With me?

Yuhi's eyes widened at those words, and Sumire quickly realized what she had just said. Sumire felt her cheeks burn, and she drew away from him as she repeated what she had just said. What on earth is she saying? Make another? The one who has to go through childbirth is her-

"With me?" Sumire had to ask despite knowing that he had no other women.

"Well yeah." Yuhi rubbed the back of his neck. "This is a surprise, Miss Sumire; you know the process of making children is, right?"

"D-don't say it!"

"You're the one who started it."

Even if she did, it was on impulse, and now she felt very embarrassed.

"You two enough flirting, I forgot to mention this, but your daughter looked sick. I am surprised to see her standing." Makino called out/

Right Lila-chan's condition! She sensed that it was getting worse, so she returned. Yuhi grabbed hold of her hand.

Sumire sweat fell. "Uh Yuhi-san?"

"Were you serious? Even if you said it on an impulse. We already have Kyoko, Satomi, Lila, William, Hoshiko. With four kids, I thought you wouldn't want any anymore. It is not like we are getting any younger either, but if you want-"

Sumire sensed his serious tone and coughed lightly. She turned to him. "Didn't you say it before? You said you wanted to have loads of children to fill a house filled with laughter. Do-don't break your promise."

Yuhi laughed. "That's true. Then," He gently kissed her forehead. "When this is all over, let's go on a trip together and work on it."

"Hooligan."

...

It was past midnight when they finally reached the base. Lila-chan was fast asleep already. Karashima-kun was with her moments ago, but he quickly left to give them some privacy. Her gaze fell on her daughter, who was fast asleep; despite the limited light source in the room, Sumire could see how pale her daughter's complexion was.

'I truly didn't want any of them to suffer; the generation after mine should have been peaceful. Why did it end up like this? Why did we all work so hard back then if it would end up this way?'

But it is silly having such regrets now; all she can do is focus on the present.

Sumire stroked Lila's cheek, and a bright light appeared in her hand. All she can do now is slowly slow down what is eating at her organs and at her existence.

No matter how powerful she is, she cannot remove this. Even though she has strength, this is all she can do.

"Lila-chan, right now, what I want the most is to hold you in my arms like I did when you were a child." Her gaze softened at the memory. "You were such a cute child. I used to joke about with Ren about how maybe I picked up the wrong child. How is it possible for me to give birth to such a lovely and intelligent child? But I truly accepted it when you got mad for the first time. You resemble your father when you get mad; he is like a huge pouty lion."

She loves all of her children equally, but Lila-chan's birth happened under strange circumstances. So perhaps she felt closer to this child than the rest.

"I love you so much." Sumire trailed off. "When this ends, I hope you can be happy with the one you love."

Her thoughts broke off when Lila-chan opened her eyes; the girl reached over and pulled her down to hug her despite her weak appearance.

"I am already happy. Even though the world has turned upside down, I can still smile. The people I love are right beside me. We may not all be together right now, but they are still alive. For me, that is already enough."

"Then is there anything you want?"

"I would be happier if you were happy. Mom, please do not blame yourself. You have already worked hard. It is okay; just leave this to us. We won't let you down."

Sumire felt the tears well up in her eyes, and she pulled away.

"You're still a crybaby." Lila passed her a tissue.

"B--but Lila-chan, your so mature! Makino-chan is right. Are you really my kid? Neither your father nor I am like this. Yuhi-san especially-" Her sentence fell short when somebody lifted her up and placed kisses on her neck.

"Y-yuhi-san not now!" Sumire exclaimed, embarrassed.

What is he doing when their daughter is right there?

Yuhi rolled his eyes. "This is your punishment for badmouthing me."

Sumire looked at him horrified and briefly looked over at Lila. To her surprise, her daughter looked at them with sparkly eyes.

"Mom, am I going to get a new sibling soon?"

H-huh?!!

"I mean if I think about how long you and father traveled alone together. It should be enough time to make another."

"Right? Even your mother said she wanted to make some."

"I knew it!"

Sumire felt very embarrassed. What on earth are these two talking about? Why are they the ones making plans! She is the one who has to give birth.

She hit the two across the head with a paper fan and coughed. "Ahem, you two, there are more important things to discuss."

"But I want another brother!" Lila sounded so wronged.

"Don't worry, Lila, your mother behaves that way, but later on, she will ask for-"

A dark aura surrounded her, and she harshly glared at her husband. "Yuhi-san? What were you about to say?"

"Uh nothing." Yuhi coughed. "Right, didn't we come here to check on Lila? Lila say ah." Yuhi bought out a thermometer and frowned.

"Is it bad?"

"If we weren't hangouts, you would be dead already." He extended it towards her, and Sumire saw the large forty-four sign. "Even this for us is pushing it."

Her gaze dimmed when she saw that number. This is no normal fever, then. "Do you see signs of your body disappearing?" Sumire asked her daughter.

Lila slowly nodded. "The other day, when I was about to hold Haruka's hand, my hand disappeared for a moment. It frightened me, but I acted normal enough, so I don't think Haruka noticed."

"It re-appeared?"

"It did, but those few seconds frightened me. M-mommy," Lila looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Am I going to die and leave not even a single trace behind? I wanted my body to be preserved at least-"

Sumire cut her daughter off and hugged her tightly. "Oh you silly child. How can you accept death? You still have a future with Haruka-kun, remember?"