DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

Beta-reader: Antonio92 (many thanks to you)

A/N: Big thanks for the many reviews, Monotufu, tityuio, Shadowhawk, InflatedChimp, Camille loves chocolate, Tyloris, Harteramo, deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover, foggraven, miss nobody, Polos Elite and Maiden of Sin.

There's a little background-information about Hei in this chapter, which refers to my other DTB story 'When the stars vanished'.

OC description:

Emerald: 10 year old Doll with medium 'shadow'; green eyes and really short brown hair; Asian

Ivory: 13 year old Contractor; manipulating plants; remuneration: scratching himself bloody; light brown eyes and normal long brown hair (like July's hair length); Asian; Emerald's older brother

Bai: 8 months old Contractor with telekinetic power; no remuneration; light brown hair and dark blue eyes

Chapter 26

Hei sat next to his wife and daughter on a swing while Mao had curled up on the bench next to the flowers. The Black Reaper had tried to play with Bai, holding her while she slid, but the baby was apparently still too young to see the fun and had started her heart-tearing cries before she had even reached the slide's end. Now she sat on Yin's lap, secured tightly by her mother's arm about her tummy, while the Doll swung slightly. This slow tempo seemed to appeal to the baby – at least she had calmed down.

It was peaceful on the playground and only Hei's growling stomach disturbed the moment. With a sigh he got up and neared his girls. A deep frown ceased his forehead as he scrutinized his little daughter's half closed eyes and emotionless features. "Yin?" This made the Doll 'look' his way. "Bai's expression… she looks like a Contractor." 'Or a Doll…'

Yin's eyes widened and her specter appeared next to her husband, also looking at her baby. "Again."

"Again?!" Hei felt a pang to his heart. The last few days he had been hardly at home when his daughter had been awake. Was he already on the path to become as oblivious to his child's condition as his own parents had been? "Since when does she have this expression?"

"I noticed it yesterday… Once."

"Yesterday?" A stone lifted from his heart. Tentatively he smiled at his daughter. Like woken from a trance, the baby's chubby cheeks moved upwards till she smiled back at her father.

"Maybe she imitates your expressions," Mao mused and eyed the little girl while he curiously approached the three.

"Maybe… Or her Contractor personality is manifesting." This was not good. Especially not with the check-points looking for not registered Contractors and Dolls. Hei lifted the baby up and cradled her to his chest. They would have to be extremely careful from now on.

"Oh, Rika-chan, you've become tall. A real lady!" Hei said in his Li persona and caused the brunette to blush furiously while her father, the owner of the Homerun House, didn't look thrilled.

The shorter man sighed and led his new and only customers to a table near the kitchen, his misty eyes on his daughter. "Yep, they grow so fast and before you know it, they're at university and meet some guy and then they'll move away and forget about their old father."

Hei grinned as he sat down across from his wife. "My, my. Aren't you exaggerating?"

"You'll see when your little one enters puberty. Then music and cute actors are the only things she'll have eyes for."

"Papa, I won't move out when I'll go to university next year." Rika said in a tone that made Hei and Mao – who had sneaked in and was now hiding under Yin's chair – believe that she had already repeated this sentence a hundred times.

"Next year? It's only seven months till you graduate and start university!"

"It's still next year, papa…" The teenager shook her head and faced her childhood-crush. "What may I bring you?"

The Black Reaper still smiled. He kinda liked the cook and his daughter. The man usually talked like a waterfall, but he didn't bother Hei with private questions – he was the one giving private information away like it was nothing. "Five bowls ramen with pork flavor and five with duck, please."

"Sure." The girl smiled and turned her gaze to the calm young woman, not impressed by the order at all.

"One bowl with Seafood flavor, please," Yin murmured in her even voice and lifted Bai from the stroller to place the baby onto her lap.

Rika smiled at the little girl sucking on a toy-fish, a rod dangling from it. "You're a cutie." Then her gaze wandered up to the child's mother. "Umm, are you from Shinjuku? I think I've seen you before." There weren't many foreign girls with silver hair and violet eyes in their city.

Hei inwardly sighed. But then again, they were back in Tokyo with their old alias and thus old pasts. And somehow it felt nice to be recognized as something else than the Black Reaper and BK-201's Doll. "My wife used to work at a tobacco shop not far from here when she was about your age."

"Oh yeah, the tobacco shop at the corner!"

"What have you done in a tobacco shop, Rika?!" Her father inquired alarmed but the teenager was already on her knees, scratching Mao behind his ear with a smile. "Oh, is this your cat, Li-san?"

