A Little Twist

Thirty-Nine

'What do you think of a new rhythm? Before you go to bed a nice warm bath.' Risa wraps Daiki in a yellow hooded bathrobe with duck eyes and a beak. She chuckles. 'My little ducky. It seems yellow would suit you.' With a kiss, she goes back to her bedroom where she finds Subaru.

'He hardly cries.' Subaru witnessed the ducky bathrobe on the baby. Cute. And he's looking at me. 'Do you even let him cry or not?'

She shakes no. 'If I can avoid it, I will. I mean, you all have better hearing than me. The first sound of a cry can hurt your ears, and I'm not in the mood to argue with any of you. Besides, it's not that hard to figure out what he wants. He either wants to be fed or a clean diaper.'

He swallows when he realizes she's dressed in a bathrobe as well. In a color between red and pink. It suits her, but I shouldn't be here if she's not dressed. 'I can dress him so you can get dressed.'

She just figured the same thing. 'Oh dear, I have something underneath it. I don't walk around without clothes. Any of you could teleport inside, and I want to avoid that. Thank you for offering.' It's still uncomfortable when Shu or Reiji comes inside when I feed Daiki. Even when they said that it doesn't bother them. It's not about them. It's about how I feel, I breastfeed him, and, sure, you don't see much but you know it's there.

'If there's anything you need help with.' Subaru looks at the baby and makes up his mind. 'Get dressed, I'll put him in his pajama.' He takes Daiki over and sees the baby clothes ready on the changing station. He doesn't wait for her response.

Thank you, I guess. It is strange that Kanato doesn't even help once. Or does he believe he's doing me a favor by keeping his distance? I wish he would just say it. She grabs some clothes and heads back to the bathroom to get dressed.

***

Shivering, Moriko stays away from the wall. Why is it so cold? She pulls her knees up and wraps her arms around them. Moments like these, I curse my dresses and skirts. Is that why Risa always wears long pants?

'I see you're awake.' Laito shows himself. Is she scared or is she cold?

'Is it always this cold down here?' She hears herself asking.

Cold it is. 'If I let you out, will you apologize to Risa?' He starts his interrogation with one hand on his hip and the other on his fedora.

She looks at him and slowly shakes her head. 'Right now, I can't even think straight because of the cold. Can't I warm up under the shower first? Or even a hot bath?'

'Answer me, right now. Are you going to apologize to Risa?' Laito has zero sympathy for the girl.

Ayato shows up. 'A dead girl should be dead. With everything she has done, you want to let her out of the dungeon? She won't apologize because she can't see her mistakes, Laito.'

'She's always complaining about Risa because she gets all the attention and this dead girl is jealous about it,' responds Kanato. 'I heard everything.' He turns to the girl. 'You need to apologize and fast, or I'll make a doll out of you. Laito already gave me a dress.'

'As long as we don't hear you apologize to Risa, you will stay here. Most likely until you're dead.' Ayato teleports his brothers away. 'Speaking of apologizing, when will you apologize to Risa? Ever since Daiki is born, you kept your distance, you refuse to change his diaper or help getting him dressed. What about babysitting for what... about an hour? She likes to go swimming, remember.'

'True, she lost her pregnancy pounds,' nods Laito. 'But she started swimming because of the pregnancy. But he has a point,' he gestures to Ayato. 'For how long are you going to keep your distance?'