Chiasa

ch4

"We there yet?"

"Not yet."

"Mhmkay." Chi-chi had been asking the same question for the past forty minutes. Two minutes passes when she asks again.

"Oi, Mama!"

"Mhm?"

"We there yet?" Fuyumi sighs to try and calm herself down before looking at her daughter. She leans down and gives her daughter a serious look before whispering to her.

"The only way to get there is..." Fuyumi pauses for a dramatic effect.

"How mama?!" She says impatiently.

"Is if you fall asleep." Chi-chi cocks her head to the side in confusion. "If you fall asleep, the magic spell will hit the car, and then we'll be there when you wake up!" Shoto turns around to watch the scene unfold while Natsuo steals small glances from the rear view mirror, both smiling at Fuyumis attempt to keep Chi-chi quiet.

"But...me not tired." She says with a yawn.

'Oh yes you are, you little heathen!'

"Oh no. That means we'll never get to see grandma!" Fuyumi places her hands on the sides of her face to feign a look of shock while Chi-chi's eyes widen at her mums words. "And if we don't get to grandma, she'll be waiting for us forever. But we won't get to her...because Chi-chi won't go to sleep!" Fuyumi moves her glasses to dab away non existent tears. Her brothers in the front roll their eyes while trying to hold in their laughter.

Meanwhile, Chi-chi looks absolutely horrified at the news and is throwing her little blanket over herself.

"No mama! I go to sleep now, okay? Don't cry mama, I go sleep!" Fuyumi almost feels guilty, tempted to tell her she's joking, but she's honestly getting a kick out of her daughter being all frantic and dramatic, it reminds her of him. She tucks her in and places a small kiss on her forehead before she finally drifts off.

"You really did the most to make her fall asleep when we'll be there in 20 minutes," Natsuo scoffs.

"Well, sorry. Didn't realise you were in the mood to listen to her ask if we're there yet 50 more times."

"Touché," He says with a chuckle. Fuyumi looks down and sees all of Chi-chi's fingers wrapped around her index finger. The sight never failed to make her heart swell. It still brought the same feeling it did when she first held her 2 years ago. She rubs small circles on the back of her hand and looks outside the window.

Half of her feels relieved to see the familiar scenery, while the other half of her slowly breaks. Memories with him are laced everywhere she looks, the small cafes, the parks, buildings. Heck, she couldn't even look into the sky without feeling her chest tighten. It felt like she was being mocked.

"Let's pick some food up for mum, I'll pay." Shoto's voice pulls Fuyumi out of her thoughts, which she's grateful for.

"Sure, there's that small ramen place near the hospital," Natsuo replies.

Fuyumi fights the memories trying to resurface and leans back to close her eyes, in attempt to calm herself down, and eventually sleep takes over.

Due to the unideal sleeping position in the back seat, Fuyumi's nap doesn't last very long. Her eyes flutter open only to realise the car is parked, and her brothers are missing. She lifts her glasses to rub her eyes before leaning forward to look out of the windshield. She sighs in relief when she realises they're parked outside the ramen shop they were talking about earlier.

She looks over to her side and sees Chi-chi still sleeping, finger still wrapped by her tiny hand. She pulls the blanket over Ch-chi that she had the habit of kicking off in her sleep. While leaning over the car seat to pull the blanket above Chi-chi's shoulder, she hears squealing and chattering.