geri_chan | FIC: Daiki, Part 19b (of 22)

Title: Daiki, Part 19b (of 22)
Rating: R overall, but mostly PG-13
Pairing: Leon/D
Word count: ~5,110
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Matsuri Akino and Yumiko Kawahara. No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Sequel to: This can be considered a continuation of my earlier series of stories (Revenge, The Day After, Spirits, Blodeuedd), but it can stand on its own as my version of what happens after Book 10.

Thanks to: Spare from the Petshop discussion group on Yahoo, who planted the plot bunny in my head about the Dolls shopkeeper being Leon and D's child! ^_^

Summary: A crossover between Petshop of Horrors by Matsuri Akino and Dolls by Yumiko Kawahara. Joshua and Mel deliver Moon Blossom to Reynard's mansion, but have second thoughts.

Part 1a, Part 1b, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15a, Part 15b, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19a

***

Back at Reynard's mansion, everyone--including Reynard and the butler--acted as if the extortion attempt with the fake seedling had never happened. The Spencers were treated like elegant guests, and as long as they did not try to leave the mansion, they were free do whatever they wanted. There were servants to wait on their every need: maids to clean their rooms and bring them gourmet delicacies cooked by Reynard's personal chef, and even handsome young masseuses that were sent in response to a request that Mel had only jokingly made.

"Hey, little brother," Mel sighed blissfully as she received a massage from her favorite masseuse, a good-looking blond man who acted as though his job was pure pleasure instead of work. Maybe that was all part of the job, to flatter the customer--or maybe it was real. After all, being paid to massage a beautiful woman was hardly an onerous task. "I've got to confess...life here is heavenly."

"Glad to hear it," Joshua said. At least one of them was enjoying themselves. Then he reluctantly had to admit that wasn't entirely true; he and Moon Blossom were enjoying themselves, too, in a manner of speaking. Gifts arrived daily for Moon Blossom--expensive toys, delicate porcelain tea cups, beautiful dresses made of silk and lace, and sugar cookies so light and sweet that they seemed to melt in your mouth. Even Mel, in spite of her disparaging remarks about dolls, enjoyed dressing up Moon Blossom in her new outfits.

As for Moon Blossom, she seemed to thrive in this environment, because she grew more beautiful with each passing day. Joshua wondered if it was his imagination or if there was a hint of sadness beginning to appear in her expression. His days with Moon Blossom were so peaceful that sometimes he almost felt thankful towards his employer, but then he would remember that these days were only meant to increase the sadness and pain he would feel at the moment he lost her.

***

A few days later, a handsome blond man turned up at the Plant Dolls shop while Daiki and Raphael were having tea.

"Good afternoon," Daiki said, rising to greet his guest with a bow. "How may I be of service to you? We have many fine dolls that may appeal to you..."

"Oh, sorry, I'm not a customer," the man said hastily. He held out an envelope to Daiki. "I have a message for you from Miss Melanie Spencer."

"Oh?" Daiki said, raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise. "Hmm..." he said thoughtfully as he opened the envelope and read the letter inside. Raphael hurried over and tried to read over his shoulder.

"I was told to wait for a reply, sir," the blond man said.

"Of course," Daiki replied. "I shall write one immediately." He wrote a message on one of the placards that he used for store receipts, then put it into a blank envelope, sealed it, and handed it to the man. "Please take that to Miss Spencer, and thank you very much for your trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all," the man laughed, a silly, lovestruck smile spreading across his face. "I'm happy to do this favor for Miss Spencer. Only...please don't tell anyone that I was here. I'd be fired if Mr. Reynard found out I was carrying messages for Mel...I mean, Miss Spencer."

"My lips are sealed," Daiki said with a wink, laying a finger across his lips. The blond man nodded and returned the wink, then left the shop with the envelope in his pocket.

"So perhaps young Mr. Spencer will turn out to be a prince, after all?" Raphael asked with a grin.

"Perhaps," Daiki replied. "It remains to be seen. It was Miss Spencer who sent the note, after all, not her brother. But still, it gives me hope."

***

When Mel and Joshua behaved themselves and made no further attempts to escape, the restrictions were relaxed further, and Joshua and Moon Blossom were allowed to go outside and play in the garden, although he noticed that there was always a guard watching them from a discreet distance. He tried to ignore the guard and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air as Moon Blossom played with her latest gift, a set of child's toy blocks. He was helping her stack them up into little towers when he heard a familiar voice say, "Is there anything at all that you lack?"

