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“Let’s save the orphans together,” Atsushi said, hand outstretched for Akutagawa to grab. Blood had been dribbling down his forehead and out from the corner of his mouth, his cheek was bruised and his lips were split, yet he still looked full of life as the sun began to set behind him.
Akutagawa felt like the light was calling out to him in the form of the most beautiful man he had ever seen, and with his own injured hand, he slowly took Atsushi’s hand. Interlacing them together, Atsushi grinned and pulled Akutagawa closer, giving him a half hug.
Akutagawa might’ve smiled too.
It had been a week since that incident, and it took them awhile to go through the process of buying Atsushi’s old orphanage from the hands of those terrible caretakers. The funds had been generously provided by Fitzgerald and Kunikida had helped file all the papers for them.
Redecorating and renovating was the most fun part of the operation. They had the children temporarily stay at the Port Mafia, mattresses lining up in one of the lobbies to let them sleep in while they fixed up the orphanage. The Black Lizards were assigned to look after them at the time and a lot of the kids had grown attached to the trio.
They had hired people to help restructure the building, but most of the painting and arranging of furniture had been done by Atsushi and Akutagawa, along with other people who volunteered to help; like Chuuya and Yosano.
When they were done, Atsushi couldn’t recognize it as his old abusive home, and he was rather proud too. It looked a lot more homey; rooms that were previously used to torment children -or hopefully just Atsushi- were permanently removed and repurposed as nurseries or playrooms and the dorms were a lot more brightly colored now.
Files upon files of every child were reorganized and Atsushi noticed how some were poorly written, so he made a mental note to rewrite some if he could when the children came back.
The last and best finishing touch was adding a small playground in the orphanage’s backyard, a fair distance away from the garden and the forest. Atsushi had suggested they close off the small forest area in case the children wandered off inside, but Akutagawa said it was best they keep it. Other than the fact that some kids may find it fun to play in the forest, it would be a good way to learn some survival skills without having to go out of the orphanage.
“Besides,” Akutagawa had said as the two stood in front of the small forest area, “if any of the children got lost. I’d make sure to find them no matter what. It’s...a small forest anyway.”
Atsushi’s eyes had sparkled brightly and Akutagawa couldn’t stop blushing when the tiger boy cooed at him for being so cool and cute.
After relocating the children back into the orphanage, refiling some documents on some of them, and counting how many empty beds they still had, the two moved onto the hardest part.
Standing in front of the entrance to the slums, Akutagawa felt his shoulders tense up from all the bad memories he had. It still felt like yesterday when he was just eating whatever he could find, when even the stray dogs were on the verge of starvation and attacking anyone they saw as edible, and the adults fended for themselves instead of looking after the children as they should.
Sensing the discomfort, Atsushi’s hand made its way around Akutagawa’s shoulder, and he smiled reassuringly. He whispered slow and soft, pointing with his other hand forward, “Let’s go.”
It didn’t take them long to locate an orphan since they had found one sitting in the dark in an alleyway, curled up and possibly starving. Atsushi was the first to advance forward, reaching into his bag for a packaged bun, and he stood at the end of the alleyway holding it in his hands for the child to see.
“Hey, are you hungry?” Atsushi asked, gently squatting down and extending his arms. The child looked up with those tired, soulless eyes, and Atsushi felt his heart clench up. No child should go through something like this. “I have bread, you can take it.”
He tore the package open slowly and the child peeked at him through the cracks of their arm, then they finally decided Atsushi was safe to go close to and began crawling towards the man gingerly. The child had taken the bread in a gentle motion, but the moment it was in their possession, they had devoured it quite greedily.
It reminded Atsushi of the time Dazai and Kunikida had treated him to dinner the first time they met, and he smiled fondly at that memory as he watched the child completely finish the bread off within seconds flat. He rested his chin on his arm, shooting the child a soft grin, “I know you just met me, but would you like if I gave you a new home? I promise I won’t hurt you. There will be other kids there and we’ll feed you everyday, you can play and learn...um...and we’ll protect you no matter what.”
The child stared at Atsushi curiously, sitting in front of the man with their hands pressed on the dirty floor, before they slowly returned Atsushi with a toothy smile. “I like playing.”
“Okay. I’ll take you to your new home. But first, do you know where I can find more children like you?” Atsushi stood up, hand held out for the child to take, who steadily took it and grabbed on tight.
They spent the rest of the day doing this; picking up kids and promising them a better, safer home while handing them packaged bread and asking them where they could find more kids like them. As they descended further into the slums, the condition of the area got worse and worse, once or twice Atsushi had spotted blood -some even fresh- splattered around on the ground and walls.
Akutagawa had made sure the kids were safe as they kept going, Rashoumon ready to activate if any form of threat came near them. They wanted to make sure they had gotten every kid before leaving the slums, which was why they were travelling as a whole group. They had already gathered about a dozen kids, ranging from fifteen to even seven; the older ones were a bit more wary about their promise, but agreed all the same.
