Chapter Text
Haru began his day not expecting much since they had just wrapped up their latest case with a huge success, of course due to Daisuke throwing around his money to the perps and running the show his way like usual, much to Haru’s chagrin but the success also saved the life of many trafficked children, which was a plus that Haru was willing to overlook his partner’s latest misconduct for.
The human trafficking ring they busted last night specialised in children and Haru felt sick thinking about those poor kids being sold off to the highest bidder and become anything their buyer wished for them to be just because they have unique exquisite features. Haru had taken a glimpse of those traumatised kids as they were shuffled into the ambulances, to be carted off to the hospital for check-up and the majority of them indeed have features that would turn them into a beauty once they grow into it.
Those children were about to be auctioned off at an exclusive club that the ring had a tie in and Haru couldn’t help but think about the filthy rich people he had slapped the cuff on last night. They were people who have more money than common sense and the righteous sense of justice in Haru burned brightly at how those people only saw the trafficked children as nothing more than exclusive goods that can be bought by money.
It made him compare them to his current partner, Kambe Daisuke, who was so wealthy that the balance of his account was practically unlimited no matter the amount he had spent to solve each and every cases that ended up on their table. The comparison made Haru realise that despite how loose Daisuke was with his money and how he view that everyone can be bought, he never once used his money to take away people’s choice.
Oh don’t get him wrong, Daisuke have no qualm in using his money to make people bend over backward to his whim but he never used it put the person in such a disadvantaged situation where they were helpless to do anything, the same could not be said about the perps of their cases though, but for all his arrogance in superiority due to his monetary backing, Daisuke has his own code of conduct. Haru liked to rail against him about the priceless value of a life, that life cannot be bought, but after almost two years of being his partner, he knew that Daisuke would never stoop so low as to be like those filthy pigs who took part in trafficking children.
So yeah, Haru has a new sense of appreciation for his partner now.
He knew that Daisuke can be anything he wanted, that his money basically made him untouchable if he ever think about turning against the law and do crimes like human trafficking since he basically have the resources to run his own crime empire but Daisuke chooses to remain as a detective in the Modern Crime Prevention Task Force, he chooses to be at the side of the law no matter how many time he twisted those laws with his money according to his whim. Daisuke chooses to use his money to do good instead of harm and Haru had come to term with that after partnering up with him for so long, even if he still think throwing around money to solve things as excessive and not how the police should work.
Thus Haru had entered his office that morning not expecting much, except to finish last night’s raid report and sign off some other of Daisuke’s reckless money spending habit reports that always ended up on his table because of course as the billionaire’s partner, he need to verify it for their department’s sake. But his usually carefree Chief Kiyomizu had an uncharacteristically serious look on his when he had entered and the older man’s eyes immediately zeroed in on Haru the moment he entered.
“Kato-kun, can I speak with you in private?”
The name itself more than threw him of and it seemed like he was not the only one who realised it because the head of his co-workers had all snapped up to look at their Chief in bewilderment. Chief Kiyomizu had always addressed them familiarly and Haru himself was often addressed as ‘Kato-chan’ by the man since day one. So it stand to consternation that Haru immediately snapped into attention when addressed with such formality by his usually laidback Chief.
“Yes, Chief!” Haru responded curtly and followed after the man. The situation must have been dire if the Chief was this serious. Kiyomizu lead him down the dwindling halls of their headquarter and Haru noted that they were heading toward the side of the building where they usually use to keep their high profile target overnight, either for questioning or protection.
Kiyomizu opened the door to the adjacent viewing room that was connected to the room that was keeping whoever his new target was but Haru was confused to see children through the glass instead of an adult.
“Sir…?” Haru started uncertainly, not understanding the situation and he scanned the four kids situated in the opposing room for some kind of clue until his eye finally landed on the last kid and Haru sucked in a surprised breath of air when he finally registered the boy’s feature.
He turned toward Kiyomizu for clarification, unable to comprehend how he was supposed to react in this situation due to immense shock he felt upon seeing the boy at the other side of the glass. A file was thrown on the table and Haru immediately snatched it up, wanting to make sense of this.
“He was one of the kid from last night’s raid.” Kiyomizu began as Haru tore into the data in the file. “We ran his blood and prints through the database and the results are conclusive as you can see in the file.” The older man turned toward Haru and smiled brightly. “Congratulation Kato-chan, it’s a boy!”
“W-wait! This is not funny Chief! Now is not the time for such a joke!” Haru retorted vehemently but he could not deny the feeling blooming in his chest.
Kato Haru was an orphan, he was put into the orphanage after the untimely death of his mother and he had lost contact with his sister in the system. He has no family to his name but according to this file, he still have one. He doesn’t even need to look at the blood test result to know they were related because the boy’s feature doesn’t lie.
Looking at the boy felt like he was looking into a mirror, from the taupe hair down to the golden eyes and the shape of his face. The only other person he remembered having the same feature as him was his late mother and the boy looked like the perfect copy of her. Haru would bet all his money that the boy would match the old picture of her that he kept on his nightstand.
Haru felt breathless with the realisation that he still have a family.
He was five years old when his mother had passed away, smiling so serenely under her favourite Ginkgo tree that was blooming so vibrantly despite it being out of season. He was six when he lost his older sister to the system, unable to track her down because he was an orphan with nothing to offer. Haru had given up hope on ever finding his sister again because he thought she had built a life for herself and Haru doesn’t want to get in between her and her happiness and his mishap in the First Division years ago had solidified his belief that she would have been better off without him. He had thought himself underserving of a family and had completely stopped his search for her.
