That Time My Late Husband Was Reincarnated as an Oni

Chapter 8: Life, As It Should Be

The next day came quickly, and Hikari was awake at her usual time. She could hardly sleep during the night, worrying about Cheryl and Sherrie's well being the whole time. But she did eventually doze off, and started to brew a cup of herbal tea to help calm her nerves. As she waits for it to steep, Yua walks out of the dolls' bedroom, yawning and stretching. "Oh, good morning, Yua. You're up earlier than I thought." Hikari would greet the younger fox girl.

"Morning...~" She says with another yawn, as she kneels down next to Hikari and leans her head on her shoulder. "Do you need healing too...?" She would ask sleepily.

"No, I'm unharmed." She would reply, and notice that Yua had just fallen asleep again. This made her smile, as she just let her rest a bit more on her shoulder. An hour passes with the two kitsune still like that, and Hikari could hear the dolls walking down the hall. She turns her head back to see them in the doorframe, looking nervous. "Good morning, girls. You...do remember who I am, yes?" She greets them with a gentle smile.

Sherrie is the first to nod, as she runs into the room and hugs Hikari tightly, knocking Yua forward as her forehead hits the table. Cheryl is next, hugging Hikari from the other side. "Mother...!" The white haired doll cried softly, oily tears dripping from her glassy eyes once again.

"It's okay, girls..." Hikari would hold them both in her arms, smiling gently. "He's gone now... He can't hurt you anymore..." She comforts them both.

"Mother...who is that?" Sherrie would ask, in her usual calm voice.

"Ah. She is...a new friend I made." Hikari would answer, as Yua rises awake again. "She helped me bring you girls back. Say thank you to Lady Yua."

"Huh?" Yua turns her head, seeing the two dolls awake and well.

Both Cheryl and Sherrie stand up and step back. They bow simultaneously, and even speak at the same time. "Thank you, Lady Yua." They say together, making Yua a bit flustered.

"O-Oh, it was no problem...!" Yua would say with a blush. It seemed that while she did like to flaunt about and tease people, on the inside, she was still just a shy girl.

Hikari would smile, and pour some tea for herself and Yua. "Here, have a drink." She says, as the white haired fox takes the cup.

"Ah, thank you..." She nods and takes a sip. "Mmh...?! This is the best tea I've had...!" She says, surprised by how pleasant it was.

"Hehe." Hikari would only giggle, and smile. "Thank you. Though it is just tea." She says, getting a bit embarrassed herself.

Sherrie could read the writing on the walls, and nudges Cheryl slightly, signaling her to say something.

"Huh...? Oh! Uh, hey! You two should kiss!" Cheryl blurts out, making both kitsune turn extremely red. This prompted Sherrie to stomp on Cheryl's foot, making her stiffen up. "Ow...!!"

"What I'm sure she means is, you two should go and eat in celebration. Together. Alone. Since we do not need to eat." Sherrie corrects the situation, but that didn't stop Yua from being as red as a tomato.

"Ah, I suppose that is a good point...!" Hikari says, standing up. "Come, let me treat you to breakfast, Lady Yua. I know a wonderful place." She says.

The two women leave Hikari's home to the doll twins to take care of, as Hikari took Yua to a nice breakfast restaurant in the nearby town.

"I apologize for Cheryl. Sometimes she doesn't think when she talks." Hikari would say, eating a ball of takoyaki.

"Oh, it's okay...! I don't mind that. I was just surprised, is all." She smiles back, feeling a bit more relaxed now.

"Understandably so..." The blonde would sigh. "Oh my... You simply must try this takoyaki." She says, and holds up a ball of the food in her chopsticks.

Yua would stare for a bit, and open her mouth as Hikari guided the food into her mouth. Yua started to chew the ball of octopus, as her face went red again. "SPICY...!!!" She complains as starts grasping for her drink to wash it down.

"Hehehehe...!" Hikari would giggle at this. She's eaten at this restaurant enough times to know which of the balls was spicy, and decided to play a bit of a joke on her younger friend. "I apologize. I just couldn't help myself." She laughs softly at Yua's reactions, as she leans her cheek into her palm.

Once Yua had calmed down from the spice, she would look at Hikari smiling, and start to blush a bit from pretty she was. Yua would then shake her head, snapping out of her train of thoughts. "I-It's okay...! It was a good joke!" She smiles. "Thank you for the food, by the way. It was all delicious." She says.

"I'm glad to hear it." Hikari claps her hands together as she sits up straight in her seat. "It's the least I can do for all you've done for me so far."

"I was just...doing my job." Yua smiles a bit, taking another piece of takoyaki. As she eats, she looks over at Hikari, also taking a bite out of her food. Elegantly. As she finished up her plate, she leans in her hand now, observing Hikari.

Her gaze didn't go unnoticed, as Hikari would finish up as well, and turn her head. "Oh. You have some sauce on your cheek." She says and wipes Yua's cheek with a napkin gently.

"Hey, Miss Hikari...?" Yua asked, wondering if this would be appropriate to ask. "This might be a weird request, but..." She was about to spill it, but the words just wouldn't come out. "N-Never mind, it's not important...!" She says and stands up from her stool. "Thank you again for the food...! Bye...!" She quickly shuffled her way out of the restaurant, which confused Hikari a bit. But she didn't say anything, and just let the younger kitsune leave, not wanting to take up more of her time.

Despite everything, she had a feeling that they would meet again.