Apparently, there weren’t as many kids as before and Akutagawa assumed some might’ve managed to escape while the not so lucky ones died. It was the harsh reality that Atsushi had no choice but to accept since there was no use deluding himself into thinking they had all managed to leave the slums safe and sound back then.
As they reached the very centre of the slums, the duo heard shouting and screaming, most definitely belonging to children, and the two nodded at each other, plan already formed and ready to be executed. Akutagawa assumed a defense and support position while Atsushi rushed forward towards where the shouting had come from. The children huddled close to Akutagawa, the younger ones clinging onto his coat with quivering hands, and he had hesitantly placed a hand on some of them to comfort them.
Atsushi came face to face with a man holding up a bloodied child, ready to end his life, but Atsushi wasn’t going to let it happen. He zipped forward and shoved the man aside, making him let go of the kid, and caught the child midair.
“Don’t move! Drop the child!” Another man snarled and Atsushi turned, child heaving painfully in his arms, and his eyes widened at the sight of a handful of kids cowering on the ground, equally as injured as the current child was. They were surrounded by men with weapons -knives, pipes and such- all looking extremely pissed off.
“What is wrong with you?! These are children!” Atsushi spat. He could feel Rashoumon looming over him and he held the child up for Akuatgawa to take. The black coat ability gently took the child and brought it back to Akutagawa, who began carrying the kid in his arms. So fragile, it reminded him so much of himself back then.
“Children that stole food from us.” The man growled, placing a foot on one of them, making the kid wheeze. Atsushi narrowed his eyes, tensing up angrily.
“Let them go.”
“They deserved what was coming.” The man crushed his foot down harder, which was the final straw for both Atsushi and Akutagawa.
They made sure to not hurt any of the kids as they threw all the men surrounding the children aside. They weren’t aiming to kill them, but they definitely weren’t going easy. Once they were all gone, Atsushi slowly picked some of the more injured ones up and looked over at Akutagawa with a frown, “I think we should head back now. You can carry them right?”
“We’ll come back tomorrow to do one last check, yes?” Akutagawa asked, temporarily bandaging up the bleeding ones with Rashoumon. After all, there was still a chance they’d miss some kids.
Atsushi nodded firmly without a second thought, already making his way back up into the city with the children in his arms. He smiled at the ones that were still shaken from witnessing the fight, apologetic that they had to see that, “We’re going to your new home now! Don’t worry, if you’re still hungry, we’ll have food waiting for you.”
The little ones took a moment to process it, then proceeded to cheer, jumping around Atsushi with the childish energy they had. The older ones were still a bit skeptical, hands clenched inside their pockets if they had any. The two had let the older ones keep whatever weapons they had, because Atsushi and Akutagawa really had no reason to take them away.
Even if they did attack with the weapons, both of them were more than capable of defending themselves from the children.
When they reached the exit, Atsushi suddenly stopped, causing some of the children to bump into him. They looked up at him curiously as he turned around with a soft smile, “Do you all mind holding hands so no one gets lost? The city is a big place, y’know. Last kid hold onto Akutagawa-niichan’s hand please!”
“Huh?” Akutagawa blinked in surprise as the kids began to do as they were told, interlacing their hands together like kindergarteners. The child closest to him held their hand out expectantly and he stared at it hesitantly. Since he had Rashoumon to carry some of the injured children, his hands were pretty much free, and wasn’t sure how to hold a child’s delicate hand.
He eventually grabbed onto it as gently as he could and the group began moving again. It was quite cute if it weren’t for the obvious fact that all the children were from the slums, so a lot of passersby had given them strange looks when they walked along the streets. Some had even made their displeasure rather obvious by holding their noses when they walked by.
Reaching the orphanage, the children immediately dispersed when they spotted food laid on the tables for them. They hadn’t bothered to ask for permission when they ran over and began digging in, though Atsushi didn’t mind since he did promise there would be food for them when they got back.
However, the only child that didn’t immediately run forward was the one that was holding Akutagawa’s hand. For a moment, Atsushi thought the man might’ve held onto them too tight for them to leave, but upon closer inspection, the child had seemingly grown attached to Akutagawa.
And Akutagawa himself didn’t have the heart to tell them to let go.
“We need to bring these kids to the infirmary. Yosano should be there,” Atsushi said, then he chuckled at the child that still refused to let Akutagawa go. “Aren’t you hungry? We’ll be back, promise.”
“...Okay…” They replied shyly before slowly letting go of Akutagawa’s hand. They slowly ran towards an unoccupied seat and pulled the bowl closer so they could eat.
The duo walked into the infirmary where Yosano was waiting and they immediately laid the children on the beds. She instantly got to work, checking which ones she could use her ability on. She wasn’t going to beat them half to death if they didn’t fit her ability criteria unless she absolutely needed to, so after healing the ones that she could heal, she went to work bandaging the rest up the old fashion way.
