Zaboru looked down at the two newborn babies sleeping peacefully in his arms and smiled so widely that his cheeks were beginning to hurt. "Zenji... and Azusa."
Ayumi, still exhausted from giving birth, rested against the hospital bed while staring at them with a happiness that seemed to overpower everything else. Zaboru glanced toward the baby boy resting in one arm. "Zenji Renkonan." Then he looked toward the baby girl in the other. "Azusa Renkonan." His grin somehow widened again.
Ayumi laughed softly. "You've been smiling like that since they were born."
"I can't help it."
"You look stupid."
"I know, and I don't care."
That only made Ayumi smile more.
They had actually spent quite a lot of time choosing the twins' names before the birth. Zaboru and Ayumi deliberately wanted to continue the little pattern that had naturally formed with their first two children: their sons would have names beginning with Z, while their daughters would have names beginning with A.
For their son, they chose 善治 — Zenji. The first kanji, 善 (Zen), represented goodness, virtue, and doing what was right, while 治 (Ji) carried meanings connected to healing, bringing order, governing, or setting something right. Together, it represented something surprisingly simple compared to most of Zaboru's ambitions. They didn't name him with some expectation that he had to become a genius, a famous businessman, or ZAGE's future successor. They simply wanted Zenji to grow into a good and dependable man.
Zaboru especially loved that meaning. There was also the simple fact that Zenshin and Zenji sounded good together. Both brothers had names beginning with Z without sounding like copies of each other.
For their daughter, they chose 梓 — Azusa. 梓 (Azusa) referred to the catalpa tree, giving the name a natural and elegant feeling that Ayumi immediately loved. To her, the image of a tree also represented life and growth—something small that would slowly grow stronger over the years.
And just like her brother's name, it completed their family pattern perfectly.
Zenshin and Zenji. Arumi and Azusa.
Ayumi looked toward the baby girl. "Azusa really suits her."
"She's been alive for less than a day."
"I know."
"How do you know what suits her already?"
Ayumi smiled confidently. "Mother's instinct."
Zaboru nodded as though she had given him a perfectly scientific answer. "Understandable."
Ayumi laughed before extending her arms. "Give them to me."
"Both?"
"Both."
Zaboru hesitated only because Ayumi was still recovering, but one look from her immediately ended the argument. "Okay, okay."
With Zaboru helping her, Ayumi carefully held both babies against herself. Azusa rested against one arm while Zenji rested beside her, both wrapped warmly in their blankets. The moment Ayumi had them against her chest, she became silent.
Only yesterday she had spent hours exhausted, crying from the pain and gripping Zaboru's hand hard enough to break the skin. Now the reason behind all of it was right there.
Two healthy babies.
Her son.
Her daughter.
Ayumi's eyes slowly became wet.
Zaboru leaned closer. "Hey..."
"I'm okay." Ayumi smiled as tears rolled down her cheeks. "I'm just happy."
She gently touched Azusa's cheek before looking toward Zenji. "They're really ours."
"Yeah."
"Four children..."
Zaboru grinned. "Four."
Ayumi looked toward him in disbelief. "We're really parents of four now."
"That's awesome."
Ayumi laughed through her tears. "Of course that's your reaction."
Zaboru kissed her forehead before gently kissing each newborn's head. His ridiculous grin still refused to disappear.
Three days later, Friday, March 6, 2002, the atmosphere inside the Renkonan household had completely changed.
For the entire three days after the twins were born, Zaboru had not gone to ZAGE Tower even once.
That alone was nearly unbelievable.
Fortunately, nobody at ZAGE had a problem with it. Every senior leader already knew why their CEO had disappeared, and most of them had actually told him to stay away and spend time with Ayumi. ZAGE wasn't facing any immediate crisis either. Most teams were deep in development after the enormous ZEPS 4 launch, and Zanichi was still serving as ZAGE Japan's CTO and could handle anything that genuinely required someone from the Renkonan family.
In fact, the bigger problem was preventing ZAGE employees from visiting.
Almost everyone wanted to congratulate Zaboru and Ayumi.
