If Haruka closed her eyes, she could see and feel the raging inferno left in the wake of Gigantron's attack. She was back home already, but it had only been mere hours since the attack. She was not going to forget the destruction anytime soon. And there was only one thing left to do. 

As she sat on her couch, she pulled her phone out and immediately texted the one person she knew was also caught in the attack. 

Heck, he was the one fighting the Kaiju. 

Two weeks later

Things with Kenji had been somewhat strange since the night of Gigantron. Haruka texted him frequently, and by frequently, she meant once a day. Kenji would sometimes respond immediately, and other times, his reply would come in after hours. The last two games that he had played in hadn't exactly gone well. 

(They were a disaster. That was all she was going to say.)

Something was affecting his life. It had to be Ultraman...right? Then again, there hadn't been a Kaiju attack or an Ultraman sighting in the two weeks since Gigantron. Kenji probably had a lot of things on his plate. What with all his endorsements, his games and his Ultraman gig. (She needed to get that KFC discount from him.) But he'd be fine. It was Kenji after all. He'd manage things. 

Besides, Haruka had her stuff to worry about, including an upcoming commission for a horrendously picky client. At least she was getting paid a good amount. All those zeroes definitely looked good in her bank account. 

Haruka sighed as she settled on the stool before a half-painted canvas. She grabbed a paint brush, dipped in light blue acrylic paint and started adding brush strokes onto the canvas. "I swear if this guy asks for more changes, I will throw something at him."

According to the client, the blue had to be a very particular shade. And three attempts on, she had finally captured that shade. Focusing hard, Haruka kept on adding brush strokes till the ocean part of the picture was finally complete. Now to work on the cottage. Luckily that had been a straightforward sketch, no changes required. She dipped the blue covered paintbrush into the dirty water jar, and grabbed a clean brush. 

As she focused on mixing the brown and the white paints on the palette to get the right shade, she could feel her phone buzzing in her pocket. Someone was texting her. Her phone buzzed two more times. Someone was texting her urgently. Then it started ringing with the classic iPhone sound, so loud in the empty silence of her studio room. 

"Who the heck-" Haruka placed the palette on the table with all her paints, quickly wiping her hands on a semi-clean cloth she didn't quite remember putting there. She grabbed her phone and blinked. 

Kenji Sato calling!

"Oh crap!" Haruka quickly picked up the call. "Kenji, I am so sorry, I was-"

"Haru, are you free? Can you come over?" Kenji's voice was hurried, not even letting her finish her sentence. 

"I-uh.." She looked at the painting. She could finish it later. Probably. "Yeah, I'm free. I can come over. Just tell me what's going on, Kenji. Is it the-"

"Kinda, but it's hard to explain over the phone," He immediately replied. "It's better if you just see it in person."  A loud screech erupted from somewhere in the background, like the wail of a cat or a hungry baby. 

"What was that? Are you under some kind of attack? Why does it sound so-?"

"Gotta go! I'll see you soon!" 

"Kenji, wait-!"

The bastard hung up the call. 

"Damn it, Kenji, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" Haruka pinched the bridge of her nose. The worrywart in her would not let her sleep properly if she did not figure out what was going on. Time to get dressed and figure out just what she was about to be dragged into. 

*

It was nightfall by the time she arrived at Kenji's house. Actually scratch that, his mansion on a private island in the middle of the bay. The location was stunning. The last vestiges of twilight were disappearing as the night sky took over. The light in the sky was making the place look even more gorgeous. Taking a deep breath, Haruka parked her car in the stony grey area next to the driveway, which she assumed was some kind of parking spot. 

She hurried out of the car, practically running down the stone pathway. The mansion was sleek, modern and looked like something out of a magazine. Kenji was rich-rich. Even the steps leading up to the house looked like they were made from some expensive Italian marble or stone or something along those lines. 

Haruka raised a hand to press the doorbell, but before she could even do so, the door swung open. The moment Kenji spotted her, he looked so relieved. His hair was sticking up in all directions, his t-shirt was drenched in sweat and he smelled...fishy? 

"Haru! Thank god you're here," He pulled her into an abrupt hug, squeezing her a little too tight. Before she could even react, his hand enclosed around her wrist, dragging her inside. 

"Hello to you too, Kenji," Haruka responded calmly, though she was definitely worried. "Now will you tell me what's going on?"

"First things first," Kenji spun around, staring directly into her eyes. "Promise you won't freak out."

"I can't promise that without knowing what you're dragging me into. Come on, you didn't kill anyone, did you?"

"What? No!" Kenji's grip on her arm loosened a little bit. "Look, it might be a little dangerous, but you promised me a favour and I am calling that in. Please, I need your help here, Haru."

