Canon: Remove if not applicable.Family trips can be pretty exhausting, but thankfully, they at least have a big enough car to fit them all. Or rather, a mini bus, instead of a car. Narda is buckled up in her chair behind Mu's seat, while Kouen is behind the wheel. It's a bit of a bother though, because right behind him is Rohroh, and right behind him is Muron. And of course, the two children are bickering, despite Kougyoku, sitting beside Muron, trying to mediate. She is very flustered though, and Morgiana in the seat on her other side is trying to calm down the girl who is on the brink of tears. Asha, sitting between Rohroh and an asleep Narda, is completely ignoring the fight, and is doing her make-up. Taraneh is bouncing up and down in the far back - not that Kouen can see the tiger from where he sits - and in front of her is Razol, Kouha and Judal, plotting some mischief that Koumei is trying to get them to stop, and Yaqut cheers both sides on. Mostly to rile up Koumei more.
The voices gets louder and louder, and it gets harder and harder to have a decent conversation with his husband. Despite knowing they're close to the mall, Kouen drives in to the side of the road, and stops the car. He turns around, and glares at the squabbling children. "Rohroh, Razol, switch places."
"What!?" The two children protests, and are joined by Kouha and Judal. Of course they would, Razol likes to prank people just as much as they do. Mu shushes the protests, and offers up an argument. "You don't want En-nii to run us off the road because of a misplaced shove," he gives Rohroh and Muron a pointed look. Then he looks toward the far back of the minibus. "And you three, I don't want to be called to the station because you've been arrested. Or have to arrest you."
Won over with threats of crashes and jailtime, the fifteen year old girl and thirteen year old boy switches places. Kouha scoots to the side into Judal, and Razol leans into the bus door after it's closed, because Asha thinks that she needs to get some shadow on her eyelids, while Razol is not a fan of make-up.
The rest of the trip is more peaceful, and when they reach their destination, the children tumbles out of the bus in a hurry. Razol runs off to the bathroom to wash off the make-up. "I'll meet you at the store!" she shouts at them, but they all know that they'll lose her to the sports shop.
Mu unbuckles Narda and picks her up. She fondly plays with his hair and puts it in her mouth. Kouen looks over at them, and prods Mu in the ribs with a finger. "Don't let her do that," he says, and disentangles the girl from Mu's hair before she starts seriously chewing on it. Then he takes hold of his hand in one of his, and Kougyoku's in the other. "Koumei, don't let Judal or Kouha out of your sight," he says to his brother, then adds, to Yaqut; "Help him out, will you? Kougyoku," he looks down at the ten year old. "will you keep an eye on Morgiana for me?" Kougyoku nods eagerly, and offers her free hand to the younger girl. As this happens, Mu breaks up another fight between Rohroh and Muron, and Asha says she's off to Kicks, because she's out of nailpolish.
In a partly organized troop, they find their way to the pet store, where it gets much less organized. Only the three youngest girls stays with the married couple, even Koumei disappearing when he is dragged off by two younger brothers and one older.
The five of them goes off to the rabbits, where Mu has to crouch down to the floor so Narda can say hello and pet them. A girl from the counter comes over to assisst them, letting Kougyoku hold one of the little animals. One incredibly fluffy furball. As she does she flutters her eyelashes at Mu, and it makes Kouen annoyed. He gets even more annoyed when another woman comes over to pretend to talk to him about animals while actually flirting with him. "Miss, I'm not interested," he glares from one woman to the other. "And you, if you dare to put those hands on my husband, you will be out of a job within the minute." The words must work wonders - actually, it's the look on his face - because the women squeaks and runs off back to the counter. Mu looks up, apparently oblivious to the shop assisstants advances, and Kouen crouches down beside him. He pets the bunny in Kougyoku's arms and watches hers and Morgiana's faces of delight. "Notice, will you?"
Mu gives him a clueless look, then seems to figure out what all the woman's implications meant. "Oh, but I have you, love." He leans over and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. Kouen huffs, and turns his head to pull him in for a proper kiss. "Oooh, cute and fluffy."
