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“Naito!” It’s not an unexpected thing to hear. Hiromu entering a room calling Naito’s name is a normal as him breathing, but there’s something off about it. Bushi doesn’t look at him. There’s no point in it. Hiromu will have some ridiculous thing to show, or tell Naito, and if it’s deemed interesting enough, it’ll be shared with everyone else, which right now is just Bushi. Evil and Sanada aren’t here.
“What?” Naito had been sleeping on the bench, and sounds groggy.
“What’s this?” Not the expected follow-up comment from Hiromu. Bushi considers looking, but he’s still trying to find his tights.
“A rock?” Naito’s yawn almost devours his words.
“It’s not a rock, Naito.” Hiromu sounds dismissive, and Bushi can almost hear the shrug, fond smile, and the ruffle of Hiromu’s hair. “It’s like an egg?” That draws Bushi’s attention. In Hiromu’s arms is a large, sparkling black egg. A pixie egg. It looks awfully like an egg he’d produce if he’d been involved in a creation.
“Son of a bitch!” He snarls, and bounces to his feet. He’d known something had happened when he’d been in the ring with Ishimori. He’d known he’d felt groggy. The bastard had drawn his energy, and formed an egg. It’s a nice egg though. Sparkling, like black onyx, and well-formed. At least the asshole who made it is handsome.
“Oh! It’s a Bushi egg.” Hiromu hugs the egg close to his chest. “Do you want the note that was with it? It’s in my pocket.” Hiromu seems reluctant to let the egg go, which is unsurprising. It’s in his nature to cuddle things, belts, stuffed toys, people. Hiromu is a snuggly creature.
“Who were you making eggs with, Bushi?” Naito drapes over Bushi’s back, and chuckles in his ear. “It’s shiny.”
“It looks like Bushi’s tights.” Hiromu’s cooing at the egg softly, cuddling to his chest.
“It’s my egg, give it to me.” Bushi reaches out for it. Hiromu looks at him. He hesitates on handing it over, but he does relent. It’s definitely his egg. He knows that just from holding it. “Gimme that note, Hiro.” Bushi holds his hand out. Hiromu hands him a note written in the delicate fey script. “You don’t read fey, Hiro?”
“No, why would I read fey? I’m a demon…do you read demon?” Hiromu looks fidgety, the glamour he wears when in human dominated areas flickering slightly as it does when he’s annoyed or stressed, or concerned.
“Do you even have a written language?” Bushi chuckles to himself, and hands the egg back to Hiromu. This seems to calm him down, the egg is hugged to his chest tightly, keeping it was warm as he can.
I can’t take care of it – Ishimori
A very simple note, that makes Bushi want to punch the asshole in the face. If he couldn’t rear an egg, he shouldn’t have created the damn thing. Stupid asshole. It is a pretty egg though, and Hiromu seems fond of it. Bushi stuffs the note into his pocket, and goes back to his bag.
“Keep an eye on it for me, Hiro.” The air is briefly tinged with sulphur, and he’s unsurprised to see Hiromu in what is closer to his true form, lying on a bench. His pointed ears are almost hidden by his hair, his tail is draped over his ankle, his slightly pointed teeth visible as he coos to the egg.
“You’ve a match, right?” Naito asks as he pets Hiromu’s hair, and looks slightly bewildered by the egg. Bushi can’t exactly blame him. Naito is the only actual human in the Los Ingobernables de Japon locker room right now, but he did put himself in this position. He’d recruited Bushi knowing full well he was a pixie, and there’s no doubt he’s known what Hiromu was from the very beginning. The first time Bushi saw Hiro he’d been in his true form fast asleep in Naito’s lap. Naito has never been shy about being more comfortable around the unhuman members of the locker room.
