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The officer was worried. Gojyo had been moody lately; when he thought no one was looking there’d be a frown on his lips. It even looked as if he had to remind himself to laugh and crack jokes, something that had usually come naturally to him. Even more concerning, he teased people less,which—given how their family operated—was enough to have Kenren, Jien and Nataku consider taking Gojyo to the hospital. But despite how they tried to hint that they would be willing to listen, (or even outright ask in the case of Nataku) Gojyo wouldn’t tell them what was wrong.
Gojyo was more successful with keeping it hidden now that he was older, but he was often a bundle of anxiety on the inside. Kenren being the attentive father that he is, he is still able to spy when worries are brewing deep in the heart of his second son. Still he didn’t ever speak on it these days, not unless Gojyo approached him first about something. As much as Kenren would love to rush to his child’s aid immediately, he knew his son’s personality enough to know he’d play it off as nothing, even tease the old man about being a worrywart.
Honestly, this little game the two had to play in order for Gojyo to admit anything was wrong could be tiring, but Kenren knew he couldn’t complain. He was certain this was a trait Gojyo had gotten from himself. In fact, both Jien and Nataku—Kenren’s two other sons—exhibited the same traits. Kenren sighed, brushing a hand against his forehead, he sure hoped that, if his own kids had any of their own in the future, that they would raise them to speak on their feelings more clearly. Or at all.
Kenren found his eyes slowly shifting to the walkie talkie on his desk. It was clearly old but Kenren always made sure it was working properly. He remembered when he had gotten a pair for him and Gojyo when Gojyo was really young. About 7 or so? He remembered the teasing he got from the people in the precinct, it was embarrassing but he didn’t mind. In spite of how Kenren behaved, to him being a good father was something he prided himself on. Something he was always striving to be, if that led to some good natured teasing then so be it. Kenren’s eye softened.
Gojyo’s anxiety was something Kenren had noticed when he was a child, but even then the little guy was slow to give up any information regarding his worries. At his current age, Kenren assumed part of why he kept his mouth shut was due to wanting to keep a ‘cool image’, and also him deciding it was something he could handle on his own, but back then Kenren was sure the reason was because Gojyo looked up to Jien and wanted to emulate him.
Unlike Gojyo, Jien seemed like a rock who could withstand any obstacle, a guy with a strong heart and fire to match (this, of course, was how Gojyo saw his brother.) Gojyo had always looked at his brother with starry eyes, eyes that continue to follow his dear big brother to this day. It was due to thinking this way that Gojyo tried to keep his sadness and worries in check, he’d rather run off then allow anyone to see the tears beginning to well up in his young eyes. Knowing this, and knowing it was best to tread lightly, both Jien and Kenren had taken a different approach to lightening the younger boy’s mood. For Jien it’d involve making him laugh until he forgot, but Kenren decided to buy the boy a walkie talkie. He made sure it looked similar to his own (as similar as a toy could get anyway,) because he knew that’d be something Gojyo would’ve looked for.
“Why do you have your walkie talkie, dad…?” Gojyo had asked. Gojyo blinked his tears back hoping that his dad would take this as him emphasizing his confusion.
“It’s not mine,” Kenren started, a grin on his face. “It’s yours.”
Gojyo’s brows furrowed, “why…?”
“So we can chat any time! Why else?” Another laugh left his lips when he saw the instant joy that flickered across his son’s eyes.
However this was soon replaced with a pout once more, “…why,” he emphasized strongly. There was a pause as he fought the urge to puff his cheeks up, “I don’t think Jien has one, right…?” Gojyo’s round hands pulled at the bottom of his shorts. Inside Gojyo was happy, but there was also sadness mixed with that happiness. Did his dad think he needed him more? If that was the case…how was he supposed to catch up to his big brother? It made him feel like he took three steps back. Gojyo’s shoulders hunched.
