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Hiro probably should have noticed something was wrong when Byakuya sat directly next to him, rather than leaving their general comfortable amount of space. At the time though, he hadn’t even noticed the change in routine and was more-so glad about the addition of warmth.
His next hint was that Byakuya was fidgeting, whether it was by pushing his glasses up too many times or messing with his shirt sleeve. He had contributed it to coffee, his boyfriend always drank too much of it.
Surprisingly, though, he had noticed that Byakuya looked weirdly tired. Not just in his eyes, but in his pose. It was just...Weird for him, even though he was comfortable with Hiro he almost always sat straight, due to years of his father’s strict reminders.
“Kuya, you okay man?” He asked eventually.
“I’m fine, Hiro,” Byakuya responded flatly.
“Are you sure? You look tired--”
“I said that I am fine. I’m going to go...Do something, I’ll be in our room,” Swiftly, Byakuya stood up and left Hiro sitting there.
He didn’t think about it too much, his intuition telling him that everything was okay. 100%. Even when he heard a weird amount of noise coming from their room for a second, almost sounding like Byakuya was struggling with a drawer-- but still, he just went back to watching weird videos.
Then an hour passed. Then another 30 minutes.
Then, a bad feeling formed in his gut. He felt like he was going to be sick, but from the way, his mind was twirling it wasn’t that weird burrito he’d eaten earlier-- No...It was Byakuya.
Ignoring his previous prediction, he decided the best idea would be to check on him.
Except when he looked in their room, Byakuya wasn’t sitting on the bed or at the desk they had placed in there, his normal reading spot. In fact, Hiro didn’t see him at all just by glancing around.
“Kuya? Did you get kidnapped by ghosts or something--”
“No. Go,” Hiro heard Byakuya say, except his voice was tiny. And shaking. Which meant something was wrong.
He knew Byakuya age regressed, (due to trauma, and just his general lack of coping skills that worked, particularly regarding emotions) and he liked to take care of him. Sometimes he would even try to positively trigger his regression (or just ask if he felt up to it) because he liked feeling important.
Still, moments like this where you don’t know where the little one is hiding tend to be...difficult.
“Kuya, baby, where are you?”
“No--” Byakuya said, voice a bit louder now to try and get Hiro to leave. However, that just helped him with locating the other.
Hiro checked on the other side of the bed, and there curled up and sitting against it was Byakuya, face hidden in his arms.
“Hey, buddy…” Hiro murmured, crouching down, “You’re not feeling good, huh?”
“Leave me--”
“I know you’re gonna try and act bad to make me leave, but it’s not gonna work lil’ guy. I won’t leave you, don’t worry,”
Byakuya looked up, finally, and Hiro had to stop himself from making a pained expression. He was visibly close to crying, though he’d gotten his jacket and tie off before he seemed to have broken down.
“...Buddy, what’s wrong?”
Byakuya screwed his eyelids shut, before once again curling up in a little ball. Still...That position was familiar. It was the same position as he normally took after a bad memory.
“You can just say yes or no-- but, did you...Uh, have a flashback? To your...Um, you know?”
“...Yeah…” Byakuya mumbled out.
“I’m sorry, buddy. But you don’t have to be alone. I’m not going to hurt you, not like...that. Do you trust me? If you want space, I’ll give you it, but you seem really small right now,”
Byakuya looked back up at Hiro, before nodding and coming out of his position some.
Normally Hiro would try and ask how old Byakuya was feeling, but he could already assume it was in the lower range just by the way he was acting. Generally, he floated around 2-4, which was cool, Hiro never liked Elementary schoolers anyways.
“Okay...Let’s get you out of your work clothes first, then we can watch a movie, okay?”
“...’ Kay,” Good, his speech was becoming smaller, which meant his brain was allowing him to slip.
“Can you stand up, buddy?”
Byakuya nodded before trying to stand up and abruptly showing that he, in fact, could not. Hiro quickly held him up for a second, just so that he could regain balance-- Hiro really hadn’t thought about the fact he had been sitting for 2 hours, plus he already had the tendency to get lightheaded. The regression probably wasn’t helping.
“..Um, okay, just sit on the bed buddy,” Hiro said, and once Byakuya had successfully done that he went to grab some clothes for him.
“...M’ sorry,” Byakuya whispered when Hiro came back over, carrying one of his own shirts that would be big on Byakuya and a pair of shorts. Unlike we he was “big”, regressed Byakuya preferred looser clothing. Hiro assumed it was because it wasn’t something “Togami” appropriate.
“You’re good, bud, don’t say sorry,” Hiro watched as Byakuya fumbled, trying to undo the buttons of his shirt. He was doing pretty well, but Hiro could tell he was getting agitated at them.
“I gotcha, lemme do it,” Hiro said, before undoing the rest of them before Byakuya could respond.