“Yeah…Don’t let him drop that.” Bushi nods to the egg, and leaves the locker room. He should go find Ishimori, and demand answers as to why he has an egg to look after. It’s a violation of all manner of rules, and very probably laws, to create an egg without his consent. He certainly didn’t consent to have an egg. He’s never wanted to rear a child, and the other Ingobernables aren’t exactly parent material either. Well, Evil maybe. For all that he’s an undying wraith, he’s almost as cuddly as Hiromu, and is good with kids. Sanada and Naito, as humans, wouldn’t be able to raise a pixie child. Hiromu would happily help, even if his help would cause chaos. Naito tends to try to right the messes Hiromu leaves, and Sanada and Evil follow along behind Naito to actually resolves the problems, which means all five of them would be rearing one egg. Bushi sighs. He’s putting too much thought into this. It doesn’t matter. He’ll give the egg back, or take it to the fey plane, and leave it there. He’s not going to be a parent. Still, he should talk to Ishimori.
He doesn’t.
He wrestles his match, and goes back to the locker room. He’s unsurprised to see that neither Hiromu nor Naito have moved much. His egg is still cradled tightly against Hiromu’s chest, but now Hiromu is snuggled up to Naito. He’s lying on his back on the bench, and has somehow, despite how narrow the bench is, manged to cuddle Hiromu up against him. Bushi shakes his head, and heads straight to the shower.
“I think Eggy-chan missed you.” He’s been in the shower for about five minutes when Hiromu enters the shower room, and sits in the dry corner, hugging the egg tightly. “It feels happier now.” Hiromu smiles cheerful, swaying from side to side. He’s singing some strange little song, that sounds as sweet as a breeze in the summer. It’s probably some odd kamaitachi lullaby from Hiromu’s childhood. It’s not a good idea to let this egg be raised by his demon brother. It’ll learn all manner of terrible things.
“Don’t be teaching my egg bad words in languages I don’t understand.” Bushi calls out, and rinses the shampoo from his hair. Hiromu chuckles, and starts singing a fey lullaby instead. “Better.” Bushi flicks the shower off, and grabs his towel. He wonders where Hiromu learnt fey lullabies, but it doesn’t matter much, he’s got a nice singing voice, and it reminds Bushi of being a child.
“How old is Eggy-chan?” Hiromu wraps the egg up in the smaller towel Bushi had intended to use for his hair. “It seems young…do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” Hiromu holds the egg up, turning it slowly in his hands. “Hey Eggy-chan, do you want to be held by your mama?”
“Don’t, Hiro.” Bushi throws his wet towel at Hiromu, and pulls his clothes on. “Give me the egg.” He holds his hands out, taking the egg from Hiromu. “It’s a few days old…and it’s far too early to know what gender it’ll be…a month maybe, then we’ll know.”
“Ooo…I can’t wait.” Hiromu gets to his feet, his already fluffy tail even more so thanks to the humidity in the shower. “We need to pick names that work for boys and girls.” Bushi isn’t really listening to him, he’s holding the egg, watching it carefully. He’s not going to name this egg. He’s going to give it back, or away. “Togepi?”
“We’re not naming it after a Pokémon, Hiro.” Bushi holds the egg out to Hiromu. No-one is going to ask questions of Hiromu carrying an egg. Hiromu is a strange thing, even for a demon, and people have learned to not question his oddness.
“I dunno…I think Togepi would suit it.” Naito laughs, and levels Hiromu with a smirk. “You’d definitely suit Misty cosplay, Hiro.” Hiromu pokes his tongue out, and cuddles the egg close. Naito makes grabby hands at it. “Lemme see my nephew.”
“It might be a niece! Bushi says it’s too early to tell.” Hiromu lets him take the egg, and Bushi shakes his head. He’s focussing on packing his bag. He moves on to packing Naito’s, and then Hiromu’s, ignoring Hiromu’s attempts at teaching Naito how to sing fey lullabies. Naito is not a good singer, and the only unhuman language he’s ever put effort into learning is the odd dialect of the demon common tongue Hiromu speaks, so the fey sounds awful. He is an enthusiastically bad singer though, and keeps making Hiromu laugh.