While that was happening, Akutagawa and Atsushi got to work running baths for the children, asking each and every one of them which shampoo flavor they wanted to use since Chuuya had bought too many kinds. Some of the little ones had made grabby gestures at the shampoo bottles, and in confusion, Atsushi obliged and handed them the bottle.
Apparently they thought it was something they could eat and nearly chugged the whole thing in front of him. It was a close one.
They had to create new documents for the children and they were rather relieved a majority remembered most of their names and ages. The younger ones, however, didn't know quite a lot, so both Atsushi and Akutagawa had to give them new names and estimate their ages for the time being. It was quite a hassle but they managed to pull through with it all.
Then, after properly assigning them rooms, the two called it a day and rested. They needed the energy to do one last check around the slums in case they had missed out any children during their first search, because they weren't planning on leaving any kids behind.
While they sat in the office, where all the files about the orphanage were kept, they talked aimlessly about their plans for the children. There were two couches facing sideways to the window, much like the two couches back at the Armed Detective Agency, and the two were sharing a couch and had somehow ended up in a position where they were lying in each other's arms.
"We could have hide and seek sessions in the forest someday," Atsushi suggested, head resting on Akutagawa's chest, who was lying horizontally on the couch with his legs propped on the arm rest. "But only for the older ones. The other has to watch over the tiny ones at the playground, we can alternate."
"Teach them self defense in case we're ever attacked," Akutagawa added, arm comfortably resting over Atsushi's body. The position was pretty stiff at first, and extremely awkwardly, but the two managed to get comfortable after a long time; probably because they had been in weirder positions before. Such as the time Akutagawa used Atsushi like a horse.
"Bedtime stories!" Atsushi lifted his head, smiling widely as his eyes shone brightly at the thought of the children sitting around him as he read a book out loud for them.
"Movie nights?" Akutagawa said, already forming a short list in his head. There were a couple of kid friendly ones he had watched with Gin before that he thought the children might like.
“Picnics!”
“Celebrate birthdays.”
“We’ll have Kunikida teach them math!”
“We can send the older ones to school.”
“Yosano can teach them first aid!”
“Should we relocate Yumeno here?” Akutagawa suddenly asked and Atsushi blinked, bringing his hands together onto Akutagawa’s chest so he could rest his chin on them.
“That would be a good idea. Though, I’m worried their ability will activate if any of the kids hurt them on accident. We won’t have Dazai around to help,” Atsushi muttered, rolling his head to the side so he was resting with his cheek. “How are they by the way?”
“Better. I heard The Black Lizard are making sure they don’t come near any sharp objects. A sort of rehabilitation?” Akutagawa answered, eyes half lidded and drooping as he stared at Atsushi, exhaustion pulling at him at last. “It won’t be as easy as Kyouka. Yumeno grew up in the Port Mafia.”
“We’ll see if they want to and if they can,” Atsushi yawned, about to get off Akutagawa so he could head home and get some sleep. But the man had beaten him to it, already dozing off with his arm around Atsushi, practically trapping Atsushi on him. “Oh. Um. Okay. Good...night to you too then.”
A lot had happened since then and it took a lot of time for everyone to adjust. Atsushi had decided to keep some of the staff that worked at the orphanage before, but they were mostly the cooks since he really appreciated their chazukes. They were the only ones that didn’t hurt Atsushi during his time at the orphanage, mostly because they pitied him and all they could do was provide him good food to recover with.
It was a small gesture but they were the reason Atsushi wasn’t completely starving back then.
“Otousan, the nice lady said she knew you when you were just a small boy, is that true?” Yasushi tapped his spoon against his empty bowl, kicking his feet gently.
Atsushi, who was sitting at the end of the table, looked up from his own bowl and smiled, “Yeah. I was from this orphanage.”
“That’s cool! What was your Papa like?” Yasushi gasped, dropping his spoon in the bowl with a bright smile.
“He...wasn’t the best,” Atsushi admitted, drumming his fingers on the wooden table nervously. He wondered if he should be telling a child about this, but there was no reason for him to hide his past either. “Which is why Akutagawa and I became the new headmaster.”
Yasushi’s smile dropped, looking rather bothered now, then he glanced up at Atsushi curiously, “Where is he now?”
“In…” Hell Atsushi wanted to say, but that wouldn’t be ethical of him to say. “...heaven.”
“Oh…” Yasushi looked down before placing his hand on Atsushi’s reassuringly. “Hmm…”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to worry. I’m not upset,” Atsushi could tell the child wanted to comfort him, but didn’t know what to say. It was for the best anyway, if this conversation continued any further, Atsushi wouldn’t know what to say either.
Just like how the schools worked, the cleaning was done by everyone, which they had to teach to some of the kids due to the fact that some were from the slums and had no concept of hygiene before they came.
“Papa! I want to clean the shelves! Pick me up! Pick me up!” Shinji held his arms up, cloth in one hand as he jumped up and down for Akutagawa’s attention. He was one of the children that didn’t have a name, and when Akutagawa and Atsushi had run out ideas, Dazai came along and offered some suggestions; Shinji being one of them.
