Chapter Text
Tatsuya sat underneath the overhang. Somewhere out in the field just past the house, a dog howled. He briefly wondered if someone’s pet got out from one of the houses closer to town, or if it was one of the strays roaming around. It was drowned out by a chorus of chirping frogs.
It was much later than he planned on coming home. Tatsuya rubbed at an eye as he stayed sitting on his bike, still warm and popping. It hadn’t even been a particularly eventful day, but he supposed he liked it like that. Sometimes, an easy foot patrol was nice.
And sometimes he got dumped with the paperwork at the last minute. It was the downside to a small town.
It was dark and muggy under the overhang. Tatsuya had forgotten to mention to Jun that he would be late. A light from the kitchen window was still on as he headed inside, and he noted the rest of the house looked dark. It was quiet. Jun must still have been up, waiting for him in the family room. With how late it was, Tatsuya hoped Akira had already been put to bed, though it wouldn’t be the first time Jun let the kid stay up past his bedtime.
“I’m home,” he called softly. He paused taking off his shoes when there was no response.
As he stepped into the kitchen and looked into the family room, Akira was sitting on top of the low table carefully watching Tatsuya. The cat doll’s long arms were tied around his neck. But that quiet look in Akira’s wide eyes was not apprehension. It was concern. Jun was sitting in front of Akira on the couch, leaned forward and mouth pressed against folded hands. He hadn’t acknowledged him at all.
Tatsuya’s heart fell and he pushed down the instinct to rush to him. Akira was watching. He needed to watch his steps. So Tatsuya took a deep breath as he calmly stepped forward. He reached down to pick Akira up off the table, who protested weakly.
“It’s okay,” Tatsuya murmured, and Akira quieted and let himself be held, propped on Tatsuya’s hip. Akira’s free hand not clinging to Tatsuya’s uniform reached up and held onto one of the doll’s paws that hung from his neck. Tatsuya took one last look towards Jun. He still hadn’t moved. It had been a long while since he had fallen that deep. Akira whined in his arms and Tatsuya rubbed a hand up his back before he turned to head upstairs to the bedroom.
Now that he thinks about it, Tatsuya wasn’t sure Akira had seen this happen before. Jun has lost track during renovations, and even before while they were still in Sumaru.
He felt a small hand pat against his chest. When Tatsuya looked down, Akira had his head resting against him. Tatsuya pat his back.
“Do you know how long he’s been like that?” Tatsuya asked once they reach their bedroom.
Akira shook his head silently. Tatsuya realized he needed to rephrase the question.
“Was the sun still out before he sat down?”
There was some hesitancy before Akira shook his head once again. Tatsuya was inclined to believe him.
“What’s wrong?” Akira asked, muffled against Tatsuya’s chest. It was Tatsuya’s turn to hesitate, trying to find the right words to describe a complicated situation in a simple way. If he even wanted to.
Tatsuya knelt down and gently sat Akira down on the futon. His tiny hands reached up and tugged the cat from around his neck and held it close to his chest.
“Jun is…” Tatsuya trailed off, losing his words. Akira kept those big, gray eyes on him, but he stayed quiet. He was learning to be the right kind of patient. Tatsuya sat properly on the futon with Akira, legs crossed. “He’s a little… confused right now.”
Akira seemed to think on those words. It didn’t settle right and Tatsuya immediately knew he phrased it wrong again.
“About what?”
Tatsuya sighed, frustrated with himself. They had talked about it, but Tatsuya didn’t know how much he should say. Ideally, he could keep Akira in the dark. He needed to go find out exactly how deep Jun was, and he knew he would more than likely need to bring up some things Akira did not need to know in hopes of jarring those memories again.
Akira’s hand was squeezing the paw of his cat doll tight as he grew impatient. Tatsuya looked over his face, saw the faint furrow of his brow as he waited for Tatsuya to explain, to do anything.