“Are Evil and Sanada at home?” Bushi finishes zipping up Hiromu’s bag, and turns to look at them. Naito’s sitting on a bench, his legs splayed, with Hiromu sitting on the floor between them. The egg is swaddled in one of Naito’s hoodies, and being gently rocked in Hiromu’s arms. Maybe they’d make pretty good parents after all.
“They’re meeting us at the restaurant. You want the usual, right? Don’t expectant mothers have cravings?” Naito laughs, grinning up at Bushi.
“I don’t think he’s expectant, or the mother…are you?” Hiromu doesn’t look up from the egg, instead he fusses with the makeshift swaddling.
“No…I’m a single father, I guess…” Bushi shakes his head, and hefts his bag. “Let’s eat.”
The family run restaurant they frequent is owned by Bushi’s aunt, and her rarely seen husband. She married a human, and was slightly ostracised from the pixie community because of her choice in husband, but then again Bushi decided to wrestle in a stable with humans, a demon, and an unliving which was very much frowned upon too. Pixie society is slightly judgemental. When they get there, Evil and Sanada are already sitting in their usually spot, drinking, and chatting with Bushi’s aunt. She stares at the egg in Hiromu’s arms, then up at Bushi, and back at the egg. He’s going to have to explain something to her before the night’s out.
“Naito said you were knocked up.” Sanada is not subtle, and is undeniably confused by unhuman physiology. He looks expectantly at Bushi, and seems mildly putout when he shakes his head. “Eh, I still hold out hope that one day Hiro’ll go into heat and give Naito the half demon kid he clearly wants.” Sanada laughs. Hiromu scowls at him. “Your ears are showing, Hiro.” He ruffles Hiromu’s hair, and laughs when Naito bats his hand away, and presses a kiss to Hiromu’s temple.
“I don’t go into heat.” Hiromu mutters, and moves to the other side of the table beside Sanada. “This is our Bushi egg, Eggy-chan.” Sanada nods, and respectfully strokes the eggs shell.
“It looks like your tights, Bushi.” He seems slightly bewildered when Hiromu hands the egg over to him. Sanada holds it awkwardly out from him, shooting both Hiromu and Naito sharp looks as they snicker at him.
“You need to keep it closer. It needs to be warm.” Bushi tells him, feeling oddly protective over something he merely intends to give away. Sanada nods, and cuddles the egg close. Evil leans over his shoulder, cooing at the egg. Bushi can feel his aunt’s glare on his back, and he hopes that she’ll take pity on him, and not actually give him a talking to in front of his brothers.
“So, who did you knock up, Bushi?” Evil settles back against the back of the bench. He strokes his beard, watching Bushi with a smirk.
“I didn’t knock anyone up…and I didn’t form the egg. Ishimori made it. I had no say in the matter.” That comment changes the air at their table. His brothers’ protective instincts have been triggered.
“You want me to kill him?” Hiromu grins at him, all teeth and violence. It’s kind of him to offer, but he’s not sure that Hiromu could kill Ishimori.
“Beat him…but let’s not kill Bushi’s baby-mama.” Naito laughs, and reaches over the table to catch one of Hiormu’s hands. “So, Hiromu’s gonna beat him up…you want the rest of us to kill him?” Bushi smacks Naito on the chest.
“No killing.” Bushi sighs, and reaches out for the egg. Dinner passes as it always does. His brothers laugh, and joke, and tease each other. The only difference is that the egg is passed between them all. His aunt corners him whilst the other four are busy fighting over paying. She advises him that it might be better to wait until the egg is a hatchling before sending it the fey realm. He appreciates her advice, but there’s no way he wants to lug the damn thing around until it hatches. There is even less way he’s letting his brothers help him with lugging the egg around, and then with a hatchling until he can get to the fey plane. Hatchlings are hard work. Eggs are easy enough, but a hatchling needs feeding, and playing with, and teaching. All kinds of things that you can’t rely on five wrestlers for, especially not group as diverse as Los Ingobernables de Japon.
