Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

April 1st, 2000 was a nerve wracking and exciting day for Reiji Kido. He hadn’t realized that’s what it would be like, knowing your child was about to be born… The thought hadn’t crossed his mind, as there hadn’t been a man waiting on the edge of his seat for his birth…

But here he was, looking at his newborn son -- at Takashi. Now, Reiji was no expert on babies, but he was pretty sure his son was just the cutest there was. With his head already covered in frizzy black locks, his big grey eyes staring out into the world, and his chubby little cheeks… Well, no one could beat his son!

Of course, however, Yuka (a parent herself) had a different opinion.

“He’s pretty cute…” She poked the infant’s cheek. “But my Takuya and Yuki were cuter.”

“Come on now, Yuka.” Yukino put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, shaking her head. “They’re all too cute to compare to each other.”

“Oh come on, Yukki!” Yuka looked at her, tongue sticking out. “You and I both know--”

“Oh! How adorable!” Eriko’s voice cut Yuka off, as she ran to Reiji and Yoshie’s side. “May I hold him?”

Yoshie nodded, passing Takashi over to her. If Reiji didn’t know this was his and Yoshie’s son, he’d almost think Eriko was his mother. She held him, cooing at him and smiling as the baby stared up at her.

“You’re not trying to steal our son, are you, Eriko?” He raised an eyebrow, cracking a smirk and she frowned at him.

“If you joke like that too much, I might just be tempted!”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” Masao spoke up, walking forward. “Takashi’s giving you a real death glare… Or maybe he just has a resting bitch face like his dad.”

“You come back from America to meet my son, only to insult me?” Reiji frowned at him.

“Not my fault you both have that perma-grump look!”

“I should kick you out of the room for saying that.”

“Hey! Let’s not fight around the baby!” Naoya spoke up from the back of the room. “It’s bad for him.”

Yukino furrowed her brow. “Can Takashi understand a word they’re saying?”

“Oh, I wasn’t talking about Takashi. I was talking about me. I’m the baby.”

“Toudou…” Kei shook his head, giving Naoya a look. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am! Everyone can back me up on it.” Naoya looked to Reiji. “Right?”

“If you call me dad, you’ll be the one getting kicked out, actually.”

Naoya pouted. “You’re no fun!”

“I can’t blame him, there, Naorin!” Hidehiko threw a hand around the other man’s shoulder. “I mean, Reiji is new to this! If you throw yourself at him now, it might be too much for him!”

Reiji narrowed his eyes. “What are you implying?”

“Nothing!”

“That’s enough you guys.” Maki spoke up then, looking at Yoshie. “I’m sure Yoshie-san is tired of hearing us go back and forth like this!”

“Oh, no no!” She shook her head, giving a giggle. “It’s fine! I love seeing Reiji so happy.”

Hidehiko squinted at Reiji. “You call that face happy?”

“His face has been really soft since we walked in here!” Naoya spoke up, a smile on his face. “You’re just soft for kids, aren’t you, Reiji?”

“S… shut up!”

Eriko giggled. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of, is it, Takashi?”

The baby made a noise and Reiji sighed. Of course his son would make noise at just the right time to throw him under the bus…

“Even your son agrees!” Yuka snickered. “I bet you the twins would never do that to me.”

“If that’s your way of going back to the cute argument, don’t.” Reiji shook his head, pausing for a moment. “...Besides, Takashi is the cutest.”

“Oh he is not!”

“Great, now the parents are going to argue…” Kei sighed, shaking his head. “This is why I’ll never have children.”

“That’s a smart way to say you’ll never nab someone willing to have your baby.” Hidehiko grinned, breaking into laughter as Kei started to scoff.

“Damn, that was cold…” Masao snoted. “I mean… You’re not wrong, but still!”

“Both of you…” Kei was grimacing. “You’re implying I would care about wooing someone in the first place!”

“That’s enough, all of you!” Yukino shook her head. “If you keep this up, none of us will ever see this kid again, I swear…”

“I’m sure you, me, and Elly will be able to again.” Maki smiled at Yukino. “After all, we’re not the ones causing issues.”

“Hey!”

“But Maki, I’m a baby, I should be allowed to see Takashi.”

“I didn’t start any of this…!”

“Maki...!”

Reiji sighed, holding out his arms to Eriko. “Gimme Takashi, would you?”

Eriko nodded, handing the baby to his father. “Is something wrong?”