Joshua jumped with a start, knocking over the blocks, and Moon Blossom quickly ducked behind him as Reynard approached, smiling at them pleasantly. "You don't need to be on guard," the billionaire said. "You seem to be an exceptional caregiver."

"I can't help but think of it every day," Joshua said, giving his employer an accusing glare.

"I, too, wonder every day when your sister will strangle me in my sleep," Reynard chuckled, then his expression suddenly turned serious. "On the night of the next full moon, I would like to plant the tiara."

Joshua suddenly found it hard to breathe. "Then...does that mean..." he gasped breathlessly. "Is it sprouting somewhere right now?"

"I won't tell you that," Reynard said matter-of-factly, without any reproach in his voice. "I don't trust you enough."

"No...I was just wondering," Joshua said hesitantly, "how long it, you know, takes to grow."

"From the time it takes root on the host until the flower blooms, it's...well...just a few days," Reynard replied. "During that time, I would like you to be even more attentive to Moon Blossom than before. That kind of environment is more important than anything else."

Just...a few days? Joshua thought, his heart filled with anguish. For some reason he had thought that the tiara would take much longer to grow--weeks, maybe even months--giving him more precious time to spend with Moon Blossom before she wilted. But this meant that once the tiara was planted, he would have only a few short days left with her...

"You probably think that I am a cruel human being," Reynard said quietly, looking more somber than Joshua had ever seen him before. "That is fine. However, this is what I believe: within the Plant Doll, there is a yearning to be more beautiful. A yearning so fundamental that it comes from a much deeper place than mere desire. I believe this yearning is sublimated through the union with the tiara. Human beings also possess that willingness to throw everything away just for that one moment. The beauty in the Plant Doll in the moment that the tiara blooms...looks to me like an expression of ecstasy."

Joshua stared at him, wondering if that could really be true, or if this was a line that Reynard was feeding him in order to keep him from attempting to escape again. But the quiet passion in the man's voice was unmistakable. Whether or not the Plant Dolls were actually willing to sacrifice their lives for a moment of ecstatic beauty, Reynard clearly believed that it was true.

"I had forgotten to mention this earlier, but...the Plant Doll in that video was also named Moon Blossom. Very symbolic, is it not? The moon's beauty does not come from its own light. The moon needs the beauty of another to increase its glowing radiance. So when a doll with that name forms a union with the tiara...it is fate, don't you think?"

***

"Ugh, I can just see that loser prattling on like that, trying to be all poetic," Mel said disgustedly when Joshua told her of his conversation with Reynard. "It pisses me off! He's the one who was ready to blast the brains out of Moon Blossom! I'll show him, just you watch. It's coming this full moon, right?"

"Sis...?" Joshua asked nervously, wondering what Mel had up her sleeve this time.

"Heh heh," she chuckled in an evil voice, and Joshua wondered if Reynard ought to be seriously concerned about Mel strangling him in his sleep. "Do you think I've just been playing around? I've been laying my traps. I found out..." She paused for dramatic effect. "...how to destroy the tiara."

Joshua gaped at her, openmouthed with shock. "What?" he gasped.

"I sent out a messenger to that guy at the Plant Dolls shop," she said with a coy smile. "I did it by charming one of the young guys." She held up one of the fancy gold-trimmed placards from the store. "See? It's his reply." She smirked as she fanned herself with the placard. "That thing grows solely to produce a flower. The flower blooms from the tip of a long, thin stalk. So all we have to do is cut that stalk off. Apparently the rest will just wither and wilt away. But he said that once it takes root, it grows quickly. That's why you have to cut it off completely when it's still small, right after it's planted. Then, what little roots there are will dissolve inside the body of the Plant Doll. He says there won't even be a trace left. If we'd known it was so simple, we wouldn't have agonized so much. We'll wait for him to take his eyes off of her, and it'll all be over in three seconds. I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

Joshua just sat there in a daze. He knew he ought to be happy, but he kept thinking about what Reynard had said, about the doll wanting to become more beautiful. If Moon Blossom truly wanted to wear the tiara, did he have a right to stop her, even to save her life? He looked over at Moon Blossom, who was napping on a pile of soft cushions, her arms wrapped around one of her favorite toys, a stuffed plush bunny. She seemed to be content with the situation here; she showed no signs of being frightened or wanting to run away. She always hid behind him whenever Reynard was near, but somehow he got the feeling that it was more out of dislike than actual fear. Even after he'd held a gun to her head, she didn't truly seem to be scared of him.