"Umm, yes." Hei didn't miss the doubtful gaze of the cook about an animal in his restaurant, but since they were the only customers this shouldn't be a problem. "He's already old and won't stray into the kitchen. He hardly makes the way to the cat toilet anymore."

Mao shot the other Contractor an angry glare, but Rika's tender fingers soothed him and made him rub his head into her palm. "He's cute. What's his name?"

"Ricardo." Hei received anew a dagger-filled stare.

"Oh, that's a really great name. I love the ring of Latin-American names." The brunette beamed at the cat. "You know a cat that looked just like you used to come here. I named him Hernandez."

'Yeah, I remember…' Mao thought.

"Rika, please leave the cat alone and do your job."

The brunette looked up to her father. "My job? You already heard the orders. I have to wait for you till I can serve the dishes."

"See what I mean, Li-san… Just enjoy the time you have while your little one adores you as her hero and listens to your every word."

Hei stole a glance at his babbling daughter on her mother's lap. "She might adore me, but she already thinks I'm joking when I tell her 'no'." This was really hard for Hei. He didn't want to scold his beloved Bai, but she had to learn that levitating the TV through the room is a no-no. Or, for that matter, doing the same to her father. Unfortunately for Hei she didn't seem to take him seriously – maybe she was too young – and the baby only giggled at her father's agitated features.

"A little rebel, huh? They get younger and younger…" Rika's father muttered as he returned to the kitchen.

In the meantime Yin had fished several jars of baby-food from the bag hanging from the stroller's handles. "May I have a small spoon?"

Rika looked up from Mao and smiled at the Doll. "Sure, just a moment, please." She got to her feet. "I'll bring Ricardo a can with tuna."

"That's nice of you," Hei replied while Mao already licked his mouth.

When a few minutes later Yin's meal and the first batch of Hei's had arrived, the Contractor felt the presence of the cook behind him, looking towards them, while Hei was already inhaling his second bowl.

"Any parental test is needless…" Rika's father muttered after a while with a disbelieving expression.

"Huh?" Hei looked a little confused about the other man's statement, but then his gaze followed his to Bai emptying her fourth jar of baby food. And he sighed.

They had climbed the many stairs up to the rooftop and the forgotten apartment sitting atop the building. Mao sat at Yin's feet and the Doll watched the river, and the Wall beyond it, holding Bai in her arms as Hei plugged the wires for his safe-house into the breaker box. This was so much easier now that he didn't have to worry about getting a deadly electric shock.

Inside the large apartment he found everything as he had left it more than two years prior. On the old black leather couch, Suou's bag was laying still with her camera and book of her mother's photos in it, her and July's coats placed on a heap over the armrest next to the small TV. Seeing the belongings of those children made his heart suddenly heavy. Back then, after the Izanami disaster, his entire concern had been on the only person he had been able to save that fateful day.

At the beginning of his Russia mission he hadn't intended to let that emotional Contractor-child and the young Doll mean anything to him – he had already lost every single person who had been important to him and he couldn't bear to let someone else close, only to lose them. But those children had mattered to him in the end and it had stung his heart deeply to have to leave their corpses behind, inside the Gate.

Yin felt her husband's sudden sadness. Her observer spirit appeared next to them and its gaze followed Hei's to the belongings she recognized as those of the two children who had accompanied him on his way back from Russia. She had watched them on a few occasions with her specter when Izanami had not struggled against her 'grasp'. Yin had tried to lead Hei to her body's location so he would end it – stop Izanami from waking once and for all. But he hadn't been able to see her. Yet she had been able to stop that water-Contractor from hurting or taking the children Hei had cared for - to keep the man she loved from hurting even more.

Slowly the specter approached the clothes, lifted them up and folded them neatly together. "We can take them with us, Hei."

The dark Contractor only nodded and finally stepped inside the living room. He pushed the blue curtain leading into the kitchen to the side and began to put their groceries into the large fridge that was currently cooling down. He immediately checked the water but, as he had assumed, the forgotten safe-house was still hooked up to the water supply. Then he walked over into the rather spacious bathroom – it held a bathtub and still left enough space for a small table, a cupboard and most importantly: space to turn around. At their current residence the bathroom was so small that they would almost run into the sink whenever they left the shower.

The Contractor opened the faucets and let the brown water splash into the tube and sink until it turned clear. Afterwards he pushed the plug into the drain of the bathtub and poured some peach bath-soap into the gathering warm water.