“I just needed to hold him so I wouldn’t punch any of them.” He shook his head.

“Reiji!” Yoshie frowned. “You need to watch how you talk around Takashi!”

“Uh, s-sorry!” He shifted where he stood. “I mean, uh… I needed to hold him so I wouldn’t, uh…”

Eriko pat his arm. “Take your time.”

Maki giggled. “Should we go over some healthier coping mechanisms, Reiji?”

Reiji looked down at Takashi’s chubby face. “...That would be good, yeah.”

Chapter Text

Reiji had seen the divorce coming, but that didn’t make it sting less. Yoshie didn’t even look at him as they finalized it all, a quiet agreement that their son would spend weekends with her the last thing hanging between them.

It took a lot for him to drag himself back home. Takashi was only three… How was he going to explain to him that Mama and Papa weren’t gonna be living together anymore? He wasn’t sure he could do it…

It was late, too. He would probably be asleep when he got home, so he couldn’t ask Maki to wait around so he’d have some moral support…

Shit. Parenting was harder than he thought. How his mother had done it with him, he had no clue.

Soon enough, he pulled up to his apartment. Okay, he hadn’t had nearly enough time to think about what he would say, but he couldn’t stay out here all night. He would just have to think on it and have an answer ready by the time Takashi woke up in the morning… He could do this.

He dragged himself inside, closing the door quietly behind him, and was greeted by Maki. The smile on her face made him pause for a second… What was she up to?

“Maki… Is Takashi asleep?”

“Uh, he couldn’t get to sleep.”

“And where is he?”

“In his room, laying down to try to sleep.”

“Alone?”

“With Elly…”

“Why is Eriko here?”

“The same reason Naoya and Hidehiko are?”

Reiji sighed, taking his shoes off and walking past the woman. “Why did you invite people over?”

“I figured you’d need some support tonight…” Maki followed after him. “And maybe somewhere to release some stress.”

Reiji rose an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Follow me.” Maki grabbed him by the wrist and led him to the now empty room of his apartment. Just a month ago, it’d been a little office for Yoshie…

Thoughts of his now ex-wife, however, vanished when he saw just what Naoya and Hidehiko were setting up in the room. A punching bag… He’d talked about getting one so he could get out his frustration in a healthier way, but money had always been too tight.

“When did you guys buy this?”

“Oh, we got Kei to buy it.” Naoya flashed a smile. “Thought you could use it, now that there’s a place for it and all.”

“I…” He nodded. “Yeah, this’ll be useful. I’ll, uh, thank Nanjo for it later.”

Hidehiko snorted. “I’d pay to see that.”

Reiji scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well--”

“Takashi! Come back here!” Eriko’s voice pierced the room and was followed by the sound of little footsteps running right towards Reiji. “You can’t-- Oh, Reiji! You’re home…!”

He turned and standing with Eriko in the doorway was Takashi. His little hair, still as frizzy as the day he was born, stuck out everywhere and his grey eyes were filled with worry. “Papa? Where’s Mama?”

“Mama… Isn’t here.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “She, uh, probably won’t be coming back. You’ll see her this weekend, though.”

“Won’t be back…” Takashi deflated, a small frown on his face. “But… Who’ll tuck me in?”

“Uh, I will. I know Papa isn’t the best at it, but…”

He trailed off as Takashi stared up at him. What could he say? Takashi looked heartbroken and there was nothing he could do about it… Maybe he should have tried harder with Yoshie, should have worked harder to speak better and cope better…

He was starting to get pulled into his thoughts when Takashi held up his little arms. The same way he had before he learned to speak, when he wanted to be picked up. “Papa…”

He bent over, lifting his son in one arm. “Sorry, Takashi. Papa should’ve tried harder.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, Naoya was slapping him upside the head. “You fell out of love, idiot. How could you try harder when that happened?”

“Naoya--”

“Papa’s an idiot!” Takashi copied Naoya’s slap. “Takashi’s not mad at Papa, so he doesn’t need to say sorry!”

“You don’t have to hit me…” Reiji rubbed his cheek. “That hurt Papa, Takashi!”

Takashi gasped. “Oh no! I’m sorry Papa, I’ll kiss it better!”

Eriko chuckled, a hand brought to her mouth. “Isn’t that just the sweetest?”

“Sure is.” Maki walked up beside Reiji. “Though I think someone should probably go to sleep.”

