Work Text:
“I’m panicking,” Yoshikage declared, in a way that sounded less like an admission of his own feelings and more like the report of an earth-shattering tragedy. He was covering his face with both hands, hunched over and tense.
“I can tell!” Josefumi noted as he strongly massaged his husband’s shoulders. He giggled quietly to himself and pecked Yoshikage’s cheek, trying to loosen his tension by saying, “Relax, Yoshikage, relax. I know it’s been a while already, but they did warn us that getting all the paperwork straightened out and ready in one go would take some time.” Yoshikage weakly whimpered, as either a nod of agreement or just a pained acknowledgement. They had been sitting in the prim, yet soulless waiting room for more than an hour now and Yoshikage had managed to keep a brave face on for most of it, but now the chinks in his armour were starting to show. “I didn’t think you’d be freaking out this hard, love. I would’ve packed some herbal tea with us, or, hey. Let me check the vending machine for bottled jasmine t–”
“No! No, no, no, don’t leave. Don’t leave me here alone, I– I’m,” Yoshikage begged, on the verge of tears, clawing at Josefumi’s chest and back like a desperate kitten. “If you leave me by myself, I’ll turn rabid. I feel like I'm going crazy right now! Don’t go,” he mumbled to the already standing up Josefumi.
“I’ll never leave you,” he answered coolly, placing a kiss on Yoshikage’s forehead. “But it has been a bit too long, I’m concerned too. So stay here nice and put for a second and I’ll go ask quick what’s the hold up. And I will get you some tea, you really need it, honey.”
As Josefumi vanished into the adjacent office in order to get some answers, Yoshikage Kira sunk deeper into his newly found pit of despair. His legs were restless and jittery, and crossing his arms over his chest to feel powerful was not working as it used to. Even the ludicrous thought of biting his nails had crossed his mind; he was in tatters. Yoshikage thought he was definitely too old to be behaving like this, but he couldn’t help it. This situation they'd put themselves into was too new and unfamiliar for him, and the pressure was surely getting to him. He’d never felt so lost and uncertain in all of his 31 years of life.
“Here you go, darling,” Josefumi softly said as he sat back by Yoshikage’s side, and his words snapped him out of his anxious daze. That, and a kind smile from his husband, who handed him a small paper cup filled with aromatic jasmine tea. “Drink this, it’ll make you feel better,” he finished, kissing his cheek this time.
“Thanks, love,” Yoshikage mumbled into the cup before drinking. The warmth of the tea managed to take the edge off and soothe him for an instant. “So what’s the hold up?” he finally dared to ask, his eyes filled with evident panic.
“There is none, they’re ready for us,” Josefumi announced cheerfully, holding Yoshikage’s free hand tight. The words nearly made Yoshikage spit out the tea. “But don’t worry! Our social worker knows you're super nervous, so she’s agreed to give us a couple more minutes to figure ourselves out. Now, drink your tea and give me a big hug. Let’s do this together,” Josefumi finished, opening his arms big for Yoshikage.
After another long sip, Yoshikage hurriedly finished his drink and crushed the empty paper cup in his fist. Josefumi giggled at the ridiculous gesture as he welcomed Yoshikage into his arms. They shared a heartfelt embrace, whispering reassuring sweet nothings into each other's ear, and Yoshikage felt most of his distress starting to melt away. “Let's do this!” he exclaimed as they separated, trying to sound more fired up than scared. With Josefumi by his side, he felt he could do anything.
***
“Shh, come in quietly please,” the young social worker, Sugimoto-san, whispered at the Kira-Kujo couple as she softly opened the door for them. They had been inside that office nearly every day for the past week so they were already used to its strange architecture. Half of it looked more like a nursery than anything, and in that colourful corner the newest member of the Kira-Kujo family was waiting for them, sound asleep.
Josefumi felt Yoshikage squeeze his arm tight as they walked into view of their son. He was having a post-lunch afternoon nap on the office’s baby rocking chair. Josuke’s little body was firmly strapped on the chair to prevent him from squirming away, but this apparently wasn’t necessary. The boy was peacefully snoozing while sucking his thumb, oblivious of all the hassle and paperwork it meant for his now fathers to be able to be called that. Yet, none of that mattered to them; the only important thing was that they were mere moments away from becoming a family.
Yoshikage couldn’t hold back a whimper as they sat by Sugimoto-san’s desk. Now he really was on the verge of tears, and so was Josefumi, but for a slightly different reason. He had locked his hand to his husband, fingers intertwined. He felt solid, stronger than ever. Nothing could bring him down now, and putting his all into convincing Yoshikage to go through with the adoption with him had been the best decision of his life. A mixture of pride and joy permeated his whole body; he felt invincible, and for the first time in his life, whole.
“Alright, so, Misters Kira-Kujo… here’s your newly updated family registry. As Josuke’s birthday was a mystery to our institution when we received him, we have listed today’s date as his birthdate. So, August 22nd,” pointed Sugimoto-san. Right under their names was listed the newly renamed Josuke Kira-Kujo, born on August 22nd, 2011 - Heisei 23. Yoshikage traced his trembling fingers over the new name as Josefumi finished signing some papers.