“Ne, Bushi?” Hiromu’s holding the egg, as they walk home. The family restaurant is close enough to most of their apartments to walk to, which is almost undoubtedly why it’s become their preferred hangout. “Are you taking Eggy-chan home?” Bushi glances over at him, and shrugs. He should. It’s his egg, but Hiromu seems very fond of it.
“You wanna stay over and help me with it?” Bushi nudges him lightly. Hiromu nods without looking at him, his attention is still on the egg to the point that Naito is guiding him around potential hazards. “Good, you can help me make a nest for it.”
“Nest?” That draws Hiromu’s attention. “We’ll have to make it pretty, and sparkly…Eggy-chan should have a nest that looks like it’s daddy.” Bushi winces at Hiromu’s joyous declaration of him being a daddy.
“What do we need?” Naito is apparently coming too, not a surprise really, and probably makes having a sleepover with Hiromu easier. He’s honestly not sure what they’ll need other than a decent amount of fabric, and the scents of the eggs parents. He’s no idea where they’ll get the scent of Ishimori, but he supposes that they’ll make do without him.
“So, sleepover at Bushi’s. Fun.” Evil is grinning, and grabs Sanada’s sleeve. “We’re getting snacks.” He drags Sanada into the Lawson’s they’re walking past, leaving Bushi standing staring at them. Hiromu hands him the egg.
“They’re gonna get the wrong kind of pocky. They always get the wrong pocky.” Hiromu nips into the store, leaving Bushi holding the egg beside a resigned Naito.
“This is a strange night.” Naito mutters, rubbing his temples. “All jokes aside, are you okay with this?” Bushi shrugs, and adjusts his coat over the egg. “Bushi.” Naito’s arm drapes over his shoulders, and pulls him a little closer. “Seriously, we’ll tear him apart if you want…well, Hiro will.” He presses a kiss to Bushi’s temple. “He’s pissed.” Bushi looks a little closer at Hiromu as he trails along behind Evil and Sanada, behind his glamour, his ears are back, his tail tense, and flicking sharply from side to side. He truly is pissed. Then again, so is Evil, the edges of his glamour are visible, shimmering and fragile, the full force of his wrath is barely restrained. Even Sanada’s shoulders are tense with violence. His brothers are livid on his behalf, which is at once unexpected, and entirely what he knew would happen. His brothers are protective.
“I want to talk to him before we kill him.” Bushi smiles fondly as Hiromu scrapes half of the pocky boxes into Sanada’s basket, which has Evil turning to him with an exasperated look on his face. His brothers will make terrible parents, great uncles though. “There has to be a reason he made the egg…I should find out, right?”
“I guess…you could give it back, or we could keep an eye on it.” Naito squeezes his shoulder. Bushi shakes his head. They’d be terrible egg-rearers, but Bullet Club would be worse. “At least your kid’s not gonna be ugly.” Naito chuckles.
“Yeah…we can’t raise a kid, Naito.” Bushi sighs, and looks down at the egg. “We’re on the road, we’re busy…backstage isn’t the place for a hatchling.”
“It’s not.” Naito’s voice has fallen into a tone he mostly uses on Hiromu. A tone that quietly fills you with confidence that what he’s saying is the exact opposite of what he means. It’s the tone he agrees with Hiromu’s self-deprecation in. It’s cheating. Naito takes his arm from Bushi’s shoulders, and the egg from him. “We’re terrible people, who only bring the worst out in each other. An awful family.” He smiles down at the egg, cooing at it softly. “I can’t remember that song Hiro tried to teach me. Fey is beyond me.”
“You learned Hiro’s garbage dialect.” Bushi grins over at him, laughing as Naito pretends to be painfully embarrassed, hiding his face against the egg. He spared more of Naito’s hamming by Evil coming out of the store with an almost goofy grin on his face.