“No, I- I got it,” The blonde mumbled. Alright, so he was still trying to be independent and “big”.
Any effort his brain was making to slip wasn’t working.
“I want to, here, is this shirt okay?”
“..Yeah...I got it,”
Hiro held back a sigh and handed the shirt to Byakuya.
“You can try, tag is on the back,”
Byakuya messed with it for a second, before getting it over his head. Then he fumbled for a second, before managing to get it on correctly.
“Good job, baby--”
“‘m not lil’,” Byakuya tried, frowning slightly at Hiro.
Hiro stared at him for a moment before sitting next to Byakuya, maintaining eye contact.
“Look, buddy, I know you don’t like being vulnerable but...You know you can be small, right?”
“No, ‘m bo..botherin’ you,”
“You’re not, though. Your brain does it to help you, yeah? But it helps me, too,”
“...Don’t get it,” Byakuya said, his nose scrunching up slightly. Alright, so he’d have to be more clear.
“Uh...Okay. This is hard to explain-- Taking care of you makes me happy, too. I like doing it. It makes me feel like I matter, I guess, and the fact you trust me means a lot. I like you no matter what, but this seems...Closer, in a way? I dunno--” Hiro said, but was interrupted by Byakuya suddenly latching onto him in a hug.
“You always matter,” Byakuya said, intentionally trying to make his voice clear. It seemed to take some effort, and Hiro could feel that the other was uncomfortable but still...It meant a lot.
“You do too, buddy, so you don’t have to pretend. If your brain is doing bad stuff, I want to help, but you gotta let me,”
“...Kay,”
Hiro pulled away gently so he could see Byakuya’s face. The other male averted his gaze, playing with the bottom on his shirt.
“Do you want help with your pants?”
Byakuya shook his head, “Got it...Probably,”
Hiro laughed a little at that, and let Byakuya figure out how to get his pants off and the shorts on. That took longer than the shirt, but he eventually got that done. He just had to be stubborn all the time.
“You wanna go watch something with me?”
Byakuya nodded, smiling softly. The two walked into the other room again, Hiro was still wary of Byakuya walking. But the two of them made it to the couch without any issues, and Hiro looked for the remote while the other sat down.
However, as soon as he had joined Byakuya and gotten into a comfortable position, Byakuya once again held onto him. Hiro definitely didn’t mind, and it actually meant that he was probably slipping and seeking comfort. So, he shifted the two of them so Byakuya could lean against his chest.
Then came the task of finding something to watch. Anything adult would either make Byakuya internally freak out or stop regressing causing more issues, but if he put a kid movie on while Byakuya was still in the process of regressing, he’d get offended.
So, instead, he went with the solid decision of putting a show about cats and dogs on. Cats were Byakuya’s favorite animal, so he’d like them. Plus, Hiro loved animals too, so it worked well.
“Aw...Kitty,” He heard Byakuya murmur.
The two of them continued to watch the show, Byakuya becoming softer and pliant in Hiro’s arms. Occasionally he’d giggle quietly at something the dogs or cats were doing. Good.
Eventually, though it became late enough that even Hiro (notorious for forgetting normal meal times) realized that dinner hadn’t occurred.
“Hey, baby?”
“Huh?” Byakuya looked up at him.
“What do you want for dinner, bud?”
Byakuya shrugged. Very helpful.
“Uh...I’ll make mac and cheese. Sit up for a second, bud,”
Byakuya did so, looking slightly confused. Hiro stood up.
“...Wha?”
“I’ll be in the kitchen buddy, watch the kitties okay?”
“Don’t go,”
“I’ll be right in there,”
“Don’t go,”
“Here, let me bring you your buddy! Then you won’t be alone!”
Hiro quickly went into their room and pulled out the hidden stuffed cat from their closet. He’d gotten it for Byakuya before he knew about his regression, but once he did, he also learned that it was one of his comfort items.
“Here, baby, it’s your kitty,” Hiro said after going back to Byakuya. The other male took it, hugging it to his chest.
“...’ank you,”
“No problem bud, I’ll just be in the other room. It’ll just take like 15 minutes, I’ll be right back,”
Byakuya nodded, though his eyes didn’t leave Hiro as the clairvoyant walked to the kitchen.
Mac-And-Cheese wasn’t hard, and even though (big) Byakuya acted all proper he didn’t care about the food that much. In his own words, ‘Food is food regardless of the price, it serves its purpose’. His one thing, though, was that he wouldn’t drink cheap tea but...He bought it, so Hiro didn’t really care.
He heated the water and was waiting for it to boil, mind focused on trying to not burn anything.
Byakuya was better at cooking than he was, but he really did NOT trust Byakuya to even touch a microwave at the moment.
Almost on cue, Hiro heard gentle footsteps. Byakuya stood by the doorway, cat in his arms. Wait.
He was crying? Why was he crying? Silently, but crying.
