By the time Sukuna and Sakura finally pushed open the front door, the house already smelled like dinner and exhaustion.
"We are back..."
"We are back..."
Kizashi was half-asleep on the kitchen seat, boots kicked off, tie loosened. Mebuki was folding laundry like she was in a war zone, with the sharp efficiency of someone who had worried all day and was only now allowing herself to breathe.
The moment she looked up and saw them, the laundry dropped.
"Finally... you know how worried we were. How come the mission lasted this long?" she said, her voice cracking just a little.
Sakura barely had time to nod before Mebuki wrapped her in a tight hug. Kizashi jolted awake, blinked twice, then stood and pulled both children into a clumsy family embrace.
"Ah... family time," Sukuna said like a man who had just surrendered himself to his fate. No matter what they did, there was no way to avoid this. Believe him, he tried.
"You two are grounded," their father said, like he was talking about recent climate change.
"What! Why... we didn't do anything!"
"What! Why... we didn't do anything!"
Mebuki giggled seeing both of them in this sink; there were only a few times which reminded them that they were twins...
"For scaring us," Kizashi held his laugh and said with seriousness.
Sakura snorted. Sukuna ignored it. How long could they ground them anyways? Soon another mission would come by, and during this time he wasn't planning on stepping out anyways. He was a bit homesick after that annoying, tiring mission.
"Do as you both wish," Sukuna said offhandedly, and then separated himself from the family embrace, finally entering the house proper.
Instead of collapsing or vanishing to his room, Sukuna walked straight into the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and started pulling ingredients out.
Mebuki froze.
"…Sukuna?" she asked carefully.
"I'm cooking," he replied, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
Her eyes lit up like it was a festival day.
She turned on her heel and said it like the government announcing a new welfare policy. "He's cooking."
Kizashi sat up straighter. Sakura's eyes widened.
"He is?" Sakura asked, a soft smile tugging on her lips and her stomach groaning like it was already expecting some fine cuisine.
Sukuna was a good cook. He trained himself relentlessly while he was figuring out his curse technique. Gods only knew why, but he also learned cooking, even though it didn't actually help him much in mastering that technique.
However, strangely enough, the pink head took a liking to cutting, mixing, and burning different ingredients, and kept cooking as a hobby.
And he was good at it. Not the kind which came from some peculiar talent, but the kind of proficiency which only came from multiple repetitions.
He never stopped experimenting with something new, and hours and years of experience had made him an excellent chef.
Sukuna cooked like he did everything else. Calm. Precise. Efficient. The pan sizzled, the knife moved cleanly, and soon the table was filled with dishes that smelled far too good for a random evening.
They ate in blissful silence for the first few minutes.
"This is amazing," Kizashi said, already on his second helping.
"You should cook more often," Mebuki added happily.
Sukuna shrugged. "I do, just not in the kitchen."
Sakura kicked him under the table. "Don't say that!"
Conversation drifted, as it always did, into dangerous territory.
"So," Kizashi said casually, "anyone special on the mission?"
Sakura choked on her drink. And to even their parents' surprise, their ever-stoic boy, who they suspected to be either gay or asexual, also seemed to react a bit. For the first time, and both parents honed in on that.
"S-Special?" Sakura squeaked.
Mebuki smiled knowingly. "So, how is it going with that boy Sasuke? You haven't been talking about him recently."
Sakura's face went red instantly. "M-Mom!"
Sukuna watched this with mild amusement, calming his own features from the earlier jolt, recalling what happened with Karin.
"And you?" Kizashi turned hopefully. "Anyone catching your eye?"
"None of your business, old man... you focus on who caught yours..."
Kizashi froze for a second, now wondering what this boy would say in front of Mebuki.
Sukuna said with a slight smirk, "I saw you eyeing the fish cutlet ever since I placed it there. If you want more, then take it already."
'Phew...'
"What about Karin?" Mebuki tried. "She seems very fond of you."
Sukuna seemed to mutter something under his breath before going back to his food. Saying anything would only lead to being trapped more. Kizashi was a goofball, but his mother, Mebuki, had sharp instincts. She'd catch that he was lying.
"That Hyuga girl...?" Kizashi pressed.
He just ignored it...
They tried everything. Names, hints, loaded pauses. Sukuna remained completely unaffected, like teasing simply slid off him.
Mebuki sighed. "You're no fun," pouting like a child.
'Better than me being the source of fun...' Sukuna intensified his eating like a man on a mission.
Dinner wound down, and just as Sukuna stood to clear the plates, Kizashi coughed.
"Ah yes... why should I cook and also do the dishes... you handle it..." he sat back down, pointing at Sakura.
'Kid, how did you come to that outcome? I just coughed....' Kizashi was speechless.
Sakura was even more baffled.
"Ahem," he said. "We should probably tell you."
"You're pregnant..."
"You're pregnant..."
The siblings seemed to have the same wavelength at times. They snapped at their mother like war was announced.
Mebuki blushed. "No... how did you both come to that? Cough, cough... just listen."
"Oh." Both quieted down again, now uninterested at whatever it was.
"Your grandmother sent us an old vase."
Sakura smiled. "That's nice."
"It was nice," Kizashi continued gravely. "And ancient."
"Until it wasn't!" Mebuki's face darkened.
"You broke it or something!" Sukuna said while chewing the last bit of his food.
"Burned it, actually..."
"Wow, that's some next-level hate for relatives... I can understand, though..."
"No, not for that..." She sighed.
"It was infested," Mebuki added.
Sukuna paused. Sakura frowned. "Infested with what?"
"Bed bugs."
The words hung in the air.
Both Sakura and Sukuna seemed to feel a shiver running down their spines. The horrible little vampiric monsters...
The infections, the loss of sleep, and oh... the smell. Sukuna even thought about using Fuga at one point. But they were still paying off a loan for the house.
"Our room is sealed," Mebuki said. "The sofa too."
Sakura's eyes widened. "Then where are you sleeping?"
Kizashi smiled far too calmly. "Your room."
"What?" Sakura shouted.
"For a little while," Mebuki added. "Which means you two will have to share."
"What!"
Sakura turned slowly toward Sukuna. "You knew about this?"
"No, I came with you, dear little sister. Do you think I would bother returning if I knew it?" he said honestly.
Her face turned red again. "You're sleeping on the floor."
"Absolutely not."
"You don't even move when you sleep!"
"Oh, and how do you know that? Say, little sister, you wouldn't act like a creep and eye your handsome older brother while he's sleeping, would you!"
"Ewww..."
They stared at each other.
Kizashi stood up, stretching. "Well. Good luck, kids."
Mebuki smiled sweetly. "Don't fight too much. Please, both of us really need sleep after last night's escapades with those bed bugs."
As the parents disappeared down the hall, both Sakura and Sukuna looked at them with helpless expressions on their faces.
They looked at each other and sighed.
At that time, Mebuki's voice came again.
"Oh... and don't do something stupid either. I'd rather not have to worry about another pink-headed kid around the house. Sakura is too young for that..."
"MOM!!!"
"MOM!!!"
They shouted in indignation.
-x-
A/N : Been a while seen I wrote a family chapter. I usually have fun writing this kind of chapters.
Now tell me in comment who's ready for the next chapter...
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