Chapter Text
“So do we have ourselves a little deal, little man?” Tetsurou closed his suitcase before turning to his business partner. “Can you keep your promise?”
“Of course! I’ll make sure it'll happen during your 2 weeks away.” He gave him a thumbs up, lifting his chin up to show off the tie around his neck. Tetsurou let out a soft chuckle, reaching out to take the tie from him.
“Good man. I knew I could trust you.” He proceeded to put on his tie, staring at himself in the mirror before noticing his husband standing by the door, his arms crossed with an unimpressed look in his face. “Why hello Mr. Kodzuken, how may I help you?”
Kenma rolled his eyes, walking over before turning Tetsurou around and swatted his hand away to work on his tie instead. “How about stop trying to corrupt our son and make him follow your way, Mr. Capitalist?”
“Aye, no can do Mr. Kodzuken. We’ve already signed the contract.”
Kenma shot him a glare before turning to their son sitting on the bed, Tetsurou’s phone in hand. “What did he bribe you with?”
Kouichi glanced up at him, an identical smirk on his face. “Sorry papa but it is classified.”
Tetsurou let out his hideous cackle as Kenma scrunched up his nose in annoyance. He then tightened the knot on the tie, making his husband jump a bit.
“Easy tiger, don’t choke your own husband to death.” Tetsurou snickered, letting Kenma’s hand go and released the knot. Kenma then walked over to the bed, plopping down with a still very unimpressed look on his face. “Don’t worry, I just told him to look after you for me.”
“Kuro,” His childhood nickname came out easily from Kenma’s mouth, “I’m a full-grown man. I can take care of myself.”
“Doubtful.”
“Don’t worry tou-chan! I’ll make sure papa will know when to eat and take breaks!” Kouichi jumped onto Kenma’s back, wrapping his tiny arms around the streamer. “You’re in good hands, papa!” He reassured the gamer with a nod.
Kenma furrowed his brows, reaching over to his son and brushed his bang aside to stare at the identical golden eyes. “I don’t need another Kuro.”
“I’ll be a thousand times better than him!” Kouichi declared.
“Oi, I only asked you to take care of my husband for 2 weeks, not a life time. Don’t steal my job from me!” Tetsurou hissed, picking up his suitcase before they followed him downstairs to the genkan.
“Make sure you don’t forget anything. I don’t want to send you any emergency deliveries.” Kenma watched Tetsurou go through the list mentally before his eyes glinted up, a hint of mischief.
“I actually did forget something.” He hummed, approaching his husband.
“What is it-“ Kenma froze when Tetsurou gave him a quick peck on the lips. Kenma could feel the blush growing on his face as Tetsurou moved back, a proud smirk on his face.
“I got everything.” He nodded and Kenma noticed Tetsurou had covered Kouichi’s eyes with his hand.
Kouichi hissed, slapping Tetsurou’s hand away before hitting his father. “Tou-chan! At least do it when I’m not here! Disgusting!”
Tetsurou cackled, slipping down the gankan to slip on his shoes. He stood up, giving his son’s hair a quick ruffle with a grin.
“Oi! I’m trying to tame your bird nest here, tou-chan!” He hissed, watching Tetsurou grabbing his keys and suitcase.
“Remember to look after your father for me, Kou. Make sure he’s not going to overwork himself when I’m gone.”
“Sir yessir.” He saluted and Kenma rolled his eyes.
“Don’t you dare make your 7-year-old son stay up past his bedtime, he still has school. I’m capable of taking care of the house.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Tetsurou hummed, opening the door. “Anyway, I’ll be off now.”
“Safe trip!” The two Kozume waved.
Fortunately, Kenma had learnt how to cook over the years when Tetsurou would often have to stay overtime or go on business trips. Having a son also helped motivate him a bit to do more of the domestic chores but really, Kenma had wished he could hire a maid. But with a mini Tetsurou bugging him about him being a responsible adult, Kenma had no choice.
“I still really have to wonder why the E3 stream is so late. I’m not really expecting much, though…” Kenma sighed as his def fingers press onto the buttons, defeating his enemies swiftly. “We still have 3 hours, might as well start making predictions on what they might show-“ A loud crash made Kenma jumped slightly, making him slip the controls and Kenma listened to the Game Over music starting. He glanced at his chat, noticing the concerns. “I’ll go check. Might as well take a stretch break.” He sighed, muting his mic and switched screens.