“Heeey, now, kiddo.” Kenren reached over and ruffled the boy’s hair, “what’cha getting so sad for? Didn’t you say you wanted to be a cop before?”
Gojyo blinked, when had he said that? He then remembered when he mentioned he was playing the cop in a game of Cop and Robbers. “That was a game!”
“Yeah but you said ‘I’m like you, dad!’ And this old man’s heart was so moved I had to get us matching walkie talkies,” he feigned a sob before pulling out a second one. Once again joy flickered in Gojyo’s eyes, but he didn’t get a chance to reply before Kenren continued. “Or what, you don’t want to be able to be able to share reports with me?”
Gojyo’s ears perked up. Report…? This reminded him of school work, and the thought made him want to twist his face. His dad looked hopeful, so maybe that wasn’t the case. “Do adults do reports too?” He asked, hesitant, he really hoped not.
“Yeah–”
Gojyo’s heart dropped. He had to look forward to that?
“But don’t worry, reports are cooler when police are doing it.”
Gojyo raised his brows, “howcome?”
Kenren straightened up, he brimmed with confidence. “Because! Reports are how police know when something bad happened! That’s how they know to fix the problem.”
Gojyo could practically hear the exclamation points in his head, Oh! That made sense to him.
Seeing his son was now interested, Kenren gently shook the walkie talkie in front of his face. “Sooo…want to share reports with dad? You tell me when something is wrong, I’ll tell you when something is wrong, and together we can fix any trouble that shows up!”
An odd feeling filled Gojyo’s tiny chest, he felt happy but it hurt too. He wanted to put a hand to his chest but he kept his hands where it was, “really…?” He softly asked. There was a pause. Kenren had to keep himself from scooping his son up, and was secretly relieved when Gojyo spoke up once more. “Okay.”
There was a tiny smile on his face and Kenren found himself mirroring it.
“You good?”
“I’m good!”
“You’re ready?”
Gojyo laughed, “I’m ready”
“Good,” Kenren then handed Gojyo the walkie talkie. “Remember to report anything bad!”
“Anything bad…?” Gojyo was a bit unsure what he meant, that was a vague statement after all. He then wondered if he should start wandering outside to see if anything suspicious was happening but it was evening and there was no way dad would let him out now.
“Anything! Did you know that…we police can even take care of problems when it’s inside? Like, when someone is reaaaally sad. We try our best to help those problems too.”
Gojyo tilted his head to look his dad in the eyes, “really…?” He paused. “I thought that was the teacher’s job.”
“It’s everyone’s! We all have a job to try and help each other when we’re sad,so, that means you need to report that too,okay?”
Gojyo nodded, “okay.” His brows furrowed firmly, “you too, okay?”
Kenren looked taken aback, he hadn’t expected this to be turned around on him. Kenren could feel his emotions getting the better of him and so he nodded, “okay.”
Gojyo grinned, “good!”
Kenren chuckled, “all right, go to bed.” Tucking Gojyo into bed, Kenren gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, grinning when he noticed how tightly Gojyo held the walkie talkie in his tiny hands. “Keep that safe.”
Gojyo nodded.
Kenren’s eyes were closed, wistful smile on his face as he remembered that day. That was one of the many treasured memories he had of his children, just thinking abut how much they’ve grown made him want to cry. “Ah shit…!” He laughed, “I’m really getting old.” He groaned.
The crackling of a walkie talkie alerted him, he immediately turned to find his police talkie when he heard Gojyo’s voice.
“…Dad?”
Kenren was startled, it had been a long time since he heard Gojyo through the walkie talkie, there was a part of him who wondered if it was his head playing tricks on him due to his nostalgia.
“Dad…are you there…?”
Kenren snatched the walkie talkie up, to think Gojyo really reached out to him on it again. “Y-yeah?” Kenren laughed, masking his surprise. “What’s up?”
There was a pause before Gojyo continued, “yeah…I got a report.”
Kenren was worried, but that worry was washed away by relief. “Tell me all about it.”