He hated himself for having these feelings.

She's the babysitter, she's only seventeen! He told himself these things every single time the indecent thoughts began to surface. Which was far too often. But how could he help himself when the girl was there every time he turned around. He'd catch her at the stove, big apron wrapped around her slim frame, a smile on her face as she made oatmeal for the twins in the morning. Or if he managed to get home before dinner time, she'd be there serving a hot meal to the kitchen table, greeting him with that beautiful smile of hers and a "Welcome home, Matsunaga-san!" She had become a part of his daily routine, a part of his life that he'd never known he even needed until he had her. But what had once felt like fond feelings for a young woman had begun to develop into something else, something so much stronger than any feeling ever had been.

Truth was, Seiji loved her.

He couldn't really pinpoint the day he realized his feelings had crossed the threshold into love. It had been some weeks ago, perhaps the day he'd come home late and found her asleep on the futon with the twins. She had left a plate of dinner for him on the kitchen table and must have drifted off during story time when the twins had fallen asleep themselves. They had been a tangle of limbs and blankets, a precious sight he'd hated to interrupt. Or perhaps it had been the day she'd cried because her cup had broken. That had at least been the day he'd realized how important his little family was to her. Now, his only thought was to express to her just how important she was to him.

As Seiji came through the front door, the first thing he realized was it was too quiet.

Pushing away the instinct to call out, he closed the door as quietly as he could and left his shoes in the walkway as he tiptoed down the hall. The kitchen was empty, as was the den, which told him they must have been in the twin's bedroom. Sure enough, he pushed open the ajar door, only to find Shiharu there on the pallet, both twins tucked against her legs as they slept. She looked up, surprise reflected in her dark eyes before she broke with a radiant smile. Relief rushed through him at the sight and he felt his heart skip a beat as it always did when she smiled at him like that. Seiji realized then he would never grow tired of that sight. Putting a finger to her lips, Shiharu gently untangled herself from the twins and rose up, padding across the floor to him, pulling the door closed behind them. "You're early, Matsunaga-san!" She said when they were out of earshot of the twin's bedroom, her smile returning. "Here, let me fix you something to eat!"

Seiji couldn't say why he did what he did next, but the moment simply felt right. Reaching out, he grasped her wrist and pulled her back towards him, taking her into his arms without a single word. "Ma-Matsunaga-san?" Her voice was tiny, muffled against his chest as he held as tightly as he dared to her, amazed at how perfectly she fit against him. She did not push him away and she did not voice a word of discomfort at his actions, rather Seiji felt her own arms loop around his waist.

"Nakamura-san..." He murmured softly, catching her attention, and he looked down at her as she tilted her head back, big brown eyes wide in her face. There were hundreds of things he could have said in this moment, but none of them would do. None of them could express the thoughts running rampant inside his brain, and since actions seemed to be working in his favor today, he did the only other thing that made any sense: he kissed her. It was a soft kiss, a gentle kiss, quite unlike any he'd ever given before. Seiji could only hope that it spoke to her in ways that his words never could. She stiffened in his arms for only a moment, surprised perhaps, but then he felt her relax beneath his grip. And then, she was kissing him back.

She had been waiting for this moment for months, but had never truly thought it would come. How would Matsunaga-san ever see her as anything but the teenage babysitter for the twins? Not when he lived in the fast paced world of adults, where stylish, beautiful women were surely at his beck and call. How could a girl such as herself ever compete? But, Shiharu had caught him glancing at her, had felt his warm hands on her skin a few times... Never like this, but enough to give her a little bit of hope. Childish hope, she called it, just something she couldn't let go of. But now... In this moment, when Matsunaga-san had taken her into his arms, she had felt something entirely different. And then he kissed her. He kissed her. Shiharu would not have believed it, had it not been happening right then and there.

He broke the kiss then, drawing back with wide, shocked eyes. "Nakamura-san, I'm sorry... I shouldn't..." He trailed off, feeling heat rise into his cheeks, realizing how forward his actions had been. He could have frightened her, ruined whatever was growing between them, all because he couldn't help himself. She was a kid, he never should have done what he had just done, no matter how mature she was, no matter how strongly he felt about her. But when he turned his head back to look at her, she was grinning, her brown eyes shining in the light.

"Don't apologize, Matsunaga-san." She said simply, her own true feelings coming out in the moment. Though her own heart was beating fiercely, she stood on tiptoe, pressing her lips against his as he had done moments ago. I'm kissing him, I'm kissing Matsunaga-san! She thought to herself as he reacted, the kiss she offered him deepening as his arms came back around her. Everything about this moment felt right. Shiharu could feel his tongue as it hesitantly made contact with her lips and she opened her mouth to him, unsure how she knew what to do when she'd never done any of this before. It all just felt so natural with Matsunaga-san, despite it being her first real kiss.

It only took him several moments of being locked in that passionate kiss to realize where it was heading, and he wasn't going to do that to her. Not yet. And so, he pulled back, sliding his hands into her hair as he peered down into her eyes, amazed at how softly the strands were beneath his touch. He had so many things that he wanted to say to her, so many thoughts and feelings he wanted to make known, but perhaps those were better saved for another night. He smiled down at her, pressing one single kiss to her forehead, holding there for several moments before he finally let her go. She was bright-eyed and blushing as she slipped away to the counter, where she picked up a covered plate of dinner and turned back around to face him, grinning again. "Let me make you something to eat," she said simply, her brown eyes finding his as he nodded, taking his usual place at the kitchen table as she bounced around to warm up his food.

That was when he realized it, he would marry her someday.

Someday, he would come home from work and she would be there, but this time her last name would be his. Someday, he would come home from work and there would be children that weren't the twins nestled in her arms. Someday, he would come home from work and she would be asleep in a bed that they called theirs.

That was all he really wanted.