Ashes And Hair Dye

Chapter Eleven

Fumi was the first to awaken. She slowly opened her eyes to see herself cuddle against Dabi. A little blush formed on her cheeks from embarrassment. In her tired state she dragged him to nap with her. She sighed before sitting up and feeling refreshed. Her moment of joy was short lived as she went to check the time on her phone.

"Shit I slept that long?! Dabi!" She exclaimed as she gently shook him awake. Dabi on the other hand did not wake up refreshed. He woke up groggy, with little to no sense of time of day nor what was going on. "Dabi! We gotta get ready the kids are gonna be here soon!" She exclaimed as she hurriedly got out of bed, brushed her hair, tied it up in a bun, and was going to be heading out of the room.

Dabi scratched his head, unsure of what she meant or what was happening, especially in his groggy state. "We have kids?"

"Geez, just, I'll be downstairs." She said, blushing madly at his words before scurrying off to the kitchen.

"We have kids?" He said again, more to himself this time. He shook his head in an attempt to gain some sense as he awakened more. "What kids?" He opted to quickly get up and wash his face before heading downstairs, kids not being part of his itinerary for today.

As he reached the kitchen he saw Fumi zooming across the kitchen. She put water to boil, she grabbed meatballs from the freezer, she put a big box of noodles on the counter, she was pulling out a box of juices from a small closet, she was doing everything.

".....need a hand?" He asked, almost a little nervous to even ask since she was working so quickly.

"Yeah! Could you put these juices in the fridge please? Soda would've been cheaper but if Hana gets soda she won't sleep for the night."

"Sure." He said before filling up the fridge with a mix of apple juice and grape juice mini bottles. "So, who's kids are coming?"

"Oh! Uh, just kids around the area, they usually come for dinner and a place to sleep on Saturdays."

"A place to sleep? They're homeless?"

She stopped in her tracks at his words. Unsure how to exactly answer him. "Not all of them. Some just need a safe place once a week. To wash clothes, get help on homework, sit down to enjoy a meal, stuff like that." She checked on the pot of water, adding the noodles as she saw the pot begin to boil. She also had a small pot of vegetables boiling. When the vegetables were done she poured them into a blender before having the blended veggies added into the spaghetti sauce. Dabi eyed her, a brow of his lift in question at her actions.

"They don't get a lot of nutrients so I add some stuff to their food. Don't judge me." She said she pointed at him with the spoon. He put his hands up in surrender, knowing she did it for  the kids for a good reason.

In a moment the doorbell rang just as the food was done. She hurried over and opened the door. Dabi hid in the kitchen, thinking the kids would be spooked at seeing him.

"Hi Ms. Fumi!" They all said as they marched in and dumped their belonging in the living room.

"Hi guys!" She said with a smile. There were five children: the eldest was Yuichiro, then Maki, Yuki, Yuka, and Hana. The oldest of the gang was 13, Maki was ten, Yuki was 9, Yuka was 7, and little Hana was 4. Yuichiro was the leader of the gang so he spoke first.

"So what's for tonight Fumi?"

"It's Ms. Fumi to you kiddo. And first is laundry. Everybody! Uniforms and such in the basket!"

Everyone hurried to unzip their backpacks or grab their plastic bags and empty the clothes into a basket left out for them.

"Also! I have a guest in this house. He's going to be my roommate for some time so you guys are gonna keep seeing him."