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“Alright, kiddo.” Kaito said, crouching in front of Shuichi (who was sitting on the ground, coloring) and rubbing his head affectionately, smiling as the regressor giggled. “What are you gonna do while I’m out with Maki?”
“Um… clean my room, an’ fold laundry!” Shuichi chirped, beaming up at Kaito.
“That’s right, good job! You can finish coloring that coloring page, but then you gotta do it, alright?” Kaito paused, and Shuichi nodded slowly. Kaito chuckled softly. “Do you want me to text you in ten minutes?”
Nod nod.
Amused and smiling, Kaito left Shuichi to his own devices.
Keeping to his word, Kaito texted Shuichi around ten minutes later to remind him to do his chores.
Shuichi had since finished his coloring page, and managed to remember to do his chores. He’d gotten to work, tidying up his coloring books and putting away his colored pencils and markers neatly.
Folding laundry was an easy task. Sure, it took the regressor a few tries to get everything right, but he still got everything done.
The hard part was his bedroom. Sure. It wasn’t a complete disaster, but it wasn’t exactly clean, either. But still, he wanted to please Kaito, so he got to work, and hoped he wouldn't get too distracted.
…he got distracted.
Shuichi had been sidetracked by some old stuffed animals he found, and was cuddling them while he worked on a word puzzle in a book of the activities he had found, when he heard the front door open, and Kaito’s voice call out to him.
Looking around his room, Shuichi felt his eyes fill with tears. He’d let Kaito down, hadn’t he? He had barely cleaned his room. He got distracted so quickly.
Sniffling, the little got up and started to shakily clean his room, fighting down a sob as he worked, trying to clean up as best he could before the door opened and oh god here came the yelling and-
“Hey, baby, there you are.” Kaito said warmly, but frowned as Shuichi flinched when he gently touched the regressor’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Is… everything okay?”
Shuichi nodded shakily, and Kaito looked around for a moment, before it clicked.
“Oh. Oh. No, no, Shuichi. It’s okay, buddy,” Kaito reassured, turning Shuichi around gently, and pulling him into a reassuring hug. “I knew you were going to get distracted when you tried to clean your room. It’s alright.”
The response was a weak whine, as Shuichi snuggled into Kaito’s chest, mumbling softly. He felt so guilty, and he really did feel like he let his caregiver down.
“Come on buddy, let’s clean this up together, okay?” Kaito said, and Shuichi’s head snapped up, eyes going wide.
“Together?” Shuichi mumbled back, and Kaito grinned, kissing his forehead.
“Yeah. We’re a team, aren’t we?” Kaito asked, and Shuichi smiled, his eyes brightening a little bit.
“Yeah…”
“Atta boy. Now c’mon, my messy baby,” Kaito teased, giving Shuichi a kiss on the cheek. “Let’s get this room cleaned up!”