"Okay, okay!" Haruka replied. "Just take me wherever you're taking me. I trust you." 

He nodded. They walked towards a large, circular glass elevator, that looked like it led towards the basement. If there was any. What high-tech hideout had she walked into? The elevator only further solidified that Kenji was loaded. Only a rich person would have this fancy an elevator in their fancy-ass mansion. 

Letting go of her hand, Kenji faced her, eyebrows knitted together with worry. As the elevator began its descent, he said, "It might be a bit much, but please don't freak out or scream. Nothing's gonna happen."

"Now you're scaring me," Haruka exhaled. "But I'm not the type to freak out. So trust me, I won't do..."

The elevator stopped, the circular doorway opening way to a large underground, futuristic looking cave. It was surprisingly empty. One side of the cave was a wall that was covered in a car collection, another side looked like it was a sitting area of some kind, with comfy looked couches and shelves that were lined with trophies and certificates. And in the center of it all...

"Oh. My. God."

Haruka turned to look at Kenji, then she looked back, hoping she wasn't seeing things. "Is that-"

"Yup."

"A baby-"

"Uh huh."

Surely this was a dream. Some kind of strange dream in which she was standing in the middle of the basement of her rich childhood friend's mansion, staring down at a giant pink baby Kaiju, kept in some sort of cylindrical unit for containment. Haruka blinked. This was not possible. This shouldn't be possible. This cannot be possible. What the actual f-

"Kenji!" Haruka was going to freak out. She was going to freak the fuck out. "That's a baby Kaiju! Why do you have a baby Kaiju in your basement?! Is it dangerous? It won't eat me, right? Right?!"

"She won't," Kenji responded, grabbing onto her shoulders. "I promise I'll protect you. Trust me, please will you-"

The pink baby Kaiju stirred and scanned her surroundings. Upon spotting Kenji, she let out a delighted screech and started jumping up and down in her containment unit. But then the baby's gaze fell on Haruka, and she stopped jumping. Instead, the Kaiju looked like she was about to cry.

Exactly that happened.

The baby Kaiju exploded into massive sobs, the sound loud and grating. "Mina!" Kenji called out loudly. "Can you calm her down please?!"

"Mina? You mean, that AI your parents-" Haruka started to say, when a white metallic orb floated down in front of them. Divided in two halves by a blinking blue light, Mina the AI looked nothing like the one she remembered from when they were young.

"I can try, Ken, but Miss Miura's presence is new and frightening for her," Mina even sounded more human. Then again, she sounded pretty human back then too. 

"So this is why you called me," Haruka expressed. Part of her was freaking out. But part of her was also strangely curious. "Have you been looking after this Kaiju, Kenji? Doesn't that go against you being Ultraman or something?"

"How are you not freaking out, Haru?" Kenji looked amazed. The baby Kaiju was still crying and stomping her feet, her thuds echoing in the vastness of this basement cave. 

"Oh, I am freaking out. Trust me, I am. But I am not going to do that when the baby Kaiju is bawling. I freak out, she's gonna freak out more." Haruka paused, looking at the baby thoughtfully. She was much smaller than the other Kaiju that tended to attack Tokyo, but still quite large. "How old is the baby?"

"Two weeks," Mina responded. "Ken brought her home after the fight with Gigantron."

"She's a newborn?!" Haruka spun around. "Forget just having a baby Kaiju. You have a newborn baby Kaiju in your basement?? Kenji, dude, seriously, what were you thinking?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna leave her in the middle of the ocean," Kenji responded. 

Before he could say anything more, the baby Kaiju's eyes cries seemed to grow louder and louder. Haruka stared at the crying baby, thinking. She had picked up a few odd jobs babysitting when she was in college. And she had babysat both toddlers and newborns, so this would be somewhat easy. Except human babies weren't twenty feet tall or could accidentally kill you by stomping on you. 

"Alright. Let me work my magic." 

Haruka strode over to the containment unit, standing only a few feet away. From this close, the baby looked even taller. As the pink Kaiju looked at her, it seemed to cry even more. Remember, babies know when you freak out. Stay calm. Stay calm. Haruka slowly edged closer as the baby's cries got louder. And now!

She whistled. 

That was Haruka's hidden talent. It was just a glorified party trick, but she could whistle any song she had heard more than three times. It was a silly thing but that had worked wonders with the kids she had babysat. 

It appeared to be working now. The baby's shrieks had lessened and she had stopped jumping, looking at Haruka with a hint of fascination in her eyes. Though her eyes were still full of massive tear drops, the baby Kaiju was much calmer than before. 

Haruka stepped closer as she finished whistling the last few lines of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She still felt a little freaked out but not as much as before.  