“Nuh-uh, Aunt Maki! I’m not tired!” He shook his head. “I wanna stay up all night with Papa!”

“But we were gonna show your Papa a bunch of movies Uncle Brown rented…” Hidehiko frowned. “A few of them that wouldn’t be… appropriate for a boy your age.”

“I don’t wanna sleep, though!”

“Takashi…” Reiji gave his son a look. “You need to go to sleep.”

“Can Auntie Elly tuck me in, then? Papa doesn’t do it right!”

Eriko chuckled again, as Reiji’s face twisted up. “Sure, Takashi. I’ll tuck you in.”

“Let’s go then… I hope I can at least carry you to your room right.” He sighed, starting off towards his room as Takashi clung to him.

“Papa is good at carrying Takashi!”

“That’s good, maybe I can get as good at tucking you in.”

Takashi shook his head, sticking out his tongue. “Never!”

"Then you’re gonna be really disappointed every day Papa has to tuck you in.”

“...But Papa could just invite Auntie Elly or Aunt Maki to do it every night, right?”

“Nope.”

“Papa, please!”

“Not gonna happen, Takashi.”

“Papa…!”

Chapter Text

“Papa! Look what I have!” Reiji nearly yelled when he saw where the missing knife from his wares had went.

“Takashi!” He scrambled towards him, gently taking the knife from him. “You can’t play with that!”

“Why not?” Takashi puffed out his cheeks, looking up at him. “Papa plays with them everyday…”

“No I don’t. I sell them, it’s my job, Takashi.” He walked to his briefcase, kicking himself for leaving it down where Takashi could reach it. “Papa wouldn’t sell them if he could do something else.”

“Why can’t you do something else?” Takashi tilted his head to the side, walking over to watch his father put the knife back in place.

“Papa can’t get another job…” He sighed. Telling his son things like this made him feel like a loser.

“Oh…” Takashi thought for a moment, his little head resting against Reiji’s shoulder. “Well, Takashi thinks Papa’s job is cool!”

“Thanks, buddy…” He ruffled his hair before picking up the now closed case and heading for the highest shelf they had. “But no more getting into the knives!”

“But Papa…”

“They’re dangerous, Takashi! Papa doesn’t want you getting hurt.” He gave Takashi a look as he secured the briefcase. “Go watch one of the anime Uncle Brown bought for you.”

Takashi groaned. “Fiiiine! I’ll go watch Lupin the Third!”

“Again?” Reiji sighed. “Didn’t he buy you other anime to watch, too?”

Takashi stuck out his tongue. “Doesn’t matter!”

Reiji sighed, deciding against arguing with his son. If he liked the show and it’d keep him from getting into the dangerous objects around the house, then… Fine. He had things he wanted to do today, so he would let him do that.

“If you need me, I’ll be in the punching bag room. Make sure you tell me when you’re coming in.” He didn’t want to hit Takashi with said punching bag or something of the sort.

“‘Kay!” Takashi skipped off towards the living room, and it was hard to tell if he had actually heard what his father said… Well, Reiji would just have to hope his keen sense of hearing would make up for it.

For a while, Reiji was able to release his pent up frustration and stress, punching away without a worry. He could hear muffled sounds from the television, so Takashi was likely planted right in front of it… Good, he was listening.

Maybe Reiji would take him to the park when he was done with this, then. He was an excitable kid, and probably needed to release some energy--

A crash broke him out of his thoughts, and he was rushing out of the room when he heard Takashi wailing. Soon enough, he found his son, sitting on the ground and cradling his arm, rocking back and forth.

From the papers that were strewn on the ground to the briefcase now on top of his son, he had a good idea of what had happened.

“Takashi…” He rushed to his son, picking him up gingerly. “Were you trying to get into the knives?”

“Y...yeah.” He sniffled, rubbing his eyes with one hand. “Papa, my arm hurts!”

“...Let’s get you to the doctor, buddy.”

Chapter Text

Eriko had thought for a while on what to do with a poor boy, stuck inside all day with a broken arm, while his father was away at work… And she thought she had the perfect idea! What little boy’s life would be complete without some form of demon summoning, after all?

...Of course, she was sure Reiji would disagree with her on that fact, so she tried to keep it a bit hush hush. As far as he knew, they were just going to watch a few scary movies together…

She felt bad for lying to him, but she would do what she had to, to make sure Takashi had the experience of a lifetime!