Of course, maybe that was because she didn't understand what Reynard intended to do to her, but Joshua had the sense that she did--what else could account for that subtle air of sadness that she had recently developed? And yet she made no protest about it. Moon Blossom wasn't able to speak, but she had no problem making her feelings clear when she didn't want to do something. She would stubbornly shake her head and refuse to drink her milk if it was too cold, and she would make it quite clear with her expression and gestures when she wanted--or didn't want--to wear a particular outfit. "Such a little prima donna," Mel would say affectionately at those times. So if Moon Blossom really wanted to run away from the mansion, if she really didn't want to be planted with the tiara, then she'd find a way to let him know...right?

And he also kept thinking of his conversation with Reynard in the garden, and the passion in his voice when he had spoken of how the dolls wished to be beautiful. He felt as if it was the first time that the billionaire had dropped his smiling mask and allowed his true emotions to show. And although it was crazy, he felt guilt over the thought of destroying Reynard's long-cherished dream of seeing the Tiara of Melancholy.

"We can't," Joshua said quietly.

"That's right," Mel laughed, not really hearing him. "For that one moment, we've endured countless humiliations..." Then his words belatedly sunk in and she did a double-take. "What?"

"We can't do that," Joshua repeated.

"If it's the contract, you don't have to worry about that," Mel said.

"It's not that," Joshua said.

"Just leave it to me," Mel urged. "I'll work things out, I promise."

"That's not it," Joshua told her. "We just can't. I think that the tiara means even more to that man than Moon Blossom does to me. It's something so very precious..."

"What are you saying?!" Mel shouted. "That man is sacrificing something that is really precious to you! Or are you saying that it's okay to let Moon Blossom become plant food for the tiara?!"

"That's not it," Joshua protested.

"Then what is it?!" Mel snapped.

"I think..." Joshua said, his voice trailing off. He looked at the sleeping Moon Blossom, took a deep breath, and made his decision, for good or for ill. "I want to see it. I want to see the blue tiara on Moon Blossom."

His sister stared at him in shock. "Are you serious?" she asked.

Joshua thought about what Reynard had said about the Plant Doll yearning to be more beautiful. "A yearning so fundamental that it comes from a much deeper place than mere desire," he murmured, echoing Reynard's words.

"Huh?" Mel asked.

"I want to see Moon Blossom at her most beautiful," Joshua whispered, more to himself than to Mel. "Somehow, I feel as if I have been waiting for this for a long time. It may be too sentimental a word, but I feel as if this is...fate."

***

The full moon arrived not long after that, and Reynard placed the seedling on Moon Blossom's head while a camera crew filmed the proceedings for posterity. As soon as it settled on the Plant Doll's head, the tiara immediately began sprouting little buds and leaves.

"My, how cute," Mel said, reaching out to touch Moon Blossom's head. "It really is a tiara." One of the cameramen gently but firmly pushed her out of the way, and she protested, "What! I'm not going to pluck it or anything."

"It's just that we're in the middle of recording a video," the cameraman said politely.

Mel fumed, but obediently watched from a short distance, out of camera range. "Her expression has matured a lot," she observed.

"It's all due to your brother's amazing caregiving," Reynard said, smiling as proudly as if he had been the one to raise Moon Blossom. When the crew was done taping, he walked away, whistling cheerfully. As for Moon Blossom, she looked unperturbed by all the fuss, and raised her arms, urging Joshua to pick her up.

"It aggravates me to see that man looking so happy," Mel muttered to her brother. "There's still time. I have a pair of scissors hidden on me." Joshua hesitated, and Mel smiled and said in a singsong voice, "I can see right through you, little brother. You're starting to regret this."

Joshua smiled as he cradled Moon Blossom in his arms. "I'm okay, Sis. But thanks."

Mel pouted and pinched his cheek. "Oh no, you're growing up. That's no fun." Joshua supposed that in her own way, she meant it as a compliment.

