Nikawa Family Values

"Hey Mom? Can I ask you a question?"

A monotone voice appears behind the dark haired brunette who is currently browsing through the dull TV channels. In the corner of her eyes, she sees her youngest son standing at the end of the couch. A warm spot in her chest appears once she gets a good look at her own child and honestly..she has missed him dearly.

It's been a while since she has any of her three children to come visit her. Granted, they are now adults and have their own life but after the death of her cousin Yuki, life seems a bit gray in her eyes. Though Yumi is quite grateful that Yuki's former lover and her former classmate Korekiyo checks in on her every other day, it's just not the same.

It was only a few days ago when Tadaaki, the "sane" child who has some type of "touch phobia", popped up with a phone call and asking Yumi if he could spend a few days with her. A few days of bliss.. oh how she missed those times.

"What is it, sweetie?" Yumi softly replies. She leaves her TV alone after turning down the volume to a mute and places the remote to the side table. Tadaaki shuffles over to the front of the couch and sits down next to her, giving some distance between them. Of course..typical Tadaaki.

Tadaaki grows quiet as he visually goes into a deep thought. Scrunching up his face a little as if he's doubting something in his head. Yumi notices this and immediately gets worried. Tadaaki never shows too much emotion or even hesitation. "Tadaaki..? Is something wrong?" Yumi asks in a concern tone.

"I uh.. I'm sorry if..this is going too far with.. anything. Or it's a uncomfortable subject but..." He takes a deep breath and then exhales.

"..Was Dad a good man?"

This shook Yumi to her core. It's been a little over a decade now since her husband was suddenly "murdered". At the time, things were a bit unstable between the couple to the point divorce was brought up on multiple occasions. In fact..it was pretty much 100% a thing towards the end. But despite all the rough times..she did love him. He was her first and only love.

"What do you mean?" Yumi finally replied. "Well.. was he good to you?"

Well that's a question to ask to your mother. Yumi's dark brown eyes drooped down to the soft carpet as she begins to lightly rubs her arm. Old habits die hard she guesses.

"At times. But where did this come from, Tadaaki?" Yumi glances over at her son. His similar colored eyes met with hers and then drooped down to the beige couch who has seen better days. "I was thinking the other day the times you two used to fight.. Mainly that one time you guys woke us all up one morning.. Uncle Yuki had to calm down Riku and Hanako while you were crying in the bathroom.."

Memories flew back into her mind. Those memories that she tried to keep buried. It was a long time ago and the fight was quite ridiculous since she did nothing wrong..in her eyes. Guilt also washes into her as she remembers how Yuki had to settle things down with Yumi's children and her husband who acted pretty childish for a while until he finally apologized.

"Ah.. well that was his fault for overreacting about...something you shouldn't really know about." Tadaaki gives her a confused look but lets her continue. "But.. to be honest that wasn't the only thing he did.. the fighting I mean." Yumi pauses for a moment, feeling a bit unsure if she should even talk about this to her own son. Granted yes, he is an adult now and he has some rights to know about..some things that have been locked away but then again... this is his own father she's talking about. She doesn't want Tadaaki to see him in a different negative way.

While she's in her thoughts, Tadaaki realizes her struggle and frankly he expected that. Tadaaki knows how hard it is for his mom to talk about his dad. Yumi usually ignores it all together or if you catch her in a bad mood, she'll lash out at whoever asked and then she'll give a half-assed apology.

"You don't have to tell me, mom. If it makes you that uncomfortable then--" "No no I..." Yumi inhales deeply then exhales. "I think..I should tell you about this. And only you since your brother and sister wouldn't really care about it anyway.."

For some reason, that made Tadaaki's heart drop a little. Of course his siblings would care.. but he stays silent and lets her talk.

"..You're father was... Not always good. Not always faithful too. He was in a struggle with is sexuality a lot and yes, I understand that's really hard but it makes me question why he really..stayed with him until the end. There were times.. actually many..many many many times he flirted with others. Hell, at one point he flirted with a girl from our school! I noticed he was really struggling after you kids were born. Sometime when you guys were in elementary actually. Yuki saw him hanging out with this guy for a while and he thought your dad was getting a bit too... attached. I'm not too sure what happened after that since I've tried to bury those memories deep inside but...Honestly.."

Yumi's voice starts to tremble a bit as she sinks down into the worn out couch. Small baby tears threaten to spill down her aged cheeks. "Honestly.. I don't he really loved me after a while.."

Yumi never wanted to admit to it. She never wanted to say it out loud.. but she knew deep down that this was the truth. Out of everything they had gone through together she still loved him in her own weird way. Though she has buried so many memories deep down into an abyss in her own mind, she thinks on the good ones and how happy they were together. How happy she was.. With her rough childhood and suicidal tendencies, she finally has some sort of happiness in her life once he came around.

The dark haired brunette fails to realize that her face is now fully wet as she drifts off into her thoughts, which is leaving Tadaaki quite speechless. The black haired male is unsure how to handle this situation but feels obligated to do something since one; he did bring this subject up and two; it's his own mother. But before Tadaaki could even do anything, Yumi snaps back into reality.

"Ah..sorry I didn't realize I was crying..!" She tries to laugh it off as she wipes her tears with her dark gray sleeve. Yumi awkwardly straightens up her position on the couch as she tries to gather some composure. After a moment has passed, she glances over to her still stunned son and gives him a small smile.

"Despite what your father felt about me.. I know a hundred percent that he loved you guys to the moon and back."

Tadaaki stares at his mother's smile, knowing the familiar facade. That's the same smile she used after his death.. A dull but honest smile. It broke his heart when he saw it for the first time..

Taking a small deep breath, Tadaaki moves over towards Yumi, closing the large gap between them. Despite the questioning look his mother gives him, he carefully wraps his clothed arms around his mothers thin figure and brings her close while resting his chin on her shoulder. In complete shock, Yumi holds her arms out to the side, unsure what to do with them. Hell she doesn't know what to do period! Her son with a touch phobia is hugging her!

After a few moments passed, Yumi gets the courage to carefully rest her arms and hands on Tadaaki's back. They both remain silent after while until Tadaaki quickly slips away and gets up to his feet, mentally shaking the feeling he has after getting touched by someone.

"I'm gonna make dinner tonight. Taco soup sounds good?" Tadaaki casually asks. Yumi just lightly nods her head and watches her son leave the room, heading to the kitchen.

The dark hair brunette stares at the wall for a moment until tears fall down her face once again as she brings her hand to her mouth, covering it as if she witnessed something truly..special. In fact she did..

Out of all the hard times she has gone though and still goes through. The memories, her scars and relationships. Her happiness is still at large and a big part of it is currently in the kitchen making dinner for them both. The world seems less dull today and that's something she can get quite used to.