Jun just wanted to give this kid a normal, happy life, but this wasn’t fair, either. There was always some kind of thin line he found himself walking.
Tatsuya took a deep breath as he ran a hand through his hair. He picked his words carefully.
“Sometimes… Jun forgets things. And he has a hard time remembering.”
Akira didn’t seem entirely convinced but he was listening.
“Uh, It’s like… a jigsaw puzzle,” Tatsuya continued, “A few pieces fell out of place, but… there’s also pieces from an entirely different puzzle that don’t belong mixed in as well. Does… that make any sense?” He hadn’t been this nervous talking with the kid since they first were introduced. Akira was clever, though. Whether he grasped the concept or not, he sat on it and tried to make sense of the analogy. Tatsuya wasn’t sure how else to put it without revealing anything else. He was still not sure how Jun would react to Akira knowing this much, but he couldn’t just leave it be.
Akira looked up and met Tatsuya’s eyes.
“Can we help?”
Guilt settled firmly in his heart as Tatsuya sighed.
“I need to check on him and talk him through it,” Tatsuya kept his voice soft as he stood from the futon. “Stay here. We’ll be up when it’s okay.”
Tatsuya hadn’t even made it to the door before Akira was standing as well.
“I want to help, too.” It was a firm declaration, and Tatsuya should have known better. He wanted to let the kid help. Akira stood in the middle of the bedroom, tall and confident despite his small stature. Jun was right to see the good in him underneath the quiet defiance. Tatsuya hated how he had to keep shooting down those good intentions.
“Akira, I don’t—” Tatsuya stopped as Akira started to puff his face and small chest in frustration. A thought hit him and Tatsuya looked to the bookshelf on the other side of the room. He walked over to it without a word, Akira watching carefully. The photo album he was looking for was on the middle shelf, besides a framed picture of Akira on his first day of school.
Tatsuya slid the album off the shelf and looked over the cover. The year “2005” was written on the bottom corner. It was only a couple years ago.
Akira was still watching him, though he looked to have calmed down. Tatsuya took the album and knelt down to be about eye level with him.
“I know how you can help,” Tatsuya said and he held out the album. Akira looked down at it, confused, before he slung his doll over his shoulder and carefully took the book in his small hands. “It’s probably the most important thing, too. Look through this and pick your favorite picture. I’ll show him it, and it’ll help.”
It sunk in and Akira quickly crouched down and put the album on the floor as he flipped through the pages. It was full of photos, old crayon drawings, and other small memories they all decided to hold on to.
Akira flipped back and forth between a few pages before he finally settled back to the very first page. His finger jabbed at one of the very first pictures in the book.
“This one.”
Tatsuya leaned over and smiled down at the picture. It was a simple photo, one Tatsuya took the very first day they were able to bring Akira home. It was a cloudless, sunny day, Tatsuya remembered. Akira was standing in front of the door with one of his old puzzle toys in his hands, Jun crouched down beside him. There was a smile on Akira’s face, so wide Tatsuya almost couldn’t see his eyes, and Jun was smiling down at him. Even in the photo, Jun’s eyes were shining and wet.
It was a good photo.
Akira looked up to Tatsuya, and Tatsuya smiled at him. Carefully tugging the photo out of the protective slip, Tatsuya looked down at it once more.
“It’s perfect.”
Tatsuya stood, and Akira watched from his place by the album. He was quiet and didn’t protest this time.
“I still need you to stay up here, but this,” Tatsuya held the photo up, “will be a big help. Thank you.”
Akira pulled his doll off his shoulder and held on to it. He finally nodded and looked back down to the album in front of him. Tatsuya would have to make it up to him later. Maybe tomorrow Jun and him would discuss a better way of handling this sort of situation incase it ever arose again.
“We’ll both be up here soon. I promise.”
As Tatsuya left, he took one last look and watched Akira carefully flip through the photo album once again. He looked a little dejected. Tatsuya shut the door and told himself he would make it up to him later. The door clicked shut behind him.