“We’re not doing a spring cleaning today. All you have to do is wipe the table,” Akutagawa huffed in amusement as the child frowned in disappointment. “If you want to be carried just say so, don’t make excuses.”
“Okay, then pick me up now?” Shinji smiled sheepishly, knowing fully well what the other would reply.
“Table first.”
Shinji dropped his arms, sighing as he dragged his feet towards the library desk.
"3...2...1..." Atsushi opened his eyes and turned away from the tree bark he was counting on, facing towards the forest where the children were hiding. There were only about fifteen children playing, while the rest hung back to play at the playground and in the garden.
There was only three minutes for Atsushi to find them all, though Atsushi usually would find all the children within a minute or less. Not to brag of course, but he did play without his ability.
Not once had he failed this game before, but he could tell the kids were getting better and better at the game. He figured this time he might even take two minutes to find them, since their last record was a minute and thirty seconds.
Sprinting through the forest, Atsushi opted to not use his ability like always as his eyes darted across the area, trying to spot the white orphanage uniform or the various colors of the children's hair. He swore he saw a few of them pass by him a while ago, but whenever he got close, they vanished.
He could hear their giggles bounce around the forest, playing with him, and although it wasn't a very big place; it felt like he was in an actual forest looking for his children. It somehow made this game a lot more fun.
"Gotcha!" Atsushi picked up Sakura -yet another name by Dazai- by the torso, catching her by surprise from a branch above her. He had climbed a tree and waited for her to pass it after pretending to leave, subsequently tagging a few more children as well. "Give Akutagawa a hug for me will you?"
They squealed and groaned, accepting defeat as they dragged their feet back to the entrance of the forest, where Akutagawa was watching over the little ones. They all ran at him, tackling him with hugs that nearly toppled him over, and he tried his best to carry as many of them in his arms so they wouldn't fall while they clung onto his coat.
Group by group, the children trailed out of the forest, and it seemed like the game would end under two minutes yet again. There were just three more children left; Nanami, Mika and Takashi, and if they held out long enough, they might make a new record.
Emphasis on might.
Running on adrenaline, Atsushi zipped through the forest, scanning the area while listening out for any rustling or twigs being snapped. He was confident he would be able to find the three, since he didn’t find it too challenging to find the last few kids.
He paused in his tracks, catching the sound of leaves swishing about nearby, and he grinned, turning towards it. Right before he could advance forward, a branch suddenly flew at him, which he barely dodged at the last minute, and he whipped his head in the direction of where the branch had came from.
Follow the rustling leaves or the branch’s owner?
Atsushi made his decision after hearing the trees rustle once more, and turned back towards where he was heading to. He ran as silently as possible, but as he reached the area, he couldn’t find a trace of where the children might’ve been. All he found was an out of place rock and he kicked at it.
Did they make a rustling noise by throwing a rock over to distract him? How clever these children were.
He smiled to himself, as he thought some more, How clever my children are.
“Ow!” Atsushi winced as a pebble bounced off his head, rubbing the sore spot with his hand. “Are you trying to kill your Otousan?”
He was responded to with giggles and he smirked, jogging towards the laughter.
“Two minutes and five seconds,” Akutagawa said as Atsushi walked out of the forest, Takashi sitting on Atsushi’s shoulders while Atsushi held Nanami and Mika’s hands.
“Hurray!” The children cheered, high fiving each other and patting the last trio on the backs.
“They’re getting better,” Akutagawa mumbled, smiling softly as they headed inside to grab juices and snacks while Atsushi and Akutagawa hung back with the younger ones.
The children danced around in the playground and garden, playing all sorts of games, ranging from rope jumping to playing pretend. It was rather refreshing for Atsushi and Akutagawa to watch, since neither of them had gotten to experience such childhood memories.
If they watched long enough, they could pretend they had done the same when they were younger too.
“Are Papa and Otousan married?” Yasushi asked, sitting on the grass right by the two, playing on his toy piano.
Akutagawa and Atsushi spluttered and exchanged looks, glancing back at Yasushi, who didn’t seem too bothered about not getting an answer right away. In fact, his question didn’t seem all that serious at all, extremely offhanded, as if it was just a thought that just passed through his mind.
Their relationship was complicated. Being the headmasters of the orphanage meant they stuck together a lot, and to an outsider, they would’ve looked like a married couple managing their sea of children. Though they still kept up with their bickering and often tried their best to keep it private since it wouldn’t be good to argue in front of the kids.
God, thinking about it now, they did seem like they would be married. Atsushi flushed, furrowing his eyebrows as he thought about it harder.
However, Akuatagawa only thought about it for a few seconds before he folded his arms and huffed loudly, “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Excuse me?” Atsushi blinked rapidly, grabbing onto Akuatagawa’s arm in confusion. Akutagawa gazed back at him, shifting his eyes at Yasushi, who stopped playing and gasped loudly.
