Title: Presents
Chapter: 1/1
Character: The trio, Rai, Frankenstein
Summary: Tao suggests to the other two to celebrate Parents' Day.

(from blog to ffnet)

[Disclaimer: Noblesse and its characters do not belong to me.]

Tao turned his head towards Frankenstein and Rai and immediately jumped from the couch.

Frankenstein was pouring a cup of tea for Him.

Parents. Hmm.

He beelined to the other two's rooms.

M-21 blinked. "Stop right there. You want us"-he paused to wrap his head around the idea—to give a present to them..."

"For Parents' Day," Tao finished firmly.

What was Tao implying? They weren't their—and neither were they—

He opened his mouth, but not a sound could come out. "21, I feel the same." Takeo chimed in, walking towards them with glasses of water.

"But, thinking about it, it does make sense. They gave us clothes, a job, a salary." Takeo looked up and remarked, "a roof over our heads."

A home. He was right; this was their walls, the walls that welcomed them home after battling an enemy that could have killed them.

Plus, it was hard to argue. Those were all true. If anything, he felt like a child living here compared to Frankenstein and Rai.

"Parents, huh," M-21 managed to utter. The word sat on his tongue as he familiarized himself with the meaning of it again.

Takeo finished his water and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"I knew you would be on board." Tao sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, setting his glass next to him. "So, I had consulted with the kids..."

So, the children of this country could do something like this. M-21 and Takeo were both surprised at their newfound ability. Certainly it wasn't perfect, but they made that? With their own hands? Tao, however, still had yet to finish. With his foot, he clicked the replay button on the video, unaware that his two friends had already finished. Was it just him, or did the girl in the video go too fast? He clicked on a certain part and played it.

Again.

And again.

He wiped his brow. This was proving to be a challenge. "Huh?" Looking over his shoulder, he saw the two starting on their second carnation. "Wha—when did that happen?"

"While you were replaying," M-21 smirked, twirling his finished flower.

"You were right, Tao." Takeo held his up to inspect (more like show-off) it. "This was fun."

"Pft, well well. The two who were reluctant to fold paper into flowers are enjoying it the most?"

M-21 smirked. "Shouldn't you finish yours?"

Outside of the flower shop, the three agreed to split up to search for the perfect carnation. None of them, though, knew what to look for. They took out their phones and searched for pictures of carnations. And exactly what was a "perfect" carnation? As long as the flowers weren't dying, that should have been fine, right?

They each walked off in a different direction. Before any of them could purchase the flowers, they had to snap a picture to send to the group.

Snap after snap, and so far, none were satisfactory. Leave it to the sniper of the group to spot some kind of imperfection on their flowers: a dried petal here, a torn petal there, too droopy, too tall, too bright, not bright enough. The sight of flowers began to annoy M21. As if they had heard him, he sneezed loudly. A hand patted his back and Takeo offered a smile to put his friend at ease. Suddenly, both of their phones were barraged with multiple texts from Tao.

Picture after picture, it was a plotted plant. With stalks. With no flowers. Why were there no flowers?

"Hey, you guys!" Tao waved the plant above his head to alert them. "Here it is, bamboo stalks." His wide grin was enough to know that he was proud of his choice. Absolutely no doubt about his own choice.

"So we looked up pictures of carnations as a reference only to ignore it and find something completely different," M-21 deadpanned.

Tao cleared his throat, ready to explain. "How many stalks are there?"

This wasn't a trick question, right? "Seven," Takeo answered.

"And?" Tao prompted.

What, was there more? A half stalk?

"Think about the significance. Seven!"

M-21 glances at his comrades and then thinks of Seira and Regis. Frankenstein. Him. And then himself.

Oh.

M-21 couldn't hold back his smile. Tao, that clever little...

"Does this pass our inspection?" Tao's eyes sparkled and he grinned at Takeo.

"All clear."

Upon opening the door, the trio found Rai reading yet another guide on the coach. Frankenstein stepped into the common area.

"There you are. We're just about to prepare dinner once Seira and Regis return."

Tao fiddled with the handles of the bag behind his back. "Um, Boss." They all reached into their pockets for the paper carnations. "We made these for you."

Frankenstein was taken aback for a moment, but was amused.

"May we?"

Rai nodded and the three proceeded to take turns pinning their floral creations onto their jackets.

"And what's the meaning of this?" Frankenstein had an inkling, but it'd make more sense to hear them explain.

"Happy Parents' Day," M-21 spoke first. "Thank you"-looking both in the eye—"for everything." He bowed slightly to them and Tao and Takeo followed suit. It was the duty of the "first child" to lead, right?

"Wait, there's one more." From the bag, Tao pulled out the potted bamboo stalks and set it on the table. Rai gazes at the small plant and turns away to look out the balcony. He hoped for a breeze to cool down the warmth in his cheeks.

Hm, perhaps he didn't like it? Was it too simple of a gift? A cheap gift like this had no place in the house.

Rai took a seat in front of the bamboo. "This is enough." He reached out to touch it and smiled softly.

"Master and I greatly appreciate this. And you three."

They were caught off guard by Frankenstein's words, but one by one, they each felt a tug on the corners of their mouth. They also felt relief. For some reason, this had been nerve-wracking, more so than fighting against the Union members.

And even for only a day, it was a blessing to have worried about such small things.

But still, for a day, they got to have parents; they got to feel like a family.