“Josuke Kira-Kujo… Our son,” Yoshikage mumbled in a blissful haze. All his tension had diluted into a soporific state, he was truly on cloud nine. All Yoshikage wanted was to hold his child in his arms and walk him home. He wanted to dress him like a little sailor, he even still had his own small sailor hat back at this mother’s place, the one he had used during his childhood.
“Okay, so one last pass over little Josuke’s current development,” the young social worker continued, noticing she wasn’t being paid much attention. “Keep a good eye on him, because he can walk, and even sprint when he’s really excited. Otherwise, he crawls everywhere, and even tries to climb, so be careful! He likes to scribble, and does so anywhere, so… careful with your walls. Maybe give him lots of paper to work with, or washable markers. Personality-wise, he’s very shy, which is somewhat unusual at his age. He’s very private, but still can throw a tantrum, although it's rare. In fact, we only saw him getting really frustrated when we had to separate you two from him, these past weeks,” she noted, making the couple’s hearts skip a beat. “As I mentioned, he’s a very timid child. He kept to himself and played alone mostly when introduced to larger groups of children, and tended to hide if he was around a big crowd. Bear that in mind when socialising him further. Also, he really likes to sneak into narrow spaces, or under beds, so always know where he is, at all times. And! He responded amazingly well to potty-training, and he’s been using diapers only at night. He’s a great kid overall, he’s very lucky to have you two as his parents.”
“No, we’re the lucky ones,” Josefumi corrected, beaming wide as he strengthened his clasp on Yoshikage’s hand. He replied with similar pressure and a teary eyed smile. Josefumi had never seen Yoshikage so willing to show his emotions out in the open; he really must’ve been overwhelmed by them to not be able to hide them as usual.
“Alright, one last thing,” Sugimoto-san added as she finished collecting her side of the paperwork on her desk. “As you know, little Josuke here is having some trouble with language. Everything is A-okay with him physically, like in his brain, so we theorise it might be a problem of input. He does realise people are trying to communicate when he’s spoken to, he’s just… not producing words yet. At 18 months, he should be trying out some words, but he seems rather shy when trying to communicate, he relies on pointing a lot. We encourage you two to speak normally in front of him to give him natural input, baby talk should only be used when speaking to him one-on-one.” Both men nodded energetically at the social worker’s words. They already knew most of what she had just said, but a refresher was always handy. “So, now Mr. Kira-Kujo and Mr. Kira-Kujo, please… take your son home,” Sugimoto-san finished, giving the men a sincere, congratulating smile. This was her favourite part of her job.
Yoshikage undid the rocking chair’s restraints with painstaking care, making sure he wasn’t even gracing Josuke too harshly. Josefumi stood by him, ready to help if he was needed, but knowing that Yoshikage had it in the bag. As his husband worked, Josefumi noted Josuke was starting to wake up slowly, so he also kneeled by Yoshikage to be there when Josuke fully opened his eyes. “There,” Yoshikage finally mumbled and he pulled the harness off Josuke’s body. By then, the baby was awake and reacting to what he saw.
“MAO!” he exclaimed unprovoked, shocking the social worker. He then raised his chubby arms towards Yoshikage, who gladly took him into his embrace and softly pressed him against his chest. Josuke giggled and hugged Yoshikage back, blowing raspberries as he settled into Yoshikage’s arms. Yet his eyes were fixed on Josefumi, who had also stood in tandem with Yoshikage and hadn’t broken eye contact with his son. Josuke tried reaching him with his little hand, beckoning him to join their hug. Josuke squealed with delight when Josefumi complied, catching Yoshikage’s back into his arms while he kissed his forehead. Tears had been quietly streaming down his cheeks this whole time.
“Let’s go home, okay?” Josefumi whispered into his partner’s ear once he had secured all their essentials inside his messenger bag. Yoshikage nodded, still unable to utter a single word. His heart was bursting with pure, unfiltered joy.
Kyo had driven them to S-City and was now waiting for them in the parking lot, after carrying out some errands. Even if she didn’t show it at all, she was about as excited to become an aunt as they were to become parents. The plan was to go straight to Holly’s place to introduce Josuke to his Grandma immediately. If they wanted her to remember him, they needed to show him off often. Holly had laughed all the spotty memory jokes off when they suggested the plan to her, but she didn’t complain either. She was absolutely thrilled, and had spent all day baking and preparing treats for her grandchild.
“Let’s go,” Yoshikage managed to say, his voice still brittle and filled with emotion. He gave Josefumi a quick kiss as they walked out of the office. Josefumi had to deal the proper goodbyes to Sugimoto-san, as Yoshikage was still too enraptured with Josuke to even pay any attention to the girl. “Let’s go home, Josuke,” he babbled looking at his son.
“Mao… om,” he repeated with a smile while softly touching his father’s wet cheek with curiosity. In response, Yoshikage planted a soft kiss on Josuke’s forehead, making the toddler laugh under his touch. Still, the baby in his arms looked at him with strange, knowing eyes and repeated, “Go om?”
“Yeah, let’s go home,” Josefumi agreed, caressing his son's head. Josuke giggled and tried touching Josefumi’s hair too. As they entered the building’s lift, Josefumi bowed to allow Josuke to touch his pompadour. Every single action managed to get a mirthful laugh out of Josuke, like this truly was the best day of his life, which up until that point wouldn’t be an overstatement. It wasn’t an exaggeration for Yoshikage or Josefumi either; that truly was the best day of their lives.