“Are you ready, Takashi?” The summoning was nearly ready. All it would take was a few more candles placed just right and an incantation… “Satan will be with us, soon!”

“Yeah! I’m ready!” Takashi’s little eyes lit up as he nodded furiously, black curls bobbing around. “What do I need to do, Auntie Elly?”

“Place this candle on the far side of the room.” She handed him the final candle as she positioned another at her side. “Once that’s in place, you can sit next to me and we’ll begin!”

Takashi was quick to do as he was told, carefully setting up the candle before running back to Eriko. “Okay! I wanna see Satan, please, Auntie Eriko! Let me see Satan!”

“Alright, here we go…”

--

Reiji didn’t know what he was walking into, but he knew he didn’t like it. A strange set of words were coming out of Eriko’s mouth and the first thing he thought to do to stop her? Knock over a candle. A candle that was currently burning.

“Reiji!” Eriko let out a shriek as the fire quickly began to spread across the floor. “What are you doing?!”

“I don’t know! I acted on reflex!” He took off his jacket at that point, now his only thoughts on putting out the fire. “Shit…!”

Eriko sighed, holding out a hand. “Persona!”

Fuutai appeared behind her, a Bufula spell quickly extinguishing the flames… But the damage was pretty clearly done. Even if he didn’t get kicked out over this, their living room was now a mess. Charred wood and smoke filled the room…

“No Satan…?” Takashi sniffled, barely phased by the rest of what had happened. “Papa, Takashi wanted to see Satan!”

“Takashi…”

Eriko stepped on his foot, cutting off any other words he could muster. “Don’t worry, Takashi! You can still see Satan!”

Once again, she summoned a Persona, this time -- surprise surprise -- Satan. Reiji still wasn’t used to how it looked… The lizard-like body, the mask on its head, the pins all around its body, the chains… It was just a lot to take in…

Yet Takashi was enamored, giggling happily as the Persona lurched down to his level. “Satan!”

“If my son turns out all weird, I’m blaming you.”

“Well, if he starts fires, I’m blaming you!”

“...Touche, Eriko. Touche.”

Chapter Text

Naoya wasted no time swooping in as soon as he heard about what happened to Reiji’s apartment. Sometimes, Reiji wished Eriko and Naoya weren’t good friends, sharing everything that happened with each other… And this was kinda one of those times.

It was nice that he was offering him a place to stay (there was no way he could keep Takashi in an apartment that looked like that), and even offered it to be rent free until he paid off the damages, but… Man, this place was a little big, wasn’t it? Reiji didn’t exactly like big homes.

But Takashi was already wandering around the open layout, a sparkle in his eyes. That was right, he’d probably never seen a place quite as open as this before… At least, not without being outdoors…

“So…” Naoya grinned, elbowing Reiji. “What do you think?”

“It’s, uh, it’s nice. Really nice… But…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Isn’t it a bit big for a single dad and his son?”

Naoya snorted. “You don’t think I’m letting you guys stay here alone, do you?”

Reiji blinked a few times. “Well, I don’t wanna live with any randos, either--”

“You won’t have to!” Naoya pat him on the back. “I think you know everyone who’ll be living here.”

“What--”

Before Reiji could finish the question, the door opened. When he saw Hidehiko, he almost thought it would be better if it was a bunch of strangers. Not that he didn’t love his friends, he loved them dearly! But man, they could be real bad influences on Takashi…

“Takashi! Uncle Brown is here!” He threw his arms open as Yukino and Maki walked in behind him. “Come gimme a hug!”

Takashi ran over… Right past Hidehiko, into Yukino’s arms with a giggle. “Aunt Yukino! Aunt Maki!”

“Hiya, Takashi!” Maki giggled, ruffling his hair as Yukino adjusted her grip on the boy.

“As excitable as always, huh?”

Hidehiko frowned, but shrugged. “Well, fine! Ignore me! At least your dad would never do that to me!”

But, as if the universe wanted to prove him wrong, in walked Eriko. If she was going to be staying here too, Reiji needed to set some ground rules about Takashi down. Without a second thought, he also breezed past Hidehiko, up to the woman.

“Eriko. If you’re gonna be around here, you better not go summoning random demons with my son again.”

Eriko gave him a smile. “As long as you don’t start any fires, that could be arranged!”