If Zaboru allowed even half of them to come to the house, Ayumi's recovery would turn into a corporate convention.
So the answer remained no.
For now.
The Renkonan house had become noticeably livelier.
Ayumi spent most of her time recovering and caring for Zenji and Azusa, while Keiko helped whenever necessary. Zaboru practically transformed himself into Ayumi's personal assistant, grabbing bottles, blankets, diapers, water, food, pillows, or anything else she requested before she could even ask twice.
But naturally, the twins also gained two older siblings.
And both older siblings were very different children.
Arumi was the loud one.
At only two years old—although she would turn three next month—she had immediately become fascinated with Zenji and Azusa. Every few minutes came another question.
"Mama, why Azusa sleep again?"
"Because babies sleep a lot."
"Why?"
"Because she's a baby."
"Why?"
Ayumi stared at her daughter.
"...Ask Papa."
Arumi immediately turned. "Papa, why?"
Zaboru froze.
Ayumi laughed.
Arumi also repeatedly insisted that she wanted to help bathe the twins.
"No," Ayumi said immediately.
"But Rumi can!"
"You're still tiny yourself."
"I'm big!"
"You're two."
"Almost three!"
That made Zaboru choke on his drink.
"Who taught you to argue like that?"
Arumi pointed toward Zenshin without hesitation.
Across the room, Zenshin slowly lifted his eyes from his book.
"I didn't."
Arumi stared at him.
Zenshin stared back.
"...Probably Papa," he finally said.
"Oi."
Ayumi laughed again.
But Arumi's involvement wasn't limited to asking questions.
Her usual collection of animals had somehow decided the twins needed protection.
The family's golden retriever frequently rested near whichever crib currently contained Zenji or Azusa. One of Arumi's squirrels liked sitting nearby on the furniture, watching everything with suspicious seriousness. A gecko regularly appeared on the wall above the crib, while even one of the frogs Arumi frequently carried around seemed determined to remain nearby.
At one point Zaboru walked into the room and found Arumi standing in front of Azusa's crib with the golden retriever beside her, a squirrel on her shoulder, a gecko clinging near the top of her head and a small frog sitting almost impossibly still above her hair.
Arumi pointed seriously toward the crib.
"Protect Azusa-chan."
The dog gave a small bark.
The squirrel chirped.
Arumi nodded as though receiving a military report.
"Good."
Zaboru stood in the doorway for several seconds.
Ayumi walked past him carrying Zenji. "Don't ask."
"I wasn't going to."
By this point, seeing Arumi casually communicate with animals had become normal inside the household. Rabbits followed her around. Dogs listened to her. Squirrels behaved like tiny assistants. Lizards and frogs somehow accepted her authority.
Zenshin was proof enough of that.
Born on September 15, 1997, Zenshin was now four years old almost 5, yet watching him alongside other children his age barely made sense.
While Arumi was organizing an interspecies security team around the newborns, Zenshin sat quietly on the sofa with an advanced book beside his laptop. His small fingers moved calmly across the keyboard while he occasionally stopped to read another section of the thick book beside him.
To the adults, Zenshin was simply an absurd genius.
They already knew he could read material far beyond his age, understand mathematics and programming concepts no four-year-old should reasonably comprehend, play games with genuine strategy instead of random button-mashing, and speak with an emotional maturity that occasionally made adults forget how young he was.
And both Ayumi and Zaboru already accepted that their first son ins genius.
Right now, however, there was nothing complicated about the way he looked toward his newborn siblings.
He liked them.
Every so often, Zenshin would stop reading, glance toward Zenji or Azusa, and quietly smile before returning to his book.
Ayumi noticed it every time.
"Zen-chan."
Zenshin looked up. "Hmm?"
"You can hold them too, you know."
"I know."
"Then why do you keep staring from over there?"
Zenshin paused.
"...They're sleeping."
Ayumi smiled knowingly. "You're being shy."
"I'm not."
"You are."
Zenshin silently returned to his book.
Zaboru looked toward Ayumi.
Ayumi whispered, "Definitely shy."
Zenshin turned one page slightly harder than necessary.
Friday night eventually arrived.