“We found a hat!” He’s brandishing a jet-black beanie, that’s been woven through with some glittery thread. Evil seems ridiculously happy with his purchase. Bushi has to admit, it’s a good idea. Evil carefully places the hat on the egg. Sanada is weighed down with bags, and Hiromu has a stick of pocky hanging out of his mouth like a cigarette, which Naito steals by biting it in half.
“You were right, Evil. Eggy-chan looks good in hats. It takes after it’s papa.” Hiromu offers his box of pocky to Bushi.
“You should listen to me.” Evil takes a couple of pocky sticks out of Hiormu’s box, and sticks one between Bushi’s lips. Naito’s smirking when Bushi meets his eyes. He clearly thinks this ridiculous moment proves how good they’d be at looking after an egg.
“Put the hat on it’s bottom…it needs to get sunlight.” Bushi pointedly ignores Naito’s grin. They can’t look after an egg, they’re a collection of misfits and weirdos, even by their own diverse species standards. Evil quickly complies.
As soon as they’re in Bushi’s apartment, a delicate hint of sulphur wafts through the air. Bushi rolls his shoulders, and lets his glamour drop, his wings unfurl, and flutter. He always feels better when he doesn’t have to focus on keeping it in place. Both Evil and Hiromu’s glamours have dropped too, Evil seemingly floating, the shadows appearing to rush towards him, Hiromu’s odd, intricate markings swirling down his arms, and creeping up his neck to kiss his jawline. Sanada takes the egg from Bushi, and sits on the couch.
“As representative for the humans, we’re staying out of this nest building. We will, however, make tea, order takeout, and guard our child.” Sanada cuddles the egg up, and jerks his chin up at Naito. “Kettle on, fellow human.” Bushi rubs his temples, and grabs his random collection of fabric left over from making new gear. Our child both the humans seem to have decided that they’re keeping the damn egg. They literally can’t.
“Do we need like…” Hiromu trails off, and flaps his hands vaguely. He says something in his own tongue, and Naito snickers.
“How the fuck do you forget the word box, Hiro?” Naito ruffles his hair, and he sits down beside Sanada. “Kettle’s on.” Naito strokes the egg, smiling like a proud father.
“I don’t mean box.” Hiro mutters, and repeats the word he’d said. It means nothing to Bushi. He’s never even tried to learn anything but demon common tongue, and it’d been too awkward for him. Hiromu’s dialect is as different, and confusing as the demon himself.
“Well, that’s the only word that we have for what you mean.” Naito shrugs, and flags Hiromu over to him. He sits on the floor, and rests his head against Naito’s knee, smiling as Naito strokes one of his ears, making it twitch.
“I guess we will need a box though.” Bushi sits on the floor, and cradles his chin in his hand. “I don’t have a box.” He’s unsurprised that Evil vanishes. He’ll be fetching a box. He starts pulling fabric out of his bag. “We need something that smells of Ishimori.” He’s muttering, knowing full well the humans won’t hear him, but Hiromu will. He’s never built a nest before, but he can remember his teachers dull lessons about preparation and creation vaguely.
“You still have the gear you wrestled him in?” Hiromu’s fey is wispy, the familiar sounds morphed by Hiromu’s own breezy dialect. It’s odd, but charming. Hiromu bounces to his feet suddenly, and leaves the living room. Evil returns in a ripple of shadows. He’s holding several different boxes, of several different sizes. Naito steps over them, heading to the kitchen to make the tea.
“Which one is right?” Evil sits down on the floor, and starts laying boxes on the floor. Bushi stares at them in slight confusion. The egg’ll get bigger, so it’ll need room to grow, but it needs to be kept warm and swaddled. “This one?” Evil holds a box up
“Too small.” Sanada takes the box from Evil, and sets it on the floor. “That one.” Sanada gestures with his foot to one of the boxes. “It’s small enough to be cosy, but big enough to let Eggy-chan to grow.”