***

As the tiara grew, Moon Blossom seemed to change along with it, carrying herself with an air of pride. Joshua hoped that meant he had made the right decision and that Moon Blossom really did want to play host to the tiara. She seemed to grow even more ethereally beautiful with each passing minute.

The changes had not gone unnoticed by Reynard, who said with satisfaction, "The blue of her eyes is growing deeper and deeper with sadness. Wonderful. I feel certain that soon I will be professing my gratitude to you."

Joshua stared at Moon Blossom with troubled eyes, suddenly unsure of his decision, but it was too late to turn back now. The tiara was already firmly rooted in her body, waiting for its awakening.

"You are an absolutely ideal caregiver," Reynard said with an almost sympathetic smile. "I can tell that you're already regretting it."

"What if...it fails?" Joshua asked slowly. "Do you ever think of that?"

"Fail...?" Reynard asked calmly. "Do you mean if the tiara does not bloom? It is a plant with a very strong desire to bloom, so it should be fine." He added with a touch of irony, as if he might have guessed at Mel's plan to cut the stalk, "As long as nothing drastic happens."

"What if...it isn't blue?" Joshua asked.

Reynard smiled and said, "That's up to fate."

"Aren't you afraid?" Joshua persisted, although he had realized by now that he was talking more about his own fears than Reynard's. "Don't you ever worry that your long-cherished dream might end in failure?"

There was a calm, serene--no, that wasn't quite right, maybe "fatalistic" was more the right word--expression on Reynard's face. "What good would it do to worry? Just as you said, I myself do not have the ability to make the tiara bloom. I can only believe in you...and your melancholy. You might be thinking that if a blue tiara does not bloom, then Moon Blossom would have been a host for naught. The thought terrifies you. Am I right?" Joshua said nothing, but the look on his face must have been reply enough, because Reynard continued, "Or perhaps the tiara won't bloom at all. Will Moon Blossom wilt even then? That I don't know, and even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. I must have you waver between hope and uncertainty. Despair is a bitter pill. It can't nourish a Plant Doll."

***

As Joshua watched the tiara grow larger, he thought of the video Reynard had shown them of the doll crowned with the coral tiara, and remembered that her gaze had kept growing more and more dreamy. His Moon Blossom, on the other hand, continued to gaze at him with those blue eyes that grew deeper by the day, as if she were trying to tell him something. It seemed to Joshua that she felt sorrow over their upcoming parting.

He remained by Moon Blossom's side day and night, watching as the tiara steadily grew larger before his eyes. He began to count the number of milk feedings left, wondering how many more times he would be able to warm it up like this.

"I would be more than happy to do that, sir," one of the maids offered as he heated the milk.

"But this is my job," Joshua said with a smile.

"But you've hardly had any rest," the girl said, looking genuinely concerned. She was young, with a kind face, and like most of the maids, had been charmed by Moon Blossom's loveliness. She wasn't charmed enough to try to help them escape, but she did treat Joshua with a kind of gentle sympathy as the time for the tiara to bloom drew near.

"There is always someone monitoring things from the video room," the maid said. "If there is any change, I will let you know, so please get a little rest." The cameras in Moon Blossom's room were discreetly hidden, but Joshua was aware of their presence. He knew that there was no way that Reynard would miss recording a moment of the tiara's transformation. And since he had no plans to escape and nothing to hide, Joshua didn't really object to the cameras.

"Thank you, but I'm fine," Joshua said. He wanted to spend as much time as he could with Moon Blossom. There would be plenty of time to rest after...his mind shied away from that thought.

The tiara had swelled into a huge bud that now looked more like a crown, and it seemed to grow a little more right before Joshua's eyes as he handed Moon Blossom her cup of milk. "Your head seems heavy," he told her. The bud was so swollen that he was sure it would flower soon. Which meant that soon Moon Blossom would exist only in the video.

He couldn't stop the tears from sliding down his face as he thought to himself, The moment the tiara blossoms...is also the moment I lose Moon Blossom. Yet for that instant, she will shine more beautifully, more radiantly than ever before. I want to see it with my own eyes. If this was what she truly wanted, as Reynard believed, if she was truly ecstatic in that moment, then perhaps that would make her sacrifice and his loss bearable.