Ayumi sat comfortably on the sofa with Zenji sleeping against her chest while Keiko sat nearby holding Azusa. Arumi stood beside her grandmother like a tiny guard captain, golden retriever beside her and squirrel still sitting proudly on her shoulder.
Zenshin had returned to reading.
Zaboru, however, looked restless.
He was sitting beside Ayumi, supposedly relaxing.
His laptop was only several meters away.
Every few seconds his eyes drifted toward it.
Ayumi noticed immediately.
"Zabo."
"Hmm?"
"It's okay."
"What?"
"Go work."
Zaboru flinched. "What are you talking about?"
Ayumi smiled. "You've looked at your laptop about twenty times."
"I have not."
"You have."
"I'm just... looking around the room."
"Specifically at your laptop?"
Zaboru looked away.
Ayumi chuckled. "I know you, Zabo. You've already stayed away from work for three full days. Your body is here, but half your brain is probably already 4-5 hours "Brainstorming" sessions right..?."
Zaboru sighed.
She wasn't wrong.
He wanted to stay beside Ayumi, especially while she was still recovering. At the same time, three days without properly working had begun to make his fingers itch.
Before he could answer, the front door opened.
Zanichi had returned home from ZAGE Tower.
He removed his coat, walked into the living room, looked toward his son and immediately sighed.
"Boss."
Zaboru frowned. "Dad come on Why are you calling me Boss at home?"
"Because tomorrow you need to come back to work."
Zaboru blinked.
Zanichi continued, "Everyone keeps asking me how you're doing, how Ayumi is doing, how the twins are doing, whether they're allowed to visit, and whether you're coming back."
Zaboru laughed. "First of all tomorrow is damn Weekend and then Tell them we're alive."
"I did."
"And?"
"They keep asking."
Ayumi laughed.
Zanichi rubbed his forehead. "If I tell them they're all allowed to visit this house, we'll have several hundred people standing outside tomorrow. Ayumi is still recovering, so absolutely not."
"Agreed."
"Therefore, go to ZAGE Tower tomorrow. Let them see that you're alive before they organize some ridiculous group visit."
Zaboru looked toward Ayumi.
She immediately nodded. "Go."
"But—"
"Zabo."
Ayumi adjusted Zenji comfortably against herself. "I'm okay. Mom is here. Dad is here whenever he isn't at ZAGE. Your mom helps constantly. I can handle Zenji and Azusa."
Arumi immediately raised her hand.
"Rumi helps too!"
Ayumi smiled. "Yes. Rumi-chan helps too."
Arumi stood proudly with the golden retriever beside her, squirrel on her shoulder, gecko near her hair and frog somehow still remaining on top of her head.
"I protect babies!"
Zaboru stared at his daughter.
"...You have more security personnel than I do."
Arumi proudly nodded. "Yes!"
Then she pointed toward Zenshin.
"And Zen Nii-chan helps too!"
Zenshin, who had been quietly reading, slowly lowered his book.
"Who said that, Rumi-chan?"
"You help."
"That's not an answer."
"You are big brother."
Zenshin stared at her.
Arumi stared back.
After several seconds Zenshin sighed.
"...Fine."
Arumi immediately raised both hands. "Yay!"
Ayumi burst out laughing while Zaboru shook his head.
For all of Zenshin's hidden memories, intelligence, and strange maturity, even a regressor apparently couldn't win against his little sister's logic.
Zaboru finally released a long sigh.
"Alright. I'll go to ZAGE Tower tomorrow."
Ayumi smiled.
"But if you need anything—anything—you call me immediately."
"I know."
"I'll come straight home."
"I know, Zabo."
"Even if it's something small."
Ayumi reached over and squeezed his hand.
"I know." she smile "Beside Nii-sama come tomorrow so i'm should be safe right?"
Zaboru finally relaxed a little because if Akechi are here tomorrow everything is become easier.
Zaboru looked toward Zenji and Azusa and grinned again "Okay then if you insist hehehe".
Whatever happened next, the Renkonan family had become considerably livelier.
And somehow, Zaboru wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
To be continued.
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