They look up, only to find a familiar face. "Sinbad," Mu grumbles, just as pleased to see the nouveau riche man as Kouen is. "How nice to see you," Kouen adds, "now that you've said hello, you can leave. Goodbye."
Sinbad laughs, and bends down to pet Kougyoku's rabbit. The girl looks up at him, eyes sparkling. She practically has hearts in her eyes, and it is not making Kouen happy. "Girls, choose what rabbit you want so we can get the stuff we need and check out and leave this annoying moron." Again, Sinbad laughs. "So harsh, Kouen. It's like you don't like me."
Kouen gives him a deadpan look. "That's because I don't. So beat it."
Sinbad scowls, confusion on his face. "Is this because I didn't inherit my money like you did?"
That is not the issue, his husband was adopted into his family and came from poverty before that. "No, it's because you're you and I hate your personality." Sinbad gives him a winning look. "Your boyfriend is a lot like me." Kouen thinks that Sinbad already knows that he's talking trash and that he's not going to convince anyone.
Kouen is just about to mention that, but is interrupted. "If I may?" Mu pipes up from where he's still sitting crouched down with Narda in his lap. "but I am not at all like you. Besides, I'm not his boyfriend, I'm his husband."
"Exactly," Kouen agrees. "Mu is not at all as manipulative as you are."
Sinbad winces. "Ouch." Then he startles, when a hand clamps down on his shoulder. He looks up, and lets out an oh. "Hi Masrur," he glances down, "hi Ja'far."
One tall, redhaired twentytwo year old man looks blankly at Sinbad, while a short, freckled elevenyear old boy gives him a look of disappointment. "Sinbad," the boy says, and tugs on Sinbad's pants. "We're done here, and you're coming now. We're going home."
Sinbad laughs. This time nervously. "Oh but Ja'far, I was just---" He's interrupted when a distressed Koumei finds them. "Brother, Judal is trying to eat the fish."
Kouen gets up and gives Sinbad another look full of dislike. Then he follows Koumei to the aquariums, to pull Judal out of them. With an armful of sopping wet, flailing nine year old, he finds a man who works in the store and asks him for help to gather everything they need for a rabbit. He has to put down Judal to fix it, and the boy stays with him for a while, but he joins Mu with the rabbits. When he returns to them, most of the kids are deciding which rabbit to buy. Except Judal, who is trying to fight with Ja'far, while Mu and Masrur are holding them back. Koumei seems to have given up, and is, as far as Kouen can tell, sleeping. While standing up. Kouen whacks him in the head, and the boy startles awake. "We're leaving."
"Bunny!" Narda says, trying to crawl into the rabbit cage. Kouen bends down to pick her up, and asks the girl, "Which one do you like the most, Narda?" The girl points at the rabbit that Kougyoku still is cuddling, while Morgiana pets Kougyoku to help her to keep her from going from the verge of tears to actual tears. "That one?" Then she points at the cage. "...all of them? Honey, we said one." She snivels, and tears well up in her eyes.
"Don't cry, pretty young lady." Kouen snaps his head toward Sinbad, and glares. "Don't flirt with my family," he snaps, and Sinbad pulls back. "Easy there, Kouen. You look like you're about to bite my head off." Kouen's eyes narrows. "Maybe I should." Sinbad backs away even further. "Ooohkay, you two, we're leaving now..." He grabs the backs of Ja'far's and Masrur's shirts, and backs away even more. "Let's go let's go."
Mu grins at Kouen when finally Sinbad leaves, all the while holding back a hissing, still wet Judal. "So, rabbits."
Kouen sighs. "She wants all of them." Mu turns to the little girl. "How about just two, sweetie?" She pouts, but he manages to convince her. While the children picks out another rabbit besides the one Kougyoku had, Mu has to convince Kouen of the change of plans. "Rabbits can die if they get lonely." he says. Kouen gives him a thoughtful look. "Like you, then?" Mu sticks out his tongue at him, then grins. When he kisses him, he is convinced. "I suppose a couple isn't that bad."