“Oh come on!” Hidehiko turned to face both of them with a frown. “I get it! You’re both ladies’ men! But can’t one of you be a mans’ man for a while?”

Reiji turned to face Hidehiko, leaning towards the man. “Could you handle me being a mans’ man, Hidehiko?”

Hidehiko’s face went red as he backed up a step. “Well, uh… Y’see--”

“I could handle it!”

“I wasn’t asking you, Naoya.”

“Well you can’t be messing with your friend’s heart like that!” Hidehiko had seemingly recovered in the moment Reiji turned his head to look at Naoya. “Really! First you steal all the girls in high school and then you try to steal my heart?”

Reiji gave him a blank stare. “I don’t want anything to do with your heart and you know it.”

“How cold…!”

“To be fair, I don’t think he wants anything to do with any of our hearts…” Naoya snorted. “Don’t feel too bad, Hidehiko.”

“Naorin…! You’re the only one I can rely on!” Hidehiko threw his arms around him. “Maybe one day Reiji will realize what a catch we all are…”

“Brown…” Eriko clicked her tongue. “That’s enough! This move is probably stressful enough for Reiji as it is!”

Takashi giggled, still snug as a bug in Yukino’s arms. “Uncle Brown is so silly!”

“Aw, at least one person thinks I’m funny!”

Reiji gave him a look. “He’ll grow out of it.”

“That’s just cold…!”

Chapter Text

Naoya was watching Takashi bounce off the walls when an idea hit him. If he couldn’t keep up with the little ball of energy, there was something he had that could!

“Hey, Takashi!” He smiled, gesturing for the boy to come over to him. “You wanna play with some monkeys?”

Takashi clung to his leg, eyes bright. “Yes, please, Uncle Naoya! Are we going to the zoo?”

“Nothing like that, but it’s even better!” He grinned before focusing on the feeling of summoning. “Seimen Kongou!”

There was his first ever Persona, his three monkeys happily sitting and swinging from him. Takashi let out a delighted squeal, holding his hands out. Good, he thought the kid would get a kick out of this.

It took one thought to get the monkeys dashing off around the room, Takashi following after them gleefully. Perfect, now he could just sit back and relax--

A crash made him jump. Hopefully that wasn’t anything too important that just fell… Takashi and the monkeys would no better than to destroy anything expensive or important, right?

“Just gotta relax…” He looked over at his Persona, as if he would respond. “Right?”

For a moment there, he thought his own Persona was giving him a look . Man, if his other self was giving him a look, he knew he’d messed up big time… But he couldn’t just take the monkeys away! Not when Takashi was having so much fun…

Another crash, and the surprised screeches of child and monkey alike made him second guess that, however. Couldn’t they play a little more carefully? Maybe the monkeys were chaotic, but after his broken arm he assumed Takashi wouldn’t be as wild.

“Should I go check on them? I should go check on them--”

“Naoya. I thought I asked you to watch Takashi.” Reiji’s stern voice made him turn away from his Persona.

Standing there was Reiji, three monkeys hanging off of him and Takashi clinging to his neck. Well, damn. He hadn’t realized he would be home so soon…

“The monkeys are part of my Persona, so I was technically watching him still!” Weak excuse, he knew, but hey…

“Then when did you let him run around breaking things?” Reiji narrowed his eyes. “Do you know how much that vase in the entryway costs? Because I don’t, but we’re gonna have to find out.”

“Because…”

“Because it’s broken , Naoya!” Reiji huffed, shaking his head. “I don’t know how many paychecks are gonna have to go towards paying Nanjo back now…”

“I, uh, I’ll help pay for it!” It was the least he could do.

“Great, we’ll be done paying for it by the time we’re fifty, then.”

“Oh come on! It won’t be that bad!” Naoya shook his head. “I’d say forty, at max.”

“Are you serious?”

Naoya grinned at him. “I’m actually kinda joking around, but it worked. I see that smile you’re trying to hide.”

“I am not…” He covered his mouth and Naoya just knew he had caught him almost smiling. “I’m mad at you right now! Stop trying to change that.”

“But Reiji…” He pouted at him. “Can you really stay mad at me? You know you love me.”

“Everytime we talk the ice you’re on gets thinner.”

Takashi let out a little scoff, slapping his father’s arm. “Papa! It’s bad to lie!”