“Eggy-chan? We’re just accepting Eggy-chan as the name of our child?” Evil looks up at Sanada. Bushi wants to throw them all out. His brothers are awful. “I object. I strongly object.”
“We can’t give it a name, we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl.” Hiromu returns, and throws Bushi the shredded remains of the gear he’d worn against Ishimori. He must have pulled it from the laundry basket, and he either found Bushi’s kitchen scissors, or more likely, used his claws to shred it. “So, it’s Eggy-chan until we know if we’ve got a son or a daughter.”
“When will we know?” Sanada sits up a little straighter, regarding the egg more closely. Naito comes back with the teapot, and cups on a tray.
“A month or so.” Bushi rubs his temples. He can feel a headache building. Naito hands him a cup of tea. “We need to make the bottom kind of…” He flaps his hand, trying to convey that the bottom of the nest has to be firm enough to support the egg, but soft enough to make it comfortable. Evil hands him some thick fabric that’s definitely not from his bag. It’s velvety soft, but thick like one of Evil’s ring robes. “This is perfect.” He arranges it into the bottom of the box, fussing with it.
“Eggy-chan needs more colour.” Naito grabs the fabric bag, and starts rooting through it. “I like the red.” He tosses some deep, shimmering red fabric out of the bag. It’s not a surprise that it’s the exact same red as the ends of Hiromu’s hair, and the tip of his tail.
“There should be some blue.” Sanada’s grabbed the bag, and produces a glittering deep blue. “This, and this.” The second scrap of fabric is a vibrant turquoise. “Evil?” He holds the bag out to him. Evil shakes his head.
“The black is enough for me.” He takes the bag, and sets it back down by the spare boxes. Bushi’s crafted a pretty good-looking nest wall with a mix of the fabric his brothers have chosen. He lines it with the strips of his old ring gear.
“It smells like you both.” Hiromu’s fey is soft, slightly clumsy, and heavily accented. It always brings a smile to his face. It’s so different to back home, but familiar enough to make him happy.
“You’re sure?” Bushi can’t smell much on it, other than a hard match, but nothing too potent. Hiromu does have a better nose than all of them combined. Hiromu nods, and leans against Naito’s leg. “Gimme Eggy-chan.” Bushi mentally curses himself for indulging their ridiculousness. He’s not keeping the egg, maybe. He might keep it until it’s a hatchling, but it’s a terrible idea. His brothers seem so fond of it though, something fragile, something that needs them, something precious to protect, something that is theirs. It's no surprise his brother's protective instincts are triggered by it. He takes the egg from Sanada, and carefully arranges it in the nest. Again, he fusses with the fabric and the lining. He’s smiling. He’s smiling like an idiot. He can’t stop it. He takes up his teacup once more, and sips at it. “It is a pretty egg.” Bushi strokes a finger over the shell. He can feel the warmth coming from it. He’ll give it to his mother when he goes home next. She’ll be pleased, once he explains. He can’t explain without talking to Ishimori though. He needs to track him down and find out why there’s even an egg to begin with.
He hunts him down in a corridor after a match. Ishimori looks at him blankly. A raised eyebrow is the only sign of emotion he shows. He inclines his head towards the LIJ locker room.
“Takahashi has it?” He folds his arms. Bushi nods. “You’ll keep it?” Bushi wants to punch the sour asshole in the face, but can’t really answer. He keeps flip-flopping on his decision. The egg is beloved by his brothers, constantly cradled in Hiromu’s arms when in public, but passed between his brothers in private. They’ve taken to documenting Eggy-chan. There’s photos of it wearing Naito’s cap, swaddled between the tag-belts, snuggling up with Daryl. He’s almost tempted to show these stupid photographs to Ishimori, but he’s not sure it’d be a good idea.
“Why aren’t you keeping it?” Bushi starts folding his arms, realises that Ishimori has, and he keeps his hands down at his sides. Ishimori shakes his head.