He wants to believe it’s real. Akutagawa seemed to have said, just from his eyes shifting. We’ll make it real for him.
This whole Double Black part two thing really was giving them telepathy powers because Atsushi wasn’t sure how he managed to decipher all of that just from Akutagawa’s eyes moving. He smiled nervously, tilting his head at Yasushi, “Yep! Definitely! Always has been.”
“Where are your rings?” Yasushi crawled towards them, grabbing onto Atsushi’s leg in fascination.
“Rings.” Atsushi echoed, brain still buffering.
“I read in a book! Rings, married people have them! Dazai-nii and Chibi-nii have them.” Yasushi explained, spreading his fingers and holding his hand up from Atsushi to see as he pointed at his ring finger. “Here.”
“Ah. We. Haven’t…” Atsushi scratched at his neck as sweat began to form on his forehead. He wasn’t really good at lying at times. He looked at Akutagawa, a bit annoyed that he had left Atsushi to “die”.
“Why don’t you help find us some?” Akutagawa said almost immediately, like he had been planning to say this for a while now.
“Okay!” Yasushi stood up and nearly tripped over himself as he ran off to wherever rings could be found.
Atsushi watched as the little figure grew smaller in the distance before it completely disappeared and he whipped his head towards Akutagawa, not sure if the redness in his own face was from embarrassment or something else, “What was that for?!”
“I was helping.”
“Lying isn’t helping!”
Akutagawa blinked, now evidently puzzled, “Lying? Was I lying? Yes, we aren’t married, but we’re not far from it either.”
Atsushi stared, opening his mouth before closing it, then he reopened it as he whispered, “Are you suggesting we’re...dat--”
“We’re partners.” Akutagawa answered firmly before Atsushi could finish. It was an ambiguous response, basically confusing Atsushi even more. Did Akutagawa mean relationship partners, business partners or their whole Twin Black partners thing?
Afraid of sounding stupid, Atsushi didn’t bother clarifying. He could always ask another time anyway, it needn’t have to be now. He jolted when he heard a loud thud nearby, followed by a familiar sound of a child screaming and sobbing. Someone tripped.
Akutagawa froze, head slowly turning to the noise as Atsushi got up to investigate the issue, almost automatic. He followed behind Atsushi, knowing fully well what to expect, though unsure of how to go about helping. It was always Atsushi that did most of the comforting; the first few times he was awkward, but he soon grew experienced in it.
Akutagawa, on the other hand, stayed awkward.
“Ah, don’t cry,” Akutagawa said, hands a bit clammy as he reached down to pick the child up. “Don’t- uh, don’t- shh. I’m here. Don’t cry- Stop- Um--”
They didn’t stop bawling, much to Akutagawa’s discomfort.
“Welp, my turn again,” Atsushi said, stretching his hands out to take the child into his arms instead. Akutagawa reluctantly obliged, feeling defeated as his face tinted pink from embarrassment. His immediate response was to hiss at Atsushi and keep trying, but this was a child they were dealing with, he couldn’t do that or they’d never stop crying.
As Atsushi held the toddler in his arms, patting their back and caressing the back of their head, he murmured in a reassuring tone, “Are you hurt? Do you want me to kiss the pain away? Hm?”
At that moment, Akutagawa realized: he quite liked Atsushi.
Perhaps it was due to the marriage question that got his brain thinking, or maybe it was the way Atsushi was pressing his forehead against the child’s forehead, smiling softly as he wiped the tears away with his thumb. His laughter, the way Atsushi could handle things that Akutagawa couldn’t, how they immediately clicked as partners in the orphanage.
They worked well together, like how the stars could only shine brightly within the dark.
Atsushi was a bright star and Akutagawa wished to be the void of black that surrounded him all the time.
“--gawa. Akutagawa!” Atsushi yelled, making Akutagawa blink as his senses came back. The other looked a bit bothered from not being answered the first few times, but sighed and quickly went back to grinning. “We should get ready for dinner.”
“We should.”
Sometimes children would find their way into one of their bedrooms to sleep in for various reasons, ranging from being afraid of the dark, thunderstorms or just being plain lonely. They don’t usually pick favorites between Atsushi and Akutagawa, so on some nights, one would have more than the other.
Recently though, the two would share a room, mostly because they would do their paperwork together. They still had the occasional work at the Port Mafia and the Detective Agency, so sometimes they brought their paperwork back to the orphanage to do.
(It was quite funny everytime they left the orphanage to take care of some business, because the children would always wait at the door like little puppies for them to come back.)
They often fell asleep on the bed, laptop still open and running, legs entangled and heads definitely not on the pillows. So when the children came to visit dead at night, they would somehow always find a way to squeeze between them.
Once, Akutagawa’s whole body except for his legs had rolled off the bed, and the only thing that kept him from slipping off completely was Shinji. Atsushi was completely buried under three other kids and had woken up with a sore body; he couldn’t move much and had to take the day off.