“Takashi, we’ve been over this. No slapping…” He swallowed, avoiding Naoya’s stare. “And I’m not lying--”

“You are!” Takashi looked over at Naoya, cheeks puffed out. “Papa always says you and Uncle Mark are his bestest friends and he loves you guys lots!”

“Takashi…!”

“Aw, no reason to be embarrassed, Reiji!” Naoya stood, walking over to his friend. “You’re one of my bestest friends, too!”

“Naoya…”

Chapter Text

Reiji was stressing out over Takashi’s next birthday and it showed. He had been pacing the living room for nearly an hour when Maki finally decided she needed to step in and do something. Watching him do this was just… painful.

“Reiji… Doesn’t Takashi like your magic tricks at his birthday parties?”

“Well, yeah, but I think he’s growin’ out of it!” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Shouldn’t I do something… New?”

“I think he’s still young enough to enjoy that kind of thing!” Maki put her hands on her hips. “He’s turning five, not fifteen.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Reiji.”

Reiji sighed, shaking his head. “Okay, you have a point there. But… What about friends? We moved away from all those little goobers he hangs out with…”

“Takuya and Yuki live closer to here than your old place, right? You can invite them!” Maki stared up at him. “And you do realize you can go back to the old complex and invite people.

“But Takashi deserves a big birthday! ...And I doubt any of the old neighbors wanna see the guy who nearly burned the place down.”

“Fair…”

“Take him to the park, then!” Hidehiko had walked in in the middle of the conversation, throwing his arm around Reiji’s shoulders. “There’s still a month, he could make plenty of friends to invite before that!”

“I guess so, but I’ve been so busy at work…” He sighed, not even trying to shrug Hidehiko off of him. “I’m still tryin’ to pay back even half of that damn vase’s cost…”

“I still can’t believe you insisted on paying when Kei told you you didn’t have to…” Maki frowned at him. “You should take more breaks.”

“Working yourself to the bone isn’t good for you!” Hidehiko poked his cheek. “Taking Takashi to the park would be a real win for you, anyway!”

“It would be nice to spend more time with him… And it’d keep him away from my knives.” Maki could see on Reiji’s face just how tiring that was. 

Hidehiko whistled. “You know, you could just put the knives up higher and… Lock em up?”

“I do! I put it up high and he acts like a little monkey and gets it down, I lock it up and he ends up being a little master lockpicker…” Reiji groaned. “Parenthood is harder than it looks…”

“Well, I think you’re doing fine!” Maki smiled at Reiji. “I was talking to your mother the other day and she was telling me how proud of you she is. She says you’re handling being a single parent as well as she thought you would!”

Reiji blushed a bit, looking away. “R… Really?”

“Mmhmm!” Maki smiled at him. “You should try and talk to her more about parenting, I think it’d make her happy.”

“I’d thought she got her fill of parenting with me, but… I might try that sometimes…” He gave a little nod. “Thanks.”

“No problem~”

“Well, then, let’s get you a day off!” Hidehiko pat his shoulders with a grin. “Gotta give the mama’s boy a chance to talk to his mama.”

“Hidehiko…”

“And the papa bear a chance to watch his baby bear!”

“Stop touching me.”

“Reiji! You’re so cold!”

Chapter Text

Yuka liked babysitting Takashi, as rare as that was now that Reiji was living with a bunch of friends. Her twins loved spending time with him, and he was kinda a ball of sunshine… He helped make this boring life a little more fun, though of course, not as much as her little sweeties did!

“Aunt Yuka!” Takashi tugged on her skirt. “I’m hungry... Can I make something on the stove?”

She rose an eyebrow. “Does your daddy let you use the stove?”

“Uh… Yeah…”

“Takashi! Are you lying to our mom?!” Takuya puffed out his cheek as he approached, his little freckles clear on his cheeks. “You can’t do that! I know Uncle Reiji won’t let you near the stove!”

“Yeah!” Yuki didn’t have the same freckles as her brother, but her brown hair was pulled back into the same kind of twintails Yuka always used to wear, and they bounced the same way when she shook her head. “Uncle Reiji said you’d burn down the house if you tried!”

“Nuh uh!” Takashi turned to Yuka, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Aunt Yuka! They’re lying about what Papa said!”

“No we’re not!” Takuya shook his head. “We’re telling the truth!”

“Yeah! If we’re lying, Takuya won’t pull my hair for a whole week!”

“Hey!”

Yuka hummed, hands on her hips. “I’ll just cook for you guys! I’m really good at it, y’know?”