“It wouldn’t survive with them.” He jerks his chin, indicating the Bullet Club. That’s true. The Bullet Club would be even worse than LIJ at looking after an egg. “You’ll keep it, or send it home?” Bushi shrugs.
“I’m keeping it.” Bushi’s resigned, but determined in his decision. He and his brothers will keep Eggy-chan until it hatches, and then he’ll send it to his mother. Ishimori smiles tightly. His egg’s creator is handsome. It’s a shame he’s an asshole. “Why does it exist?” Ishimori looks away, embarrassed perhaps.
“Our cycles synced.” Blunt and cold. Bushi scowls. “I didn’t mean to make an egg.” He still hasn’t met Bushi’s eyes. “I…” He cracks his jaw, and looks at Bushi like he wants to fight him. An accident. The egg was nothing but an accident. It's almost laughable. “Thank you for keeping it.” Bushi shrugs. He’s made the decision for his brothers more than anything. LIJ are a family, a strange jumbled one, but a family all the same. Ishimori still looks like he’s going to punch Bushi as he bows quickly. “I will provide food when it hatches.” He turns on his heel, and strides, with his strange mechanical gait, towards the Bullet Club locker room.
“Ishimori!” Bushi calls out. He turns to look at him. He looks oddly nervous. “Come see Eggy-chan.” He looks like he’s going to say no. “It’s getting big…and it’d be good for it to sense its other parent.” He comes back, and follows Bushi into the locker room.
“What’s he doing here?” Evil’s scythe is at Ishimori’s throat as soon as they enter. Hiromu growls, his ears back, tail puffed up, sharp little teeth bared. Sanada and Naito, as uselessly human as they are, are on their feet, keeping the egg, safely swaddled in its nest, behind them. Ishimori looks like he’s going to start throwing fists.
“Stand down.” Bushi waves his brothers down. Naito complies first, he sits on the bench beside the nest, and moves the nesting box a little closer to him. Evil is next to relent, his scythe vanishes, but he remains nearby, watching Ishimori closely. Naito catches Hiromu’s tail, and runs his hand down it, smoothing down its fur.
“Relax, little weasel.” He murmurs. Hiromu huff a reluctant sigh, and sits on the floor in front of the nesting box. Naito ruffles his hair. “So, you’re visiting Eggy-chan?” Ishimori cracks his jaw. “Tranquilo.” Naito laughs. “We’re happy to see baby-mama.” Sanada snickers, and sits on the other side of the nesting box. He carefully lifts the egg out of its nest, and carries it over Ishimori.
“Be careful.” Sanada hands it over to him. Ishimori looks slightly distressed, but does hold the egg close to his chest. His eyes fall closed, a smile forms in his pinched face.
“You’re doing a good job with it.” His fey is accented different to Bushi’s, but far more familiar than Hiromu’s.
“We’re doing a good job with it.” Hiromu snaps from the floor. Ishimori ignores him, and starts humming to the egg.
“It’s getting close to hatching.” Ishimori would know better, he’s the one who created the egg. “I’d like to see it before you send it home.” He hands the egg to Bushi. “I’ll make sundrops.” He has a very blunt way of talking, even in melodic fey, there’s a brutal edge to his words. “Demon.” He turns to Hiromu, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t teach it your trash tongue.” Hiromu hisses at him, but doesn’t react beyond that. Ishimori leaves with little fanfare.
“I should learn fey.” Naito mutters, leaning back against the wall. “He say nice things?”
“He’s gonna make some sundrops…” Bushi trails off when all he gets is blank looks from his brothers. “It’s what hatchlings eat…he said mostly nice things.” Bushi summarises in a way that seems to placate the others. Hiromu says something to Naito in his demonic tongue, Naito laughs, and ruffles Hiromu’s hair.
“Can you make these sundrops?” Evil has finally properly stood down, relaxing against the wall.