“Woah, woah baby what’s wrong?”
“ ‘M sorry, ‘ought you left,”
“It’s okay, buddy--”
“‘M bad, ‘m sorry--”
“No. No, it’s okay. My fault. I should have...Realized. Okay, how about you sit on the counter while I get this sorted out?”
“...Not mad?”
“Of course I’m not mad! Why would I be mad, baby?”
Byakuya stared at the ground silently, obviously confused. Hiro silently cursed to himself, how could he have just ignored the fact Byakuya was freaking out about being separated? Plus, the people in Byakuya’s life as a kid had always gotten mad at him...So of course he’d be afraid.
“...I’m not going to be mad at you for having feelings, bud, now c’mere.”
Byakuya nodded and with Hiro making sure he didn’t boink his head, sat on the counter with his stuffed cat.
Hiro added the noodles to the water and started to talk about random subjects. Somehow, he went from talking about how his day had gone to a government conspiracy about aliens stealing people’s credit cards.
“...That’s dumb, ‘Ro,”
“Huh! No, it’s totally legit, baby!”
“Aliens aren’ real,”
“You say that, but they’ll have everyone’s info soon!”
“Boiling,”
“Huh?”
Byakuya gestured to the water, and Hiro checked it to find it was about to boil over.
“Oh, shiii-- shucks! Shucks. Uh,” Hiro moved the pot so it would stop boiling then stirred it before putting it back.
“...Silly ‘Ro,”
Hiro laughed at that, before returning to his rambling as the pasta finished. However, when draining it he made a simple but bad mistake.
The bottom of the burning pot made direct contact with Byakuya’s arm, long enough that Hiro hadn’t even noticed until Byakuya jerked his arm back,
“Crap! No, no, are you okay buddy?” Hiro quickly put the pot down and rushed to look at Byakuya’s arm. Okay. That was a burn. That was a bad burn. Not a hospital-level burn, but bad enough that if it happened to Hiro he’d be cursing up a storm.
However, Byakuya instead was staring at it with wide eyes and a little frown.
“Ow…”
“I’m so sorry baby, put your arm under this water, let me go get the first aid kit--” Hiro rushed to the bathroom and pulled out the box, carrying it back over to Byakuya in the kitchen.
Byakuya still had his arm under the water as Hiro had said, and once that was done Hiro got out a wrap and antibiotic gel.
“Okay, buddy, this is going to hurt,” Hiro said, before doing his best to gently put the antibiotic on. Byakuya grimaced but seemed to be trying to not make any noise. Then, he finished wrapping it in a bandage.
“Are you okay?”
Byakuya nodded.
“Are you sure?”
Byakuya nodded again.
“...Can you talk?”
“...Hurts.”
Crud. So the burn had made him smaller. That...Was fine but not preferred due to the burn. Hiro would have preferred to know whether he was okay before he got smaller, but that was okay. Stuff happens.
“...Should I finish the mac-and-cheese now?”
Byakuya shrugged.
Hiro finished the mac-and-cheese while Byakuya held his stuffed cat. He made two bowls of it and sat them at the table, before getting himself a soda and Byakuya milk.
Even when little Byakuya was particularly careful with eating and being polite. It took him a little bit longer due to his arm injury. Hiro offered to help him, but he was very adamant that he could do it on his own.
And then, after dinner, he even went to go brush his teeth on his own after Hiro told him he couldn’t help clean up.
Hiro didn’t understand why Byakuya wanted to be so independent. Was he embarrassed? Maybe he’d have to ask Byakuya when he was big...He wanted to help Byakuya, after all.
Still, though, Byakuya came back with a small smile and Hiro entirely forgot about any concerns he had. Byakuya was just...So cute sometimes.
“Okay, it’s getting kinda late...How about you go watch the rest of the animal show and I’ll get ready for bed then we can sleep?”
Byakuya shook his head, “Come wit’ you,”
“Oh. Okay, that works,” Hiro went and turned the T.V off, before walking into their bedroom with Byakuya following him. Hiro changed into his sleep clothes and brushed his teeth, Byakuya watching him intently.
“You ready to go to bed, baby?”
Byakuya nodded.
The two of them, plus the addition of Byakuya’s cat climbed into bed. Hiro couldn’t see Byakuya with all the lights off, but once he felt him, he gently held Byakuya to his chest. Slowly, he ran his fingers through the other’s blonde hair.
“Thanks for being you, bud...Really. I know it’s hard,”
Byakuya’s response was to push his head into Hiro’s chest. Not in a bad way, just trying to be as close as possible.
“You’ve dealt with a lot, hun. But you don’t have to be afraid. I want to take care of you. Okay? Anyways...Sleep tight, buddy,”
“Love ‘ou, ‘Ro…” Byakuya murmured.
“Love ya too, Kuya,”
And eventually, cuddled together warmly, the pair fell asleep. Content.