But he should have, he should have continued his search for her because at least then he would have at least saved this boy, his nephew, from going through the horrid fate life had dealt him with.
Oh God, what if last night’s raid was unsuccessful? What if something had gone wrong with the plan?
He would have gone on with his life without knowing he has a nephew who needed him and the boy would have slipped through his finger without him realising what he had lost. The thought of this boy, his nephew, being sold off as some exclusive good to some filthy pig sent icy tendril of horror raking down his spine.
“I…C-can I see him?” Haru stumbled all over his words, the feeling of elation at finding his family mixing up with the horror of potentially losing him again. “Please.” The plea was added more as an afterthought as he was unable to pry his eyes away from the boy at the other side of the glass.
“Of course, Kato-chan.”
Haru watched as Kiyomizu lead the other three kids out of the room, citing about treating them to some ice cream and Haru stepped into it, the Chief’s encouraging squeeze on his shoulder giving him strength. He had removed both of his jacket and ties, making himself appear as casual as possible as to not come out as threatening to the boy and his nephew had looked up upon his entrance.
The boy wore his heart on his sleeves and an open book. Haru could see all the emotions flashing over his face when their eyes met, ranging from surprise, to realisation, and to hope before shuttering off to fear and wariness. Haru could not fault him for the wariness because it was healthy even to be wary of a stranger who looked exactly like him.
But Haru doesn’t want that, he doesn’t want for this boy to be wary of him because they’re family now.
“Hello.” Haru smiled at him as he made himself comfortable on the floor, giving the boy on the bed a height advantage against him in order to give him any form assurance.
“H-Hi…” The boy responded carefully, golden eyes peeking at him shyly from behind the long bangs covering it and Haru felt his heartstring already being tugged by this boy. The boy was adorable and Haru was quickly becoming a biased uncle who think his nephew as the most adorable kid in the world.
“My name is Kato Haru but I used to go by other name, Natsume Haru.” He saw the boy’s eyes widening at the name, already making the connection as the hope from before began making its tentative return to his face and Haru was not cruel enough to dangle this confirmation over the boy.
“I am your uncle. It’s nice finally meeting you, Takashi-kun” Haru said with a smile.
And the boy just crumpled, his earlier wariness thrown to the side as he jolted forward, hands extended toward Haru and Haru could only meet him halfway, wrapping his arms around this tiny creature who had suffered so much in his short life. He held the boy close against his chest, tucking his head under his chin and wrapping as much of himself around him as he could in hope of shielding him from any more harm this cruel world could possibly deal against his nephew.
Haru could only hold him tightly, rubbing soothing circle on his trembling back as the boy cried out his sorrow in his arms. “I’m sorry, Takashi. I’m sorry I didn’t find you earlier.” Haru whispered his apology into the boy’s hair, shedding his own tears of regret and frustration at the pain his nephew had to go through. The logical part of him knew that it was not his fault, that there was no way he could have done anything to prevent it from happening when he doesn’t even know the boy existed but of course Haru is a fool, he is a soft fool who wore his heart on his sleeves.
He doesn’t know how long he had sat there on the cold floor, cradling the small body of someone who was quickly becoming his precious treasure but it was long enough for the boy to knock himself out from sheer exhaustion of yesterday’s event and his earlier breakdown. Haru leaned back against the wall and shifted Takashi enough to gaze down at the tear tracked face of his sleeping nephew.
A nephew.
Haru had never foreseen a family for himself, the thought of a nephew so far away that the prospect of it never reached his mind because he never did manage to track down his sister. But he has a child who depended on him now and hell would freeze over first before Haru would ever leave Takashi to the orphanage or any of his paternal relatives again. None of his father’s relatives had taken him and his sister in when their mother had passed away and Haru was not stupid to not be able to predict on how Takashi could have ended in a trafficking ring.
The file that Haru had skimmed through previously had not indicated any child disappearance report for Takashi and both of his parents were listed as deceased, so that only left his relatives as the one who had sold the boy off for some quick cash instead of caring for him like they were supposed to. His chest burned with anger at the person who subjected his nephew to this hell and he vowed that he would bring that person to justice soon.
But back to Takashi, who was sleeping soundly in his arms. Some things need to change in Haru’s life if he intended to keep Takashi with him. His current life doesn’t have a room for a child, especially not with his busy schedule and living arrangement. It won’t have been a problem if he was living on his own like he did two years ago but as of six months ago, he had moved in together with his current partner in every sense of the word.
Yes, he’s dating none other than Kambe Daisuke and Haru doesn’t know how the man would react to suddenly having a kid in their life.
They had gotten together about a year into their partnership and had moved in together six months after that. There had been fleeting talk of marriage between them but they had never sat down to actually talk about it and they certainly never talked about having kids, or any in the first place. Now Haru would be dropping the bomb of a newly discovered nephew into their relationship.
According to his file, Takashi was seven years old, a kid in every way that matter and kid need a lot of time and dedication. Haru has no intention to half ass his involvement with Takashi. He intended to take the boy in and raise him up himself but he doesn’t know if Daisuke could go along with that. Raising up a kid cannot be done by simply throwing money after all and Haru would punch his boyfriend in his perfect teeth if he ever suggested anything that involved excessive monetary spending when in regard to Takashi.