asami in her arms, Kotori found Yuma sat on the sofa watching a duel on the TV. Gently, she placed Asami on the sofa beside Yuma.
"Yuma. I just have to go out and fetch the washing in that's outside on the balcony. Would you watch Asami for me for five minutes?"
"Oh, sure! I can do that!" Yuma replied while barely looking up from the TV. Kotori frowned a little, noticing that he didn't seem to be paying attention, but she wanted to trust that he'd do what she'd asked him too. She wouldn't be gone for long anyway.
With that, she left the room and Asami in the care of Yuma.
After a few minutes, Hope curiously appeared in the room, looking over Yuma's shoulder.
"Yuma. Where is Asami?"
"Huah? What do you mean?" Yuma asked as he shot Hope an annoyed glance. "She's right heeee---rrraaaah!!"
His sentenced turned into an exclamation of shock when he realized the small child was no longer sat next to him on the sofa.
"W-where did she go?? Hope, did you see where she went!?"
"Kotori asked you to watch her."
Yuma shot Hope a glare again, before starting to look around for the baby. "She's like a year old! She couldn't have gotten far!"
Yuma searched the living area, the bathroom, kitchen, the bedroom, but she was nowhere to be found.
The last place to search was the spare room, which Kotori used as the room for her fashion designing.
There were various mannequins set up at the back of the room, some with half complete dresses and other garments on them.
"She HAS to be in here. There's nowhere else she could be!"
"Maybe you should tell Kotori that you lost the child and have her help to look." Hope suggested.
"What! Are you crazy!" Yuma exclaimed. "If she finds out I lost her she'll never trust me again! We just gotta find her before--"
"Yuma!"
Yuma stopped dead and slowly turned around in fear to face Kotori who was standing in the doorway behind him, hands on her hips and giving him a death glare.
"Where's Asami?"
"Er, well... you see..." Yuma stuttered and stumbled over his words as he tried desperately to search for an explanation, which only worsened the harder Kotori's glare at him got. The moment was only broken when the distinct sound of a baby laughing came from the back of the room, followed by Asami toddling out joyfully from underneath one of the half made dresses in the room and towards Kotori.
"...weeee were playing hide and seek! We found her, yaaaaaay..."
Yuma's voice trailed off, knowing that he wasn't fooling anyone, let alone Kotori, with such a feeble excuse. Kotori just gave out an exasperated sigh as she bent down to pick up Asami, before silently turning to leave the room.
"Kotori, I--"
"It's fine, Yuma." Kotori replied, with a disappointed tone, not even attempting to look back at him. She then simply walked out of the room with nothing more said.
Yuma knew it wasn't fine though and the only reason Kotori wasn't yelling at him right now was because Asami was there.
He'd really messed up.
-----------
Later that day, Kotori was busy in the kitchen making dinner, while Asami was sat in a high chair at the table, playing with a small toy. Occasionally, she would throw the toy on the floor which Kotori went to pick up, distracting her from the meal she was making.
After the fourth time she did it, Kotori was starting to feel the pressure of trying to cook and look after Asami at the same time. It wasn't so much of a task when Asami was younger, but now she was older and demanding more attention, she really could use an extra pair of hands in looking after her.
She quickly composed herself when Yuma walked into the kitchen. She briefly glanced up at him before returning to the cooking.
"Dinner won't be for a while yet."
"Yeah. I know." Yuma replied. The air was still pretty tense. "I just wanted to say that... I'm sorry."
This made Kotori glance back over at him. "It was dumb of me to not watch her when you asked me to."
Giving out a sigh, Kotori turned to face him.
"I could tell by the way the reacted that you probably didn't take my request seriously enough, but I wanted to trust you. Instead you lost her and you couldn't even admit to me what was going on straight away. You tried covering it up." she glanced momentarily over to Asami as the child once again threw her toy to the floor. "If I can't trust you to look after her for five minutes, how could I trust you if we ever have kids of our own?"
She could see by his hurt reaction that the comment had cut him pretty deep. She felt bad for saying it, but he needed a little bit of tough love to help him learn responsibility in looking after a child.
Silently, Yuma walked over to where Asami's toy was and picked it up. He glanced at it, then at Asami, who was fussing and waving her arms, wanting the toy back.
"Hey... it's gotta be tough looking after her and cooking the dinner too." he said, as he wandered over to give Asami her toy back. He then reached out and picked Asami up out of the high chair, holding her in his arms. "I can play with her while you're doing that."
Kotori wasn't convinced at first, but seeing the determined look on Yuma's face, she found it difficult to stay mad at him. He understood that he had messed up and was now wanting to prove himself to her.
That 'Kattobing' attitude melted her every time.
"Alright." she agreed. "Just make sure you turn off anything that can be a distraction. I'll check in on you in a little bit. Juudai-san and Asuka-san should be by in about an hour to pick her up."
"No problem!" Yuma exclaimed. "We'll have lots of fun until then, right, Asami?"
Asami squealed happily and flailed her arms, but as she did she kept hitting Yuma in the face with the toy she was holding.
"Ow, ow, heeeey stop thaaaat!"
Kotori couldn't help but laugh a little as Yuma carried Asami into the living area, being beaten up by the one-year-old the entire way.
Yuma still had a lot to learn, but maybe there was hope for him yet.