Ilaria Fujimoto looked up from her notepad and smiled uncertainly at her oldest son. At the other end of the table, her husband merely quirked a puzzled eyebrow upwards and caught the spoonful of baby food little Valore spit back at him in a napkin. "What's that, dear?" she asked gently.

Raymund pushed his fork around on his partially empty plate. "Why don't we have a butler?"

"What's a butler?" asked Daniela.

Tonio, losing interest in his food, began to rock back and forth in his highchair, humming a repetitive litany of "Butler butler butler."

"A butler's a sort of fancy servant, dear," explained Ilaria, absently reaching over to tap Tonio's plate and draw his attention back to it.

"He answers doors and serves food and such," Hiroki elaborated as he tried to coax another spoonful of food into Valore's stubbornly sealed mouth.

"Oh," said Daniela, losing interest.

"Why would we have a butler, Raymund?" Ilaria asked.

Raymund leaned back in his chair, contemplating his plate with wide eyes. "We-ell, we're rich, right Mama?"

Ilaria hesitated. "We ... do all right, Raymund. Who told you we were rich?"

"No one," said Raymund.

"Ah?"

"Everyone at St. Agnes' says they're rich," Raymund said simply.

Behind his glasses, Hiroki's eyes gleamed with pride at this demonstration of observational skills.

"And do the other children at St. Agnes' have butlers?"

"No ..." said Raymund slowly.

"Then why –"

"– but none of them are ninja, right?"

"Not that I know of, dear," Ilaria murmured uncertainly. She looked at Hiroki from beneath her lashes; he shook his head firmly, wiping a splash of strained peas off his cheek. "Why would a ninja have a butler, Raymund?"

"On television there's this man and he's awful rich –" Raymund began.

"Television?" Ilaria sighed. "Oh, Raymund."

Raymund continued stubbornly. "There's this really rich man on television and at night he gets all dressed up in black, just like a ninja, 'cept he has a mask that covers all of his face 'cept his mouth, and it has funny pointy ears, and there's a cape, too, but other than that he's dressed just like a ninja. He goes out and beats people up and saves the world! He's really upset 'cause some people killed his mama and papa, so he's seeking vengeance and everything –"

"Raymund ..."

"He even has these things he throws at bad guys! They aren't really shuriken, but they're like shuriken so it's practically the same thing. And he," Raymund said emphatically, "has a butler. His butler's name is Alfred and he helps him get ready to do ninja stuff and cooks for him and does all the boring stuff for him so he can just do fun ninja stuff. So why don't we have a butler?"

A pained expression flitted briefly across Hiroki's face. He manoeuvred the spoon into Valore's mouth as he thought. "We aren't the kind of ninja who have a butler," he said at last. "If we had a butler there would be lots of things you would never learn to do and a ninja never knows what kind of situation he could be thrown into or what kind of things he will have to do to keep his identity or mission a secret."

"Oh," said Raymund in a small voice. He sounded disappointed.

"Where did you see this ninja, Raymund?" Ilaria asked in an attempt to get to the source of blame for this little outburst.

Raymund fidgeted. "Mrs. Kurosaki. When she picks me up from St. Agnes', after she gets Ami, she puts the television on in her office for us to watch until she's done work."

"Ah," said Ilaria, and changed the subject. "Are you done your dinner, Raymund?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Clear your place, then, and put your dishes in the kitchen."

"Yes, Mama," said Raymund, sliding from his chair and, balancing his cup and fork no the plate, cleared his place. As he went to the kitchen, Ilaria chose to ignore the grumpy mumble of "If I had a butler ..."

"You too, Daniela," Ilaria said, staring firmly at her daughter. The little girl's eyes widened slightly, but she slipped from her chair and, dishes clutched to her chest, followed her big brother to the kitchen. Ilaria wiped Tonio's mouth with a napkin and shot her husband a look. "Hiroki ..."

"I didn't realize. I mean, I knew he was watching television, I just assumed it was educational. I thought it would be good for him. Help him with his English. I didn't think ..." Hiroki sighed. "I'll speak with Kochiyo first thing tomorrow. I promise."

"You might remind Mrs. Kurosaki that while Ami is eleven years old and has lived in New York her entire life, Raymund is not, has not, and will not."

"Of course. I don't know what she was thinking. Raymund's imagination is fertile enough as is. He doesn't need American television programs feeding it more nonsense."

"Although," Ilaria mused, wiping Tonio's hands clean and lifting him out of his chair, "the idea of a butler does have a certain appeal ..."

Hiroki's lips twitched in an attempt to suppress a smile. "Don't even start, Ilaria. I don't know how long I could last if you and Raymund teamed up."

"Of course not, love. I would never dream of doing such a thing." Ilaria set Tonio on the floor and took his hand. "Let's go find your big brother and sister, darling."

"Papa ..." began Tonio.

"Papa and Valore aren't quite done eating, yet," Ilaria soothed the boy, lips twitching into an amused smile as she looked at Hiroki. "One would think a ninja would not be out-smarted by an infant. This is the third night this week."

"The boy obviously possesses a great deal of raw talent," said Hiroki with forced coolness, wiping his glasses clean. "Once Valore's done, I'll clean up here. Maybe take the children to the park. Raymund clearly needs to run off some of that excess energy."

"Agreed." Ilaria dropped a kiss on Hiroki's forehead. "I'm sure it's just a phase. Good luck, hm," she said, reaching out to stroke Valore's hair.

"You too," sighed Hiroki. "All children go through phases like this, right?"

Ilaria squeezed Hiroki's shoulder, trying to feel optimistic. "Of course, dear."