Another time, Atsushi and Akutagawa had only been hanging out in Atsushi’s room; they wanted to plan a field trip for the kids during the summer, but managed to stray off topic as time passed. It ended with them falling asleep on the bed, since they had been lying on the bed as they talked, and Akutagawa was too tired to leave.
They had woken up, surprisingly, very far apart; all because the kids that had crawled in at night had managed to squeeze themselves between them. Nestled between Akuatagawa and Atsushi were just three toddlers, though enough to nearly make the two adults fall off the bed.
Being a morning bird, Atsushi easily gained consciousness and registered the situation, sitting up so he could get in a more safer position. He smiled at the children, curled and pressed against each other, sleeping soundly with Akuatagawa beside them.
It was the first time Akutagawa had woken up in a proper sleeping position, if you ignored the fact that he was very close to the edge. It was really...adorable.
He reached over and brushed Akuatagawa side bangs off his face. He could hardly believe they used to fight each other, what with them being extremely efficient partners if they actually swallowed their prides and worked together.
As the sun began to rise behind Akuatagawa through the window, showering the man in golden light through the gaps between the closed curtains, making Akuatagawa glow brightly. With that innocent sleeping face, he almost looked like an angel.
Akutagawa stirred. Atsushi moved back and slipped out of bed.
Oh no. Atsushi thought to himself, opening his closet so he could grab some clothes and head to the bathroom to start the day. He locked the bathroom door, placed the clothes on the toilet tank, and sat down on the toilet seat. Holding his burning face in his hands, he groaned loudly, “Oh no.”
Closing his eyes only gave him a flashback to Akuatagawa sleeping on his bed, looking so at ease with the children snoring in front of him. Atsushi wanted to run his hand through his black hair, comb it and pinch the white ends with his fingers.
He stood up, filled the sink with water, and grabbed the edges. He proceeded to dunk his head inside, “OH NO!”
“Otousan, did you take a shower?”
Atsushi wiped his face with a towel, touching his hair. It was indeed wet.
“Yes,” he said, as any liar would.
One of the more difficult parts about owning an orphanage was when the children got adopted. There were several things to worry about, like the children’s safety and well-being. Most times the children don’t really want to leave.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want to be adopted, but you couldn’t blame them for getting attached to Atsushi and Akutagawa. To them, the two were already perfect enough as their parents. However, an orphanage isn't an orphanage if the children don’t get adopted, and it wasn’t like they could just disregard that adopting existed and close their gates off for potential parents that couldn’t bear children themselves.
They always had a parting ceremony for all the kids that managed to get themselves adopted. There would always be long hugs, several kisses and tissue boxes lined up for the tears that may be shed -most of which usually belonged to Atsushi.
When Atsushi was younger, he had always dreamed of being adopted so he could get out of hell, but it was an impossible dream since the headmaster barely made his presence known to the public; which turned out to be a good move because the Guild would’ve attacked Atsushi way before meeting the agency. That would’ve sucked.
Takashi had been beyond elated when he found out he was being adopted, so many kids had congratulated him, and he was beaming with joy till the night before he was leaving the orphanage. He had packed his bags, though it was extremely stuffed with a lot of parting gifts from friends, and went to bed with his heart thumping from excitement.
The next morning, he had his final breakfast at the orphanage, and as everyone gathered at the exit with his bags prepared at the door, they all said their last goodbyes to him. Takashi considered himself too old to cry, but when his eyes met the two headmasters, who were smiling softly with pride at him, he couldn’t help but tear up.
“You know, a small part of me wishes I could stay here forever,” he confessed, tugging at his shirt. “I guess I understand how all the others feel now.”
“Don’t forget to write to us!” Someone said, waving their arms about.
“And visit!” Another added.
“Don’t be like that, I’ll still see some of you at school,” Takashi sniffed, chuckling lightly.
“Well, it wouldn’t be the same.”
He paused, letting go of his shirt as his hand fell to his side, “I guess it wouldn’t.”
Then, as Atsushi and Akutagawa had predicted, the boy cried.
“Otousan,” Yasushi said, sitting between Atsushi’s legs, back facing him as his hands spread out against his toy piano. He was playing a lovely yet simple melody, and Atsushi could tell it was a talent the boy had. “I don’t want to leave the orphanage.”
“Oh? Why is that?” Atsushi could recall that no one had asked to adopt Yasushi yet, so it was quite out of the blue for him to say this.
“I want you and Papa to be my parents,” Yasushi replied, sounding rather confident of himself. “If the two of you are married, you can adopt me. Right?”
“What? We ar--” Then Atsushi stopped himself, suddenly remembering the incident at the playground. He had forgotten to ask if Akutagawa was serious and didn’t bother ever correcting Yasushi about it, but he was too deep into the lie to get himself out now.
“Ah! Right! I forgot!” Yasushi gasped, standing up. For a moment, Atsushi thought that Yasushi had somehow figured out the lie himself, and nearly sighed in relief when the boy began digging through his pockets to bring out two rings. They seemed to have belonged to a doll playset, probably from one of the other kids. Atsushi hoped they weren’t stolen. “Rings right? You need rings to...um...confirm? To confirm you’re married!”