When he stepped back into the living-room, the TV was running and Mao was resting in front of it on the couch while Yin had retrieved one of the futons from the closet. It was spread out on the hardwood-floor, with Bai and a few of her toys on it. Hei's eyes wandered over to the two other doors, leading to the additional rooms. Both large, but unfortunately the window panes had been broken and so he had the doors locked almost three years ago – to keep people from surprising him via those 'backdoors'.

"The bath will be ready in a few minutes," he informed the Doll, who only nodded in acknowledgement and retrieved a large towel, a fresh romper suit, her black tank-top and the diaper bag from the bottom compartment of the stroller. Wordlessly, she walked into the bathroom and placed everything neatly onto the table before returning to the main room to fetch her daughter and a yellow plastic duck.

Half an hour later the three soaked contently in the warm bubble-bath. Yin leaned against Hei's well-toned chest, his arms slung around her body to push the duck towards their daughter from time to time, who was sitting on his wife's lap.

"I want another baby," Yin suddenly said in her even whisper and didn't miss her lover's sharp intake of air. "Not now… but we could try in a year or two." She felt his tensed muscles relax somewhat. "I want Bai to have a sibling."

Silence stretched on between them while both watched their daughter happily squish the foam with her tiny hands. A soft smile crept onto the Reaper's lips and he tightened his embrace around his wife. He kissed the side of her head affectionately. "I would like that… I'm glad I had my sister."

Yin's slow voice didn't waver a bit when she spoke. "I had wanted to have a brother or sister when I was still little. But the only thing close to a sibling I ever had was my younger cousin… and I really didn't want to play with a baby when I had started with school and felt all grown-up," she paused a moment as she heard him chuckle. "But my parents hadn't wanted another child." She shifted slightly against his broad chest. "For obvious reasons."

"I wouldn't mind if our child was like you." He pressed his lips against her long silver locks. "You always seemed to do quite well without your specter." Suddenly curiosity stirred in Hei. "Did it bother you that you couldn't see like everyone else?"

Yin leaned her head back against his shoulder, her voice a slow and even whisper. "I didn't know it any other way… I couldn't understand why my parents always made a fuss when I wanted to shower alone or wanted to smear jam onto my toast with a butter knife all by myself." She remembered how her mother had always hovered around her while little Kirsi wanted to show how grown-up and independent she already was. "Don't get me wrong, they loved me and supported me, but they were just so afraid that I would hurt myself." She lifted her hand and wiped a few bubbles from her daughter's nose. "I can understand them now."

Hei rested his chin on top of her head as he pushed the plastic duck towards his little girl. "My parents were the opposite… My mother usually returned from work to make us something to eat when we came home… Xing's kindergarten was in the building next to my school. Once, our mom got stuck in traffic and we were already at home with growling stomachs… I was nine, I think, and Xing only five… I had taught myself how to use the microwave to make a pizza or to warm up the leftovers from the evening before… But when my mother caught up on my independence, she began to stay longer at the observatory."

At first he had felt proud to be trusted this much by his parents, but after a while he missed his mother's care and had felt bad for his little sister, who had always waited with her fairytale book clutched to her chest for their parents to finally return from work. With each day it got later and the siblings became increasingly independent and isolated from their parents.

Yin's hand reached for her husband's and squeezed it, while her other hand had Bai in a firm grip so the lively girl wouldn't slip from her lap by accident. "My best friend at school was taking ballet lessons, but that wasn't possible for me… Every child in my class had a hobby, except me… But then my parents came up with piano lessons. Something I won't need my eyes for and I couldn't get hurt doing… The best friend of my father from his childhood was a rather famous pianist and between his tours around the world he would stay at our house and in turn he taught me."

"The blond guy?"

The Doll nodded. "Yes, Eelis."

"Did you like to play the piano?" Hei asked after a while. Or was it just her parents' wish?

She nodded again in confirmation. "I think I still do."

He nuzzled her hair. "I would like to hear you play."

Mao lifted his head to face the Doll, clad in her blue-white dress, when she emerged from the bathroom with her daughter cradled in her arms. "Mao, would you please keep an eye on Bai? She won't bother you. She's already sleepy." She placed her little girl gently onto the futon.

Mao eyed the yawning baby and looked confused up to her mother, who turned the volume of the TV up. "Why? What are you-" Just then Yin vanished into thin air, causing the cat to narrow his eyes in annoyance. 'The specter… But why…' Suddenly heavy moaning came from the closed bathroom-door. Mao's eyes widened in realization and he turned his head around to look at the futon, where the baby was already busy with levitating the lamp towards her outstretched arms.