Kenma got out of his room, poking his head outside. “Kou?” He called for his son, not seeing a response. He made his way downstairs, making sure to be cautious of any intruders. What he wasn’t expect was to see shattered glass and a puddle of water beside the kitchen island. Kenma immediately panicked and quickly knelt down to clean the mess while making sure to see if he could find any blood. Once he made sure he had wiped all the water and glass clean from the floor, he rushed to his son’s room and walked inside.
“Kou?” He called again, eyes scanning the empty room. The streamer was about to leave to search for the other rooms but a small and hushed sniffle made him stop in his track. He stayed silent again to see if he was hearing things before making his way to the wardrobe, stopping right in front of it to hear the muffled sniffles.
Kenma reached for the handles and pulled it open, revealing the small body curled up inside. The boy flinched at the bright light before looking up, his eyes red and puffy from crying with stray tears still streaming down his face. Kenma could tell he had really tried to hide his crying and the shock from being discovered truly made him feel a sharp stab through the heart.
“Kou, are you hurt?” He reached for his son’s hand that was covering his mouth, pulling it away to check for any potential cuts. Kouichi shook his head, making an attempt to pull back but Kenma had a strong grip on him. The streamer frowned, seeing how his son was avoiding his eyes, letting his bangs shield his face. “Kou, why did you hide?”
“I-I’m sorry.” His voice was barely above a whisper as he hiccupped. “I-I’m sorry, papa.” He repeated.
“Why are you sorry?”
Kouichi choked as his tears still streaming but he continued, “I-I broke the glass. I-I was trying to b-bring it to you.”
“Any reason why?” Kenma knelt down to be on eye level with his son, rubbing his hand for some reassurance. He knew Tetsurou would often do this to him whenever he was having an episode or was having some doubts about himself. It may seem like a small action but it had helped Kenma so much, and he was hoping it will be for his son as well.
It seemed to have worked as Kouichi glanced up through teary eyes. He chewed on his lips for a moment before speaking up. “Tou-chan asked me to take care of you… So I did. I remember seeing him always bringing you in something to drink when you have work late…” He murmured, breaking their eye contact. “So I thought… I should do the same before I go to sleep. But-“ He felt his tears building up again, “I-I slipped my hands and I dropped the glass.”
Kenma watched him pull his hand away to try to wipe his tears away and to muffled his cries. He was surprised at how much of Tetsurou’s words Kouichi had took to heart, how much Kouichi had took after him in wanting to take care of Kenma. He truly was grateful at his son and felt pride building up in his chest.
“I’m not mad that you dropped and broke a glass, Kou.” He reached up to push his bang aside so he could see his son’s full face. “I’m grateful that you took after Kuro so much.” He couldn’t help but to let a small smile grow on his face. “A glass can be replaced as many times as we want, but no one can replace you as my son. I truly am very thankful at your thoughts and actions, Kou. And right now, I’m not asking you to do much. Let me take care of you instead, alright?” Kouichi nodded slowly before Kenma smiled, nodding.
“I-I’ll go clean the-“
“I’ve already did it.” Kenma stood up and pulled him out of the wardrobe. “Go get washed up and go to my room.”
“Eh?” Kouichi looked up.
“You can sleep in my room tonight. Kuro is gone after all. I need someone to sleep with me so I won’t get cold.” Kenma watched the sparkles shining up in his son’s eyes before he nodded quickly. He immediately ran to get his face washed, leaving Kenma to watch in amusement.
The streamer walked back to his stream, realizing he has been gone for far too long and people have been worried. He sat back down, turning his camera back on as he put on his headphone. “Sorry guys but I’ll have to end the stream early today.” He murmured, reading through the chat. “Yes, I am fine, nothing happens - but I need to take care of my son.” He saved and turned off his game. “I’ll do a reaction to the E3 announcement tomorrow.” He nodded before waving at the camera to say his goodbyes.
Once the stream had ended, Kenma turned off all of his equipment and decided to finish the rest of his work tomorrow. He went to get ready for bed and approached his room, seeing Kouichi was already lying in Tetsurou’s spot. The streamer climbed onto bed, he reached for the switch and turned off the light before getting comfortable. Almost immediately, he could feel Kouichi shifting over and snuggled up onto him.
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping you warm. Tou-chan did say you get cold easily and always hogged the blanket.”
It was safe to say, Kenma was busier thinking how cute his son truly was and how much he really did take after Tetsurou than trying to fall asleep that night.