The political noise had become a constant buzz — envoys arriving at all hours, magical sigils posted outside the Black Bulls' hideout to monitor for intruders, and messages flying between kingdoms faster than anyone could track.
But tonight?
Tonight, everything was quiet.
It was just them.
Yuno sat on the edge of their shared bed, the moonlight streaming in through the open window, casting soft silver across his bare shoulders and loose nightrobe. His hand rested over the now-visible swell of his belly — round, firm, and warm with magic.
Seven and a half weeks in… and the child was thriving.
Asta entered the room with a bowl of soup and a faint smear of mud on his cheek. He looked tired — battle-hardened, maybe even scared — but his smile when he saw Yuno was everything.
"You're up again," Asta murmured as he placed the bowl on the bedside table.
Yuno nodded, exhaling. "It's like the baby knows when I try to sleep and decides it's time for a full mana recital."
Asta chuckled and knelt in front of him, placing a hand on Yuno's stomach.
"I've never been jealous of a baby before," he whispered. "But they get to be inside you, all the time."
Yuno's cheeks colored. "You're such a sap."
"Your sap," Asta reminded him.
Yuno smiled faintly. "That part's true."
And Then It Happened
They were quiet for a while.
Yuno was mid-sentence — describing a wind fluctuation he felt earlier in the day — when suddenly his body went still.
His breath hitched.
Asta's head snapped up.
"Yuno?"
Yuno stared down at his belly.
"…It kicked."
Asta blinked. "What?"
Yuno took Asta's hand and pressed it firmly to the center of his abdomen.
There — it happened again.
A small, soft push. Not from the outside in, but the inside out.
Asta froze.
And then, slowly, a single tear rolled down his cheek.
Yuno blinked in surprise. "Asta—?"
Asta didn't speak. He lowered his head until his forehead was pressed against Yuno's belly and let the tears fall, silent and overwhelmed.
"I felt them," he whispered hoarsely. "They're real. I mean—really, really real."
Yuno carded his fingers through Asta's hair.
"You didn't believe it until now?" he asked softly.
Asta looked up, eyes red but shining. "I believed it. But now I feel it."
The next kiss they shared was slow — trembling — deepened not by heat, but by awe.
When they lay down together, Yuno curled against Asta's chest, his belly between them. Asta placed both hands around it like it was the most sacred thing in the world.
And Yuno, for the first time in weeks, fell asleep peacefully.
Not because he wasn't afraid.
But because he knew Asta was there — guarding them both.