Not Fair

"Who is this handsome young man?" Sam's voice brings Kei back from his disturbing.

"This is Yuta. Yuta, say hi to aunty Sam." Kei asks his son in English.

"Hi, aunty Sam." Yuta speaks with his face covered in chocolate.

Sam's heart melts at the sight. Then, a sad thought takes over. 'This could have been our child.'

As if Jiro could read it all over her face, he opens his mouth to say something, but before you could, Sam walks to the couch and sits by Yuta.

"And what kind of dessert are you having, Yuta-chan?"

"Do you want some? It is delicious. It's called éclair. Apparently, they make it in France."

Sam smiles. "Is that so? You are so smart."

Kei watches the scene, silently. His heart squeezes for some reason.

"Do you want to have a drink, Ed?" Jiro offers when he sees Kei's gaze.

"I would love to." They both walk to the other room.

"He looks exactly like you." Sam says. "Down to the eye color, totally a mini you."

Kei chuckles. "He is my pride and my very life." Kei kisses Yuta's head. "But he needs to go to bed now."

"But Daddy, it's your birthday." Yuta pouts.

"Yes, that's why it's an hour past your bedtime. But you need to get some sleep, champ." He picks him up and walks toward the stairs. "I'm sorry, I'm just going to tuck him in, I'll be right back."

"Sure, take your time." Sam sits back and rests her head against the back of the couch.

'I really shouldn't have had that fourth drink.' Then, she smiles and squeezes Kei's gift. 'I wonder what his reaction will be when he sees this.'

Suddenly, she feels a faint breath on her face. Her eyes fly open, and she is faced with a man looking down at her. His face is way closer than appropriate. It takes her a moment to recognize her student, Denji.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She quickly stands up but gets lightheaded because of that infamous fourth drink.

"It's just my lucky day, Sensei." Denji smirks.

***

"Good boy, now you have a good night." Kei kisses Yuta's forehead. He smiles and feels blessed. 'Do I deserve having a beautiful child like you?' He caresses his son's hair for a few minutes until he falls asleep.

As Kei descends the stairs, he is faced with an unusual scene. He halts in shock.

"I swear I will split your head in two, stay away from me." Sam threatens.

"I think you're too drunk to aim right, Sensei." Denji jokes. He takes another step toward Sam.

She is debating whether to hit him or not. 'If he is here, that means he is one of the guests. What if he's someone important? I don't want to create any problems for Kei.'

"Come on, just one kiss." Denji puckers his lips in an exaggerated and comical way.

Kei squeezes the stairs' railing until his knuckles go white.

"If you have a death wish, I dare you to touch her." His voice echoes through the house. It is so loud that Jiro and Ed rush from the other room.

"I'm sorry brother-in-law, I was just having a little fun." Kei walks past Denji and takes the candlestick from Sam's hand. He then takes her hand and guides her to his office.

"You should go have fun somewhere else. She would have hit you if you had touched her." He turns and glares at him. "And if she hadn't, I would have." Then he disappears along with Sam.

Denji's smirk disappears and a shiver runs down his back.

"Are you okay?" Kei hands Sam a cup of water.

"Thank you."

"Was that the student from the other day?" Sam nods as she sips the water. "He will never bother you again."

Sam squeezes the glass in her hand. 'There he goes again, saying things like that.'

"Thank you." She sets the cup on the desk and hands her gift to Kei. "Here, happy birthday."

He looks at her, his heart still pounding from Denji's actions, or maybe because of another reason.

"Thank you, you didn't have to." He unwraps the gift and freezes for a minute. He crashes on the chair and stares at it for a while.

"Do you like it?"

He looks up at her and smiles. "How do you still have this?"

"You gave it to me, so of course I kept it."

"It's been what? 15 years?"

"More like 18 years."

Kei chuckles while shaking his head. "Damn, this might be a collectible now." They both laugh. "It was my favorite toy."

"I know." She smiles. "It still works, maybe Yuta can use it."

"Nah, game boys are not fun for these new generations. I'm keeping it for myself."

Kei pushes to his feet and takes two strides to where Sam is standing, he takes her in his arms.

"Thank you, it is the best gift I've received in a very long time." He squeezes her and it feels perfect, like a glove that is the perfect fit to a hand.

A strange feeling gets a hold of him. 'This is where Sam belongs, in my arms.' The thought erases any reason from his mind. All he can think about is Sam.

The hug lasts too long. Sam's smell is intoxicating. Kei can hardly fight the urge to kiss her neck.

Sam is also fighting her desires. She knows she should step back, but her body is not responding. She blames the alcohol. Her breathing is heavy and she runs her hand through Kei's hair. He pulls away and gazes into her eyes. He draws her closer to his body and goes for the kiss.

"No." Sam pushes him, finally coming to her senses.

"What's the matter?"

"What's the matter? The matter is that you are married and you have a child."

"It is not what you think. It is not a love marriage."

"Then, why are you still with her after all these years?"

"It's complicated."

"Of course it is." Sam's arm cuts through the air in anger. "Everything is always complicated with you, Kei. Just like thirteen years ago."

Kei frowns. "That's not fair, Sam."

"Yes, it is not. Life is not fair. I have learned that the hard way, thanks to you." Sam stomps to the door and opens it.

"Wait, Sam." Kei runs after her but bumps into Daisuke.

"I can come back later." Kei takes a deep breath and shakes his head.

"It's fine." He sighs. He opens the door wider to let his old friend in.

He watches Sam's back for a brief moment, before she disappears.