Impossible

She gasped, wrenching herself free from Jeremy's arms so fast it nearly made him laugh.

Scrambling, she grabbed a glass, pouring herself some juice with forced casualness, then reached for a sandwich, biting into it as if she had been eating this entire time.

Jeremy, ever the troublemaker, mirrored her movements with exaggerated amusement picking up his own sandwich, pouring himself a drink, his smirk never fading.

Sophia shot him a glare.

Must he always copy me?!

Jeremy chuckled, his laughter deep and rich, clearly enjoying himself. He leaned in closer, his presence warm and teasing.

With a low, seductive whisper, he murmured against her ear, "What else am I supposed to do, hm? Our little daughter is almost here, and I have no choice but to comply with you, Snugglebug."

Sophia nearly choked on her sandwich.

Before she could recover, Jeremy leaned in again, his smirk still teasing, his gaze locked onto hers with playful intensity. Before she could react, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, lingering just enough to make her heart stutter. Then, without a word, he turned away, strolling toward the window.

The golden sunlight streamed through the glass, casting a warm glow across the room. He welcomed it, his silhouette sharp against the radiance, effortlessly captivating. With one arm casually tucked into his pocket and the other holding his sandwich between his fingers, he exuded an air of composed mischief completely unbothered, as if he hadn't just been wreaking havoc on her sanity moments ago.

Sophia, still trying to regain her composure, narrowed her eyes at him but held her tongue.

Before she could retaliate, footsteps echoed from the hallway.

Lisa.

Jeremy took a deep breath, clearly hoping their daughter hadn't picked up on the tension that had been thick in the air just moments ago.

But as Lisa stepped inside, her sharp eyes widened slightly in surprise.

Instead of their usual banter, heated debates, or teasing back-and-forths, her parents were simply… sipping juice and eating sandwiches?

Her gaze darted between them, filled with suspicion.

"Mom? Dad?" Lisa hesitated, her voice careful, studying the scene before her. "Is everything… alright?"

Sophia nearly choked on her drink but quickly masked it with a composed smile. She set her glass down with practiced ease before walking toward her daughter, her expression soft and reassuring.

Bending slightly, she wrapped her arms around Lisa's shoulders, her embrace warm, her voice measured. "Yes, dear. Everything is fine. Your father and I were just having a discussion about your brother," she said in a calm, practiced tone.

Too calm.

Too practiced.

Lisa's instincts razor-sharp, just like her father's prickled with unease. Something about her mother's voice didn't sit quite right.

She studied her mother's face, searching for cracks in the act. Her father, still leaning by the window, merely raised an eyebrow, taking a slow, deliberate bite of his sandwich as if this was the most natural scene in the world.

Yeah, right.

Something definitely happened before I walked in.

But she pushed that thought aside for now.

Taking a deep breath, she shifted her focus to the real reason she was here.

"Mom, Dad," Lisa started, her expression turning serious. "There's something you both need to see."

Sophia exchanged a glance with Jeremy, sensing the weight in their daughter's tone.

Jeremy, who had been casually enjoying his sandwich, finally straightened, interest flickering in his sharp blue eyes.

"What is it, princess?" he asked.

Lisa hesitated for a brief moment before continuing.

"It's about… well, I think you should see it for yourselves."

Her words hung in the air, heavy with mystery.

And just like that, whatever playful tension had existed between Jeremy and Sophia a moment ago faded into something else entirely.

Something deeper.

Something uncertain.

Jeremy set down his half-eaten sandwich. Sophia instinctively reached for Lisa's hand.

The air shifted.

This wasn't just some trivial matter.

Something was coming.

And they had no idea what it was.

★★★

Lisa explained everything on the way, her words tumbling over one another in urgency. But even as she spoke, her parents exchanged skeptical glances, their expressions unreadable.

That skepticism shattered the moment they stepped inside and saw the drawing.

Sophia and Jeremy froze, their gazes locking onto the image before them an intricate, eerily lifelike depiction of something that should not have been possible.

Their breath hitched, disbelieving yet unable to deny what lay before them.

And then…

There was Yatami.

The android's luminous eyes flickered, scanning their expressions with precision. His synthetic mind raced with calculations, questions forming at an inhuman speed.

Would they understand?

Would they grasp the weight of what they had just seen?

Silence stretched between them, thick with the unspoken.

Sophia was the first to break it.

Her breath was shallow, her fingers tightening at her sides. Slowly, she stepped closer, her gaze cutting through Yatami as though trying to unravel the impossible.

"This…" she whispered, her voice trembling between awe and disbelief. "This is impossible."

Her mind reeled, grasping for logic, for an explanation that didn't exist.

"How did you…?" Her voice wavered as she took in the depth, the precision of the soul embedded within the drawing. Her pulse quickened. "What else can you do?"

Jeremy, however, was already thinking ahead, his sharp blue eyes brimming with something different.

Not fear. Not confusion.

Curiosity.

A grin, small yet charged with unspoken possibilities, tugged at his lips. His fingers grazed the edge of the paper, as if touching it would make it more real.

"This changes everything," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.

Yatami observed them both, analyzing every shift in their expressions, every unsteady breath. He could hear the accelerated rhythm of Lisa's heartbeat, the way her eyes flickered between excitement and apprehension.

Would they finally see?

Would they finally understand what he truly was?

Lisa's hands clenched into fists.

She had waited for this moment. I'm afraid of it. I Hope so.

Now, the air crackled with anticipation.

A revelation had begun.

And Yatami was about to pull them even deeper into a truth that could change everything they thought they knew.