Chapter Text
Yuuta pulled the knit sweater over the hanger and put it in the closet, feeling vaguely hunted. This was a bad idea. This was a terrible idea, but what else was he supposed to do? Say no? Nobu had looked so damn freaked out and stressed out, and Yuuta hadn’t been able to tell him no. Even so, living with him was going to be… Questionable at best.
He had gotten a bigger house this time. Objectively, this was a good thing. Yuuta didn’t have to pay a mortgage, didn’t have to even contribute to utilities. He just had to cover the internet bill, and that was only because he had insisted on it. He would be able to save so much money. Nobu was covering everything, and Yuuta just needed to be here. With him. Living under the same roof. Because that was normal.
Gods, Yuuta was so stressed out.
He had his own room, the second biggest room in the house. It had a walk in closet, and he was blown away by the sheer size of it. Miss Tanaka had claimed the room with the window seat for their classroom, and Minori and Hitoshi each had their own rooms. Minori was taking careful care of Toast, and Yuuta should be excited to live with his favorite people, but he wasn’t sure how long he could continue to dance around his own feelings, when Nobu was so emotionally obtuse.
He was stressed.
He hung up another shirt, and his door creaked open. Hitoshi peeked in, and Yuuta gave him the stink eye.
“Are you done unpacking?” he asked, and Hitoshi crinkled up his nose.
“It’s boring,” he said, and Yuuta rolled his eyes.
“Well, I’m unpacking, and can’t entertain you right now,” he said, and Hitoshi slid in his room and sat down on his bed. Okay, apparently---
“Nobu says you two aren’t dating,” he said, loudly, and Yuuta’s face made a weird expression he was glad Hitoshi couldn’t see.
“We’re not,” Yuuta said as he hung up another shirt.
“Why not?” Hitoshi demanded, and Yuuta sighed.
“Some relationships are more complicated than ‘not dating’, Hitoshi,” he said, and gods, his relationship with Nobu was so complicated. Not that Nobu realized that, the obtuse fuck.
“Why?” Hitoshi asked, and Yuuta sighed and turned to him.
“Hitoshi, listen, I love your dad,” he said, and he meant it. “But, Nobu doesn’t date. He’s not that sort of person.”
“Why not?” Hitoshi asked, and Yuuta deliberated over the question.
“It’s like… Most people like cake, okay?” he said, and Hitoshi watched him with such concentration, it was almost unnerving. “Everyone likes cake. But, some people don’t like cake. Maybe they don’t like the texture, the icing, the flavor, or just the sweetness. Nobu doesn’t like cake. Okay?”
“Oh,” Hitoshi said with a frown. “I don’t get it.”
“Neither do I, but I accept him as he is,” Yuuta said. “You’re probably never going to have a stepmother. Or stepfather. Unless Nobu figures out a specific flavor of cake he does like.”
“So… Nobu doesn’t like cake… What if I don’t like cake when I grow up?”
“Then, that’s perfectly fine. I’m not going to shove cake down your throat,” Yuuta said, and Hitoshi slowly nodded.
“Okay,” he said, and Yuuta crinkled up his nose at him.
“Now, get out of my room. And knock next time,” he said, and Hitoshi slipped off the bed. “Go finish unpacking.”
“My shelves aren’t up yet, and I don’t have anywhere to put my action figures,” Hitoshi said, and Yuuta rubbed his eyes.
“Do you have anything else that needs unpacked? Clothes? Toys that go in the bin?”
“No.”
“Did you make your bed?”
“No.”
“Then, go make your bed.”
“I don’t want to. The fitted sheet is hard.”
“Well, it still has to be made.”
“But, I don’t want to.”
“Hitoshi.”
Hitoshi pulled a face at him, and Yuuta made a face back at him. It was mind boggling to him that he was basically roped into raising these kids with Nobu, and yet it hadn’t occurred to Nobu that they might be life partners. The man really was obtuse, and Yuuta desperately hoped Hitoshi and Minori didn’t grow up as stupid as him. There was probably going to be no saving them, though. It was a chronic condition.
“I don’t want to be alone,” Hitoshi said quietly, and Yuuta paused.
Well.
At least the kids were more honest than Nobu.
“Alright,” he said and set the hanger on the rail. “Do you want me to put up your shelves while you make your bed?”
“Can’t I stay in here with you?” Hitoshi asked, and Nobu shook his head no.
“No, you’ve got to make your bed,” he replied, firm, and headed for the door. “Let me get the tools and I’ll get everything up for you.”
Ah, kids. He really was happy to be around them so much, but he wished he had the courage to broach the topic with Nobu. He didn’t, though, and Nobu was… was probably not going to react well. He had never been one for relationships, thought he was broken somehow, and Yuuta didn’t know how to talk to him about it. Didn’t know how to express to him that he expected nothing from him but his companionship. He loved him, but sometimes that man drove him up the wall.
Yuuta made his way out into the hall and got under the sink to pull out the tools. He would have to get Minori’s shelves up, too. But, later, because Hitoshi was underfoot, clingy and traumatized, and Yuuta wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it, but he was still angry. He was still so, so angry. He had never seen Nobu that furious in his life, and he wished things could be different. He really wished they could be different.
It was unfair, what had happened. They were going to start therapy for it tomorrow, but Yuuta didn’t know how to express to them that they were safe, because they weren’t safe. Not really. They’d probably never feel 100% safe again, and it was all because they hadn’t been there. He didn’t know how to fix it for them.
Fucking hell, the kids had been through a lot. They had been through a hell of a lot, and Yuuta didn’t know how to fix it for them. He missed the days when everything was fine and normal. Now it was an unholy mess, and he was living with Nobu. A roommate. He was a roommate, and he was in love with the man. This was going to go terribly.
“Can I help?” Hitoshi asked, and Yuuta looked down at him as he got out his tools. Nobu didn’t even have tools, and Yuuta was glad he had brought his over, because how did the man even function?
“After you make your bed, you can hold the screws for me,” he said, and wondered why Hitoshi was trying to wiggle out of making his bed that bad. Was the fitted sheet really that much of a problem?
“Okay,” Hitoshi said, but there was a pout lurking around the corners of his lips. Ah, this poor kid. Traumatized by a bed.
“Alright,” Yuuta said as he stepped into Hitoshi’s room and looked around at it. “Let’s get started.”
He would just have to shove his feelings down and never bother with them. That was the only option. He had lasted this long, he could last a little longer. He just…
He didn’t know what to do.
He would just have to endure.