“Well--”
“We need to find Papa! So you can have...the...wedding. The wedding!” Then, before Atsushi could stop him, Yasushi bolted out of the nursery with his arms waving about madly. He was yelling, a bit too loudly. “Where’s Papa? Papa has to marry Otousan properly now! I have rings! Nanami-nee, help me find Papa.”
“Eh? No one told me Papa and Otousan were getting married,” she lifted a brow after being tugging by the arm. She believed Yasushi was telling the truth, which he technically was since he wasn’t aware it was a lie in the first place. “We should have the wedding in the lunchroom. I think Papa’s in the library. I’ll get him.”
“Yasushi wait!” Atsushi yelled, but the two broke off before he could reach them. Suddenly, this felt like a familiar game of hide and seek in the forest, except it wasn’t a game at all and he had to stop them before this embarrassing news got out.
He figured it would be best if he went after the younger one with the rings. At least if Akutagawa was dragged out, it would be easier to explain the situation to him rather than the whole orphanage instead. Face still blushing red, Atsushi ran after the little boy, who was still yelling the news at the top of his lungs, possibly the loudest Atsushi had ever seen him be.
Perhaps it was because of Yasushi’s small frame that made it easy for him to slip through the crowd, because Atsushi found it difficult to chase after him due to the number of children following behind the boy curiously. He was almost tempted to use his ability just so he could hop across the walls to reach Yasushi faster, but that would risk unnecessary damage.
Just as he thought things couldn’t get any worse, Atsushi spotted Akutagawa walking towards the lunchroom on the opposite hallway, Nanami by his side. At this point, Atsushi was welcoming death with open arms, his temperature could not go any higher than this and his brain was probably completely fried.
“Papa! Stand there! You’re getting married to Otousan right now so you can adopt me!” Yasushi pulled at Akutagawa’s coat, practically ecstatic. Once upon a time, if anyone were to have done that to him, they would’ve lost their hands and possibly their heads as well. But after realizing how touchy children can get, he soon grew used to them tugging him around like a ragdoll.
The first few times was a disaster, because the sudden contact always made him yelp in surprise, almost like a cat that had suddenly been grabbed. His first instinct was to always attack, but it was a good thing Dazai and Chuuya stuck around the first few days of the orphanage’s “rebranding”, so Akutagawa couldn’t accidentally harm one of the kids from reflex.
“Okay,” Akutagawa replied, not a hint of emotion in his tone, not even confusion, surprise, or a drop of embarrassment. Just a monotone ‘ okay ’. Atsushi thought he was going to faint right then and there from how dizzy he felt with all the blood entering his face.
“How are you acting so calm?” Atsushi whispered as little hands began pushing him towards the end of the lunchroom with Akutagawa. The lunchroom wasn’t structured like a wedding hall, so it was pretty awkward for the two of them to stand in front of a table as children began gathering at tables.
They all watched intently while Yasushi dramatically walked towards them, but he was insanely slow as well, making it rather suspenseful for all the children. The other staff members were peeking in through the door, but didn’t bother to come in, which saved Atsushi from further embarrassment.
Akutagawa coughed, though Atsushi wasn’t sure if it was because of his condition or his way of acting at least a little bit uncomfortable, “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Are you seriously this stupid?” Atsushi deadpanned, nodding his head to the crowd of children and Yasushi.
“It’s not like we aren’t already together,” Akutagawa rolled his eyes, making it sound like it wasn’t a big deal. Except it was a big deal, because Atsushi didn’t recall ever properly dating Akutagawa, or even being informed of it.
“Since when? What? Help?” Atsushi was going to run a fever at this rate.
“We...aren’t dating?” Akutagawa blinked, finally looking puzzled.
Right at that moment, Yasushi finally arrived, rings in his palms and held up high for the two. He beamed brightly, taking a deep breath, “Um! You’re married now!”
“No!” Atsushi exclaimed, meaning to answer Akutagawa’s question, but managed to make Yasushi jump in surprise. The boy frowned, hands drooping down as he sniffed, evidently hurt from suddenly being yelled at.
“No?” Yasushi whispered and Atsushi watched as all the children groaned in disappointment. The only one that didn’t seem too upset was Akutagawa, who seemed only mildly amused with the situation.
Before Atsushi could better the situation somehow, Akutagawa swiped a ring off Yasushi’s palm and grabbed Atsushi’s hand. He chewed the inside of his cheeks, brows dipping as he slipped the ring onto Atsushi’s finger, “Just quit your complaining already.”
“You’re not reacting enough! Jeez! I thought you were the more emotional one,” Atsushi flushed, flexing the hand Akutagawa was holding.
“Unlike someone, I avoid overreacting in front of the children,” Akutagawa spat back. “Stop whining and give me the ring.”