Takashi deflated, releasing Yuka’s skirt. “Okay…”

Well, damn. If he was like that the rest of the day, she was sure Reiji would give her a look . And man, did she not like Reiji’s looks.

“You can help if you want to, Takashi.”

He was right back to smiling at that. “Really?!”

“Yeah, really.” Yuka looked at her twins. “You two can help too, if you want.”

“Of course, Mom!” Takuya put his hands on his hips, looking at Takashi. “Me and Yuki are gonna run laps around you!”

“Yeah!” Yuki nodded. “We’re sooo good at helping Mom out in the kitchen!”

Yuka huffed, shaking her head. “Stop making things into a competition, you two!”

“But Moooom!”

She put her hands on her hips. “That’s it, no more seeing Uncle Brown at the same time as Uncle Reiji or Uncle Mark!” It was almost always Hidehiko making comparisons that’d put competitive ideas in their heads, after all… And Reiji and Masao were some of his biggest targets when it came to that.

“Mom!”

“No Mom-ing me!” Yuka shook her head. “Come on, let’s go cook something!”

“Okay…”

Chapter Text

Hidehiko was excited when he came into the house, a grin on his face and little girl in his arms. For a moment, Reiji wondered who it was, but Hidehiko took care of that quickly enough.

“Everyone! Meet my Tamami!” He grinned, placing the girl on the ground. “She’s gonna be staying with us for a while!”

Takashi tilted his head to the side, sitting on his father’s lap. “Uncle Brown is a dad?”

“Yep!” Hidehiko ruffled Tamami’s hair. “She usually stays with her mommy, but Uncle Brown is her daddy!”

“Why are you watching her, Brown?” Eriko looked up from her book, head tilted to the side. “Is her mother busy…?”

“She sure is, some movie shoot is starting, so I said I’d keep an eye on the little tyke!” Hidehiko ruffled her hair yet again. “So you guys be nice to Tamami, okay?”

Reiji looked between Hidehiko and the girl. “...Are you and her mother married?”

“Ah… Not exactly.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I proposed and everything, but she told me I wasn’t husband material.”

Reiji hummed, looking to Tamami. “Does your daddy spend time with you, despite that.”

“O… of course Daddy does!” She huffed, arms crossed. “I get to be backstage on his show all the time and stuff!”

Reiji hummed. “Good, that’s good.” As long as her parents both cared for her, he couldn’t hold it against Hidehiko.

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you, Tamami!” Maki gave her a smile and a small wave. “Takashi here is a kid, too. Maybe you two can play together sometimes.”

Tamami hummed, looking Takashi over with a frown. “Your hair's a mess! Does your mommy make you brush it?”

Takashi stuck his tongue out at her. “Yeah, but I live with Mama on the weekends! Papa doesn’t make me brush it!”

“Which we really should change…” Eriko gave Reiji a look.

“Not my fault it’s a rat’s nest…” Reiji scratched his chin. “...Or I guess it is, genetics and all…”

“Then you should brush it, Reiji.” Maki shook her head. “Or should I have Yukino remind you of the time Naoya got his hand stuck in your hair and--”

“No need to remind me…” He still remembered the confusion on Yukino’s face as she tried to tug Naoya’s hand free for them. “I’ll make sure he brushes his hair better.”

“But Papa…!”

“No buts, Takashi.”

Tamami snickered, looking up at her father. “You were right, Daddy! These guys are silly!”

Hidehiko scooped her up in his arms again. “Well, you know your daddy’s always right!”

“Don’t put lies in her head, Brown.” Eriko was quick to chide him.

“Lying to a child…” Maki clicked her tongue, shaking her head. “No reason to go for such an unbelievable lie, either.”

“You… You guys…!” He looked at Reiji, eyes pleading.

“They’re right, Hidehiko. Don’t lie to your kid.” Reiji shrugged. “You already got it in Takashi’s head that you’re some sorta hero, don’t do that to Tamami, too.”

“But I am kinda a hero, don’t you think?” Hidehiko pouted, just a bit. “I mean, we all are!”

“I think Yukino and Naoya are more what I’d call a hero than the rest of us.” Eriko shrugged.

Maki nodded. “Yeah, I agree there.”

“I was never exactly a hero.” Reiji shrugged. “Just a teen with a lot of anger issues.”

“And now you’re an adult with anger issues.”

“You little…”