And suddenly, the tiara began to grow faster. "This is it!" Reynard shouted, rushing into the room with his camera crew; Mel was close on their heels. The bud swelled even larger, and blue petals peeked out of it. And then, as Moon Blossom reached up to brush away Joshua's tears from his face with her hand, the bud burst open in a blaze of sapphire, and Moon Blossom's head was crowned with a gorgeous deep blue flower. Moon Blossom truly did look impossibly beautiful in that brief moment, like an angel that had flown down from heaven, but he wasn't sure that he would call her expression "ecstatic". To him, she looked serene and radiant, like the moon that was her namesake. She smiled at him, her eyes filled with complete love and trust, and she gently touched her lips to his.

And then...like a parting farewell...the tiara scattered, a shower of blue petals falling to the floor.

***

"Now I understand why they say 'phantom,'" Mel said to Reynard, as she stood in his office, waiting while he wrote out a check for the agreed-upon fee. He very generously did not even take out any deductions for their ill-fated escape attempt.

"But you did get a good recording of it, so I hope you were satisfied," Mel continued.

Reynard looked rather disgruntled, but he said, "I will honor my promise," and handed her the check.

"It's fine if you deduct the amount for the Plant Doll," Mel said sweetly.

"No, please take it," Reynard insisted. "In any case, I am satisfied that I was able to see the blue tiara."

Mel grinned at him. "Thank you! I thought you were the obsessive type, but you're actually being a good sport. Well then, I must be going. Ta-taa!"

"All of a sudden, life has become very dull," Reynard said, sighing heavily as Mel headed for the door. "Who would have thought that once a Plant Doll tasted sweet melancholy...it would mature?"

***

"Hello there!" Mel called out brightly as she walked into the Plant Dolls shop.

"Oh, it's you!" Raphael exclaimed. "We've been wondering what happened with the tiara. We got a little worried when we didn't hear back from you after Daiki sent you his message. But since you look so cheerful, everything must be okay, right?"

Joshua walked through the door, blushing and smiling sheepishly as a lovely girl who looked to be somewhere between seventeen and twenty clung to his arm, smiling radiantly at him.

"Uh...who is this?" Raphael asked, taken aback by the strange girl's presence. "What happened to Moon Blossom? Don't tell me that she wilted after all!"

He jumped a little when he heard the sound of porcelain shattering, and turned to see that Daiki had dropped his teacup on the floor. His face was pale and his golden eyes were wide with shock as he stared at Joshua and the girl. It was one of the few times that Raphael had ever seen him taken completely by surprise.

"Y-you don't understand, Raphael," Daiki stammered. "That IS Moon Blossom!"

"Huh?!" Raphael exclaimed, turning to take a closer look at the strange girl. She did have Moon Blossom's fair skin, silvery-white hair, and blue eyes, and she had the impossibly perfect beauty of a Plant Doll, but she appeared to be about a decade or so older. She could have passed for Moon Blossom's older sister.

"We just wanted to thank you for your help and show you that we didn't kill Moon Blossom after all," Mel said casually, lighting up a cigarette. "Reynard fed my little brother some crazy story about how the Plant Dolls really want to become beautiful and are willing to become hosts for the tiara in exchange for that one moment of ecstatic beauty."

"I thought it was Moon Blossom's choice," Joshua murmured, looking a little shamefaced. "But I kept going back and forth in my mind as to whether I was doing the right thing."

"Well, you're rather gullible, but maybe that man was right," Mel said indulgently. "Because even though the tiara bloomed, Moon Blossom didn't wilt. Instead, as you can see, she matured."

"I...see," Daiki said faintly. "I have seen dolls mature before, but the results are usually...unpleasant. But Moon Blossom looks just as beautiful as she did as a child, if not more so."

"So my brother is indulging in forbidden love with a doll, after all," Mel said with a sly smile. "But it's fine with me. I have a big heart. I pity that guy, though." Despite her words, Mel cackled wickedly. "He can't view his long-awaited blue tiara without also seeing that kiss scene. Man, I bet it really steams him!"

"Do you think...he's going to show it to everyone?" Joshua asked nervously, as if the idea had just occurred to him. "That scene?"

"Of course!" his sister replied. "It's so good!" Joshua's face turned even redder, but Moon Blossom seemed unconcerned, and gazed at him with her radiant, cheerful smile.