“Why do I feel like you’re making excuses just so you can indirectly confess to me?” Atsushi grumbled, doing as he was told. He gently picked up the other ring and gingerly slipped it onto Akuatagawa’s finger.
“That’s because I do like you, stupid jinko,” Akutagawa growled, ears reddening as he hunched his shoulders. He itched to touch the ring, even though he knew it was just a toy and he’d eventually have to take it off, yet he couldn’t help but feel something about it.
“How was I supposed to know?!” Atsushi bickered back, feeling his heart flutter. What a strange situation to have a confession in, it was almost laughable, so that was what he did. His frown curled into a smile and he started laughing, laughing at how peculiar this all was. Being forced into a fake marriage, only to get a confession out of it, and after an argument no less. How comical. “Ah. Um. I...do like you too.”
“Now you’re married!” Yasushi declared, jumping up to grab their attention. “Adopt me!”
“Don’t they have to kiss or something first?” Nanami smirked, leaning against the table. Her tone was offhanded, but Atsushi could easily tell she was doing it on purpose.
“Yes!” Yasushi brightened, nodding furiously. “Kiss!”
Akutagawa covered his face with his hand, looking away, while Atsushi shook his head and waved his hands. By then everyone was chanting for them to kiss, joined by stomping and table slamming, and there was a telltale sign of Atsushi being close to losing his cool from stress.
“No, that’s it, no more. Go get ready for dinner right n--” Akutagawa said, hand dropping from his face to point everyone towards the door. He felt a tap on his shoulder and he stopped mid sentence to see what Atsushi wanted, only to suddenly be greeted with a kiss on the lips.
Since most children were unfamiliar with romantic gestures, with fairytales and books being their only source, they all found it pretty sweet and cheered loudly. The kiss was short and they quickly broke apart seconds later.
“Now shoo, go get ready for dinner,” Atsushi waved his hands, gesturing them out. This was seriously going to be ingrained into his memories forever.
“Pffft, ha ha ha ha, what’s with the dolly rings?” Dazai snorted, pointing at Akutagawa and Atsushi’s fingers. “I knew you two would get together at some point, but I didn’t think it’d be like this!”
“Don’t be stupid. This is clearly the children’s doing,” Chuuya scoffed, finding the rings rather endearing. It seemed the two may have forgotten to take them off, not even noticing it when they went to bed or showered.
Akutagawa blushed, picking at his ring, “The children think we’re married.”
“Taking it off would upset Yasushi,” Atsushi added.
“Bullshit,” Dazai laughed, tearing up.
“We’re going to kick you out.”
“You wouldn’t, Atsushi.” Dazai said, calming down with a smile resting on his lips.
Atsushi laughed, rolling up his already rolled up sleeves.
Chuuya was the only one that got to properly stay and visit the orphanage that day. Dazai was later found in another river.
A whole year had gone by and the orphanage grew smaller and smaller each passing month. Occasionally, there would be new children dropped off at their orphanage; whether it was because they had to transfer orphanages or...the other unfortunate reason. Some kids that had initially said they would love to stay forever eventually left to be with a proper family, but only one managed to keep that promise.
No matter what kind of family it was, Yasushi always refused to go, forcing the family to pick a different child. It often got irritating, since he was extremely stubborn, and he always said the same thing when asked why: “I want Papa and Otousan to be my real family.”
Atsushi and Akutagawa never knew what to say whenever Yasushi said that.
Two years had passed, Yasushi was the only kid that stuck around since the beginning and the two were getting pretty worried. He was almost tempted to leave when a family with musical backgrounds offered to take him, but he still stood his ground and rejected them.
Atsushi got a proper piano for him later on, because he felt bad that talent like his wasn’t being used enough. The toy piano still remained on Yasushi’s dresser.
“The kids at school make fun of me for being an orphan for so long.” Yasushi said, poking at his food. Upon his third year, he was finally old enough to go to elementary school, and he was still rejecting adoption offers. “I keep telling them I’m not an orphan.”
Akutagawa tilted his head, about to correct him, when Yasushi added, “Because you’re my parents. Right?”
“I…” Akutagawa replied, not sure how to answer him.
Four years, and Yasushi was seen playing the piano at their actual wedding. The plastic toy rings had been long gone, stashed away somewhere in a drawer filled with other memories, and were replaced by actual rings with little gems on them.
Though it was unfortunate that they had to momentarily pause the wedding because Dazai had managed to get himself crushed under the lid of the piano. Atsushi took ten minutes to yell at Dazai, not because he had ruined the occasion, but because it had made Yasushi upset.
“He could’ve ruined the strings,” Yasushi sniffled, checking to see if the piano was still tuned properly.
“Yasushi, Papa and I need to head to work. Someone needs our abilities. Again. Take care of the orphanage for us while we’re gone, okay?” Atsushi patted Yasushi’s head, pressing a firm kiss on his son’s forehead.
“Okay! Bye bye!” Yasushi grinned widely and waved his arms around as his parents - his parents- headed out the orphanage gate.