"Sleepy… my ass!" He approached the girl warily to not startle her – inwardly grateful that the heavy TV hadn't caught her interest. "How about you put that slowly down, Little Miss?" But the child ignored him and inspected the still hot light bulb, the lamp hovering upside down in front of her. When Bai was about to touch the hot glass, Mao turned around in panic and waved his tail in front of the little girl's face. "Look, kiddo!"

When the couple eventually left the bathroom hand in hand – both wearing matching black tank-tops and Hei dark green boxers – the Black Reaper scanned the room for his daughter immediately. The girl's baby-sitter held his tail in a strange angle. "What was that scream?" Hei asked, playing dumb and eyeing the lamp lying on the floor.

Mao sat on the couch with the cat-toy-rod in his mouth while Bai crawled giggling beneath him on the floor after her beloved fish. The cat-Contractor wiped his head around, making the fish fly over the child's head to her other side, before he placed the wooden stick to his paws on the cushion. "What was that noise coming from the bathroom?" he shot back with his eyes narrowed.

Both males stared at each other for a moment, before both came to the silent agreement to don't inquire further. Sighing, Hei walked over to the two and picked his daughter up with half of the toy fish in her mouth. He smiled at the girl with her large blue eyes, before sighing. "Looks like papa has to tie the furniture to the floor again." Bai pulled the with spit dripping stuffed animal from her mouth and offered it to her father laughing. "That's not funny, princess."

But Hei couldn't be serious for long around his little girl, so he sat down cross-legged on the futon and placed his daughter next to him while Yin returned the lamp to its former spot. With her specter the Doll watched the infamous Black Reaper smile at their child and take the rod. Moments later he was playing with the baby, making her giggle and squeal in delight. This went on until the girl had her prey firmly clutched to her chest and let herself fall to the side with a grin, the string caught beneath her body.

Hei smirked as he saw his daughter's happy face and heard her giggle every time he tried to pull the fish free without success – the string stretching all the while. "Looks like I have a really big fish on the hook, huh, Bai?!"

The baby giggled and rolled onto her tummy, the fish beneath her body and the string stretching even more… until her father pulled one last time, causing the string to snap in two and the wooden stick to fly back and collide hard with Hei's face.

"Shit," the Black Reaper cursed while Bai had started to whimper.

"Are you alright, Hei?" Yin had already crouched down next to her lover, who was now holding his left eye. She 'looked' worried up to him while lifting the now crying baby up into her embrace.

"This child is dangerous," Mao muttered as he took the young woman's violet eyes in with astonishment. In her almost sightless orbs swam deep concern for the other Contractor. 'So many emotions in a Doll…'

"She just got me on the eyebrow." Hei admitted after a moment, moving his hand away to give Mao and Yin's observer spirit the opportunity to look at him.

The specter nodded. "You have a bruise." The apparition vanished, but they could hear the opening and closing of the fridge from the kitchen. A moment later, the observer spirit held the blue curtain to one side while she stepped out from the neighbored room and approached with a bag of frozen broccoli in her hand. She offered it wordlessly to Hei, who took it to press it onto his eyebrow.

"Thanks, Yin." He hissed as the cold spread through his skin and head. "At least I don't have to defrost the veggies for supper anymore." He glanced over to his wife as she tried to calm their little girl. But Bai was already red in the face and far from stopping her tantrum. Hei forced a smile and stroked the girl's downy head with his free hand. "Shh, Bai. Papa is fine." But this didn't help at all and both parents feared for their child to choke if she would keep going on like this.

"I think she's crying because of her broken toy," Mao suggested and dragged the stick towards the Doll and the baby, who fisted the stuffed-fish.

Hei eyed his daughter and the toy for a moment, before putting the frozen broccoli to one side and lifting the ripped string from the baby's sleeve. He also fetched the end from the rod and knotted the ends together. "Look, Bai, your fishy is fine again," he said while waving the stick slightly – the toy-animal dangling in front of the little girl.

To everyone's relief the baby blinked once and twice and then reached giggling for her toy. A sigh escaped Hei's lips and he leaned back against the couch, the frozen vegetables back on his eye.

A/N: For those of you who haven't watched the English subbed version of Season2: Mao always called Suou 'Little Miss' in it. I thought it cute and so I made him call Bai this, too.

I hope you liked this long chapter.