"I'm sure everyone will find it amusing," Mel said, and winked at Daiki. "They'll say it just goes to show that love is the best nourishment for a Plant Doll. Look at Moon Blossom." She was practically shimmering, her happiness giving off a near-tangible glow. "You see? Her melancholy fell off right along with the tiara. In any case, things turned out just fine. And we got a nice paycheck--no more weeding or manual labor! So first off...let's get some nourishment! Can we buy some milk for Moon Blossom?"

"Ah...yes," Daiki replied, still looking a little stunned. "However, once a Plant Doll is matured, it may eat normal human food. The only reason to feed it a diet of milk and cookies is to keep it from maturing, and it's clearly too late for that. But as she is used to consuming milk, you should probably change her diet gradually."

"Very good," Mel said cheerfully, and paid for some of the special milk formula that the Plant Dolls shop sold. "And now, we should get some nourishment for us humans, too. Can you recommend a good restaurant?" Daiki gave them directions to a nearby restaurant in Chinatown, and Mel said, "Well, thanks for all the help! We may stop by again and ask you for advice on Moon Blossom. I really don't know anything about raising a mature Plant Doll."

"My experience in that department is rather limited as well," Daiki said, smiling wryly. "But if any problems arise, I will do my best to help you. However, your brother seems to be doing fine; I cannot deny that Moon Blossom looks very healthy and happy. Continue to raise her with love, and all should be well."

Mel and Moon Blossom waved cheerily as they left the shop, while Joshua smiled sheepishly.

Daiki stared after them in silence for a long moment, then said, "Well, that was rather...unexpected."

"That's an understatement!" Raphael laughed. "But still, everything seems to have worked out okay, so I guess we can consider this a happy ending."

"I suppose so," Daiki said with a bemused smile. "I was taught by my master that it was a bad thing for a doll to mature, but it seems that is not always the case."

"She sure looks happy," Raphael agreed. "Do you think that what Reynard said was true, that the dolls actually want to be planted with the tiara?"

"I had never considered the possibility before," Daiki admitted. "But I suppose it depends on the individual doll. Like humans, they all have different personalities. A few might be vain enough to trade their normal lifespan for a moment of glorious beauty. Although I do not think that was the case with Moon Blossom...perhaps she loved Joshua so much that she wanted to look her loveliest for him, whatever the cost."

"Personally, I would have destroyed the tiara," Raphael said.

"So would I," Daiki agreed. "And yet, Moon Blossom somehow survived when I have never heard of a case where a Plant Doll did not wilt after the tiara bloomed. So perhaps it was Joshua's love that sustained her. I would not have made the same choices that he did, but there are different ways of showing one's love."

"Like that old saying, if you love something, set it free?" Raphael asked. "You could say that Joshua was too wishy-washy to save his princess, and it was just pure luck that she didn't wilt, or you could look at his actions as something noble, and say that he was willing to let Moon Blossom choose her own path, even if it meant that he would lose her forever."

"Well, Moon Blossom is happy, and that is all that really matters," Daiki said, looking serene and self-assured once more. "The choice of the owner always belongs to the Plant Doll, and Joshua Spencer is Moon Blossom's chosen, whatever his faults and virtues may be." He glanced down at the broken teacup on the floor and said briskly, "Well, shall we clean up and close the shop early? I thought we should go over to the petshop and help Papa prepare for tonight's dinner."

"Ah, right, dinner with the in-laws," Raphael said, smiling nervously. "The Count must be really excited about seeing his brother after so many years."

"Dad would say that the Count is a nervous wreck," Daiki said with a smile. "Actually, I'm sure that Tet-chan and Pon-chan have the dinner preparations well under control, but I thought I should go over and try to calm Papa down. He's been driving everyone at the shop crazy ever since he got the letter from Great-Grandfather saying they were stopping by for a visit."

"Well, he's not the only one who's nervous," Raphael said wryly. "It was bad enough having one kami in-law, and now I've got to meet two more. And I know that your great-grandpa isn't too fond of humans."

"There is nothing to fear," Daiki said, smiling warmly and reaching out to clasp his hand. "Because you are MY choice, Raphael."

Part 20a, Part 20b, Part 21, Part 22a, Part 22b

FIC: Daiki, Part 19b (of 22)

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