“I’ve never tried…maybe.” Bushi shrugs, holding the egg close to his chest. He should learn how to make sundrops. He might be sending Eggy-chan home, but he should be able to provide for it. “We need to think of a better name for the egg.”
“It’s too late.” Sanada laughs. “Eggy-chan is its name now.” Bushi presses a kiss to the egg, quietly apologising for the fact that his brothers are going to be terrible uncles.
The egg grows bigger, and bigger, until it’s as big as Daryl. Hiromu has gifted the stuffed cat to the egg, under his profound belief that the egg likes him, which does seem likely. Eggy-chan is usually warmer when resting against Daryl. His brothers have basically moved into his tiny apartment, sleeping in the living room, which causes far less problems than Bushi had hoped. He’d wanted them to get bored of this prolonged sleepover, but apparently, they’re dedicated to keeping an eye on the egg, and by extension Bushi. He’s looking tired, he knows that, but that’s because until the egg hatches it leeches energy from it’s fellow fey. He can’t resent the egg its need to feed, but he wishes there was someone else for it draw energy from. His brothers don’t exude the right type of energy for the egg to absorb, so it has no choice but to feed from Bushi.
“Bushi…can we talk?” Of all the people to approach him in the back, Ibushi is not on the list. As much a fey as Bushi, but a fey of a different type. He looks slightly uncomfortable as he drags Bushi into a corner. “…Hiromu-kun is carrying the egg Ishimori made with you, isn’t he?” Bushi nods awkwardly. He doesn’t want information about the egg spreading to more people than it has. Ibushi smiles tightly. He looks even more uncomfortable. “I thought so…I…” He holds out a delicate looking bottle. He presses it into Bushi’s hand. “You look tired.” He claps Bushi on the shoulder, and leaves him staring at the bottle. Inside it’s a sundrop elixir. It’s a nice gift. A difficult to create gift, that’ll restore his energy balance, which is good for Eggy-chan, and him.
The egg keeps growing. The shell is getting thinner, and thinner. Evil has mentioned that he can see the little pixie’s energy moving inside. Hiromu says he can smell the egg’s emotions, which Bushi is dubious of, but he’s not entirely sure, demons are weird, especially Hiromu.
“It kicked.” Sanada says as they’re watching tv one evening about a month after Ishimori gave him the egg.
“Eggs don’t kick.” Bushi mutters, and pats the top of the egg. It’s laying against Sanada’s chest, wrapped in some pretty, colourful material that Ibushi had gifted him, when he presented Bushi with another sundrop elixir.
“Maybe it’s hatching.” Evil doesn’t look up from the book he’s reading. That would make sense. It’s should hatch soon. Bushi shrugs, but he keeps his hand on the shell. He doesn’t want to miss his egg hatching.
It doesn’t hatch before bedtime. He’s a little disappointed, but he’s sure it’ll hatch soon. He just hopes he doesn’t sleep through it. His concerns keep him from falling asleep. He manages a light doze, but the sound of the egg cracking snaps him awake. A long crack forms around the top, smaller cracks appearing at the bottom. Little stubby legs, with cute little black feet poke out. Another loud crack, and the top pops off. A small head pokes out, its face is starkly black and white, shimmering like Bushi’s ring gear, marked like one of Bushi’s masks. Big, dark eyes peek out, looking around the room.
“Pa!” The hatchling exclaims as soon as its eyes rest on Bushi. “Pa, Pa, Pa!” It bounces in its nest. Little hands poke out, and start flapping at him. Bushi scoops it up, examining it carefully.
“Boy or girl?” Hiromu wanders into Bushi’s bedroom, looking half-asleep, his ears perked, Naito’s t-shirt hanging halfway down his thighs. The sound of the cracking egg must have woken him up. Naito appears behind him, and plasters himself to Hiromu’s back. Sanada and Evil crowd into Bushi’s bedroom. All four of them are staring at him, hopeful, eager to find out if they’ve got a niece or a nephew.
“Gentlemen, we’re the proud fathers of a daughter.”