Title: More than welcome
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Rating: General
Length: 1000 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Post-canon pre-relationship Umi/Clef of the Clef-visiting-earth variety, kind of in a sequence with a couple of other things which may involve Umi getting Clef hooked on animal crossing but stands alone.
Summary: Tokyo is less and more welcoming, this time.

oOo
Clef had been bewildered by the first vacation he’d been pushed into taking outside of Cephiro, but Umi had welcomed him into her home – which was, admittedly, the same size as a good chunk of the castle – and when her parents had returned home they had been just as welcoming. Possibly more welcoming, in fact, as they hadn’t argued at him or got him a little too invested in playing that one ‘video game’ about making a little idyllic island like Umi had.

The second time had been actually planned, though not with a great deal of time to prepare for it, and he’d been more certain of his welcome – only to find Tokyo itself less welcoming. The cold was unlike anything he’d felt before, and though the whole experience of buying clothing was not something he enjoyed, he was glad of clothes and the good warm coat that came from it. Besides, with Ferio there and more of an idea what clothes to look for, it was actually more fun that it had been previously.

(He was still a little jealous that Presea had been saved the entire experience by Hikaru’s foresight.)

By the time they had bid farewell to Fuu and Ferio the vehicle Umi had hailed for the two of them them pulled up at her home, he was starting to relax again; he recognised the area, this time, and knew to expect the vehicle’s doors to open without his needing to touch them, and the code he had memorised on that first visit still unlocked the gate while Umi dealt with paying for the trip. But as they walked into the house he paused, blinking at the amount of sturdy bags piled by the doors.

“Umi?” he said, looking around for her – but she looked just as confused as she stepped up behind him.

“That’s – odd. Mama! Papa! I’m home!” Kicking off her shoes, she stepped up onto the main floor and padded across the hallway in her socks, ignoring the slippers set waiting for her. “Whose suitcases are these? You aren’t kicking us out to stay in a hotel, right?”

“Umi! Welcome home, love.” Her mother appeared around the corner, smiling, but looking a little… harried wasn’t precisely the right word, but there was something a little tense in her voice. “Of course you aren’t being sent to a hotel. You know your friend is welcome here- ah, Clef-san, welcome! I do hope you will enjoy your stay here with Umi. Make yourself at home.”

“Thank you,” he said, taking his shoes off with more care than Umi had and stepping into the slippers she’d bought him last time – he recognised the design embroidered on them, and he wasn’t about to turn down the extra warmth. “You’re very kind, letting me stay here again-“

“Oh, nonsense, Umi can invite whoever she wishes to, this is after all her home too. And I know she would only invite people here that she cares about-“

“But then who are the suitcases for?” Umi interrupted her mother, cheeks flushing slightly as she waved a hand at the luggage. “If we’re not going anywhere-“

“Well, there’s been a little change of plans this morning. One of your father’s colleagues has been in an accident, and your father has been asked to fill in for him on the trip that he was about to head out on. Besides which, I’ve been trying to find time to visit our European offices, and while he’s in the area… So we’re going to be gone for the next three weeks.”

“That’s my whole holiday!” Umi complained, crossing her arms. “You had to?”

Her mother walked forwards, smiling more freely now. “Well, we thought you might appreciate having the time alone with Clef-san, anyway. That castle in his world always seems very busy.”

Clef blinked, cheeks heating, not sure if she was really implying what he thought – but Umi’s wailed “Mama!” certainly sounded like she thought it did.

Laughing, her mother patted her on the shoulder. “Now, I’m sure you’ll enjoy not having to worry about us if you wish to invite your other friends to stay here and stay up all night if you want to, and we will be back in a few weeks. Today, your father had to go into the office for a briefing but he will be back for dinner before we head to the airport, I thought we could have a nice family meal, just the four of us?”

That absolutely implied things Clef wasn’t certain he wanted to start thinking about, certainly not right before he and Umi were staying alone in this house. But at the same time… that word, ‘family’.

It meant so much more than just welcome, to be included in that. And no matter what he and Umi had been avoiding thinking about over the past few years, it still put a warmth in his chest to rival his magic.

Anything else could wait. After all, as it turned out, they were going to have more than enough time to be awkward after today.

“How about you go show him what you’ve done to your little digital island while I finish making arrangements?” Umi’s mother said. “Wasn’t that your plan for this afternoon?”

“You’ve been making changes to our island?” Clef asked, reflexively, and the tension was cut by Umi bursting into laughter.

“I didn’t move the river, I promise… I may have moved half the buildings about, but – no, listen, Clef, I was waiting to tell you in case something happened and you had to cancel your trip, but there’s been a massive update – a whole bunch of new stuff you can do, and new islands to travel to. I haven’t played any of it yet, I thought maybe you’d like to check the new stuff out together?”

“An update?” He let her lead him away, to the cosy room with the large screen where they had spent far too much time on his last trip. “I’d like that, yes.”

“Good.”

“…And then we can fix whatever you’ve done to the island, too.”