"Hey..." Haruka paused. What was she supposed to call this giant pink baby Kaiju. "Little one, I promise I'm not going to hurt you. You'll be fine." 

"Haru..." Kenji warned. "Be careful."

She could feel his presence right behind her, as though he was ready to grab her at any sign of danger. But judging by the calmness of the baby, even if it was temporary, nothing would happen. For now. 

Suddenly, Kenji held her by her shoulders, gently spinning her around. The look on his face was one full of curiosity and amazement. "Okay, I think the baby has calmed down. Mina, can you look after her right now? Haruka and I need to have a very important conversation."

"Yeah, we do," Haruka said. They needed to.

"Of course, Ken," Mina the floating AI said calmly. 

As she floated near the containment unit, the baby Kaiju looked gleeful and charmed by the robot. Taking advantage of that, Kenji motioned towards the elevator. "Let's go while she's still distracted."

This was going to be one hell of a conversation. 

"So you got yourself a Batcave now?" 

Haruka properly looked around the mansion and its massive living room. Everything here, from the paint to the furniture, to the pictures on the wall looked like they belonged in Architectural Digest. 

"I guess you could say that," Kenji answered as they settled onto the massive couches that were in the centre of the living room area. The couches were just across from large ceiling-to-floor glass windows that lined basically the whole mansion, offering a stunning view of the bay. 

They sat in silence for a few moments, a few peaceful, calm moments, before Haruka decided she couldn't take it anymore. "So, you're raising a baby Kaiju now? How does that even happen?"

"Well, to make a long story short, it was all..." As Kenji explained everything, from the fight with Gigantron to him facing off against the KDF to the KDF killing Gigantron and him stumbling upon the baby Kaiju's egg, Haruka could feel her eyes growing wider and wider. 

"Oh my god, Kenji, that's..." She wasn't sure if she even had words for this. 

"Yeah well," Kenji just seemed resigned to it all. "Ultraman's gotta do what Ultraman's gotta do."

"But, you're a busy guy, aren't you?" Haruka leaned forward. "The baseball season has only just begun and on top of that you're Ultraman. And now you have a baby Kaiju to look after. You already look so tired. What's gonna happen in a few weeks or a few months?" 

"Trust me, I know that," Kenji answered, sitting up straight. "Mina is working on finding the location of Kaiju Island, where all the Kaijus come from. Till we find that, I need to raise the baby. That is why I called you here. You said I could reach out to you if I needed help, so...I'm calling in that favour."

"Okay, what do I need to do Kenji? How am I supposed to help here? I've never been this close to a Kaiju before, let alone a baby Kaiju."

"I'm right there with you. Look, Haru...I just...ugh.. I just need you to help me out here. I can handle looking after her myself, but it'll be nice to have someone there to help. Like a backup if I'm too busy at practice."

"So, you want a babysitter?"

"No, I...actually yeah. Kinda."

Haruka pressed her lips together, thinking hard. The baby Kaiju was actually kind of cute, plus it's not like Kenji wasn't going to be there. The mansion was also quite stunning and she was sure the view would be even better during daylight. There was also the matter that she didn't exactly have much of a social life beyond interacting with her clients, going to auctions or gallery shows every few months or attend a gala or two (which she always left early). She was always at home, so adding babysitting duties would not be a big change to her schedule. "Okay, I'm in."

"Really? You're okay with this?" Kenji looked at her surprised, like he hadn't expected her to agree so quickly.

"Don't sound so surprised. I told you I'd be there for you," Haruka said. "You just gotta pay for my petrol if I'm going to be driving here all the time. Plus if you have a spare room, which I'm sure you do considering you live in a freaking mansion, I might need to steal that. If I'm going to be spending a lot of time here, I'd rather just set things up here which would make it easy for me instead of going back and forth all the time. Plus...

Kenji leaned over and placed a hand on her knee, cutting off her mini-tirade. "Whatever you need, Haru." 

"Really? Because I was kind of joking about you paying for my gas and the spare room...you don't actually have to..."

"Trust me, I have the money to spare. And this place has a billion rooms, you can just take one."

"You get yourself a deal, Mr. Sato," Haruka held out her hand. "You gotta show me the place first though. It's actually pretty cool."

"You got it," Kenji smiled at her, not a grin or a smirk, just a relieved smile that he had her support. "Anything you need, you got it."

these two are literally so cute, i wanna scream and cry and get to writing their romantic scenes asap. but tbh, personally, the end of their conversation had that dash of romance. kenji willing to offer haruka anything?? get me a rich bf like that🤧 

i did promise you all a 'slow' fast burn and you will be getting that. the next few chapters are gonna be a ton of unintentional (maybe not) mutual pining 🤭🤭

i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! comments and votes are always appreciated <33