Chapter Text
--- Nazuna POV ---
“And that concludes our ValkyrieSmp stream for tonight,” Shu says, taking off his steampunk-themed headphones and laying them on the desk. He throws a fiendish grin my way. ”Now… are you ready for our Minecraft lore session, Mon amour?”
I glance down at the desk, feeling my heart pang. “But... you promised that we would bake bread and play Among Us after this stream,” I say with a sad look on my face. Hurriedly, I close the Among Us tab saved at the top of my browser for fear of my partner seeing.
Shu recoils. “Non! I told you never to say ‘Amongus’ in front of MOI! You know how I feel about that wretched game, if you could even call it that. Why not stick with Minecraft, it is clearly the superior game on every level! It baffles the mind that you would want to dirty your perfect hands by engaging in something so horrid.”
I sigh, pushing my chair back as I stand up, palms pressed against the desk. “It’s whatever… What do you want for dinner tonight? Shall we bake bread? I could make you some of your favourite... croissants, if you’d like…”
Shu smiles. “You know how much I love croissants, my cute pinocchio, especially ones crafted by an angel such as yourself kakaka.”
Trying to ignore the pet name he had slipped in, I smile half-heartedly and make my way to the kitchen.
Shu’s voice carries itself to the other side of our shared apartment. “Let us convene and plot minecraft lore after this croissant rendezvous, darling!”
“You know what?” I begin. “How about later?”
I hear a pause. “...Later? Whatever do you mean, mon cheri?”
“It’s just… All you want to talk about is VSmp lore. Can’t we just bake bread together like we used to?” I keep my voice even in an attempt to convince my streaming partner.
Shu scoffs, walking into the kitchen and furrowing his eyebrows. “Like we used to? We were imbeciles back then, Nito! Zero subscribers! We were nothing before Minecraft!”
“Nothing? Did all of that time we spent together mean nothing to you?”
Shu gasps, striding over to where I stand and taking my hands in his. “Oh Nito, my darling Nito, of course it meant something to me, every moment spent with you is precious…”
“Really? Then why do you spend more time playing minecraft than anything I want to do? You’re only interested in me when it comes to that stupid ga-”
“STOP!” Shu slams his fist against the wall. “DON’T call minecraft stupid.”
I feel myself begin to tear up. I realize I have gone too far but it is too late now to go back on it as I am overcome with emotions. “So THAT’S why you’re mad at me? For calling minecraft stupid? God Oshi-san, I don’t even like streaming with you that much anymore! I don’t feel happy knowing that all you care about is lore! I miss when it was just you and me fooling around.”
Shu sighs. I see him biting back an aggressive retort, and for a moment I feel bad for lashing out at him so much, staring guiltily at the floor. Suddenly, he cradles his hands around either side of my face, forcing my eyes to meet his.
“What would make you happy again, Nito?”
“I…” My gaze meets the floor once again. “I want to adopt a child.”
“Oh... but children are so disgusting, they defecate themselves without shame, it's truly shameful how little children care about their image or their pride, we cannot have one of those things in the house.”
“We can get one that is potty-trained if that would make you feel better, Oshi-san,” I plead. Shu’s expression softens slightly.
“Well… I suppose… if it would make you happy. Shall we head over to the adoption center now?”
I grin. “Just like that, huh?”
“Well… I am rather fond of you, Nito.”
Blushing, I put on boots to head over to the adoption center. When he acts like this, it gives me hope that he still loves me outside of Minecraft… Surely he couldn’t have ulterior motives for doing this, it’s something he's doing only to make me happy…
Shu opens up the passenger door for me and I enter the car. As he enters the car I connect my phone to the car’s radio and start playing my favorite Painshooter’s song, House of Wolves. Shu immediately turns off the music, tightening his grip around the steering wheel.
“You know I hate that stupid band and their baseless songs. Since I’m driving, let me have some freedom over our choice of music.”
I shrink in on myself. He always gets to choose what we listen to in the car and he’s always putting down my interests. No matter, he’s doing this for me... I can’t be thinking like that now.
After a ride in silence, save for Shu’s minecraft parody music, we arrive at the adoption center. In the car ride over, I was giddy with excitement thinking about adopting a kid to bake bread and play amongus with. Shu parks his car in the adoption center parking lot and walks over to the passenger side to open my door.
As I exit the car, he says, “Remember, it has to be potty trained, no exceptions.”
I nod my head. As we walk towards the orphanage, I see a child staring at us through the window. He has heterophobia in his eyes, one blue and one yellow. I’m immediately enchanted by his two different eye colors. I say to Shu, “I want HIM.”
Shu shrugs, “I don’t know Nito, he’s kind of ugly.”
I chuckle at his joke, “It’s what’s on the inside that matters.”
He sighs, resigned, “Anything for you my cute pinocchio. But if he isn’t potty trained, we are not getting him, I am serious about that caveat.”
The sales assistant grimaces. “Are you sure you want that one? He has heterophobia in his eyes and he’s kinda ugly, not to mention he’s obsessed with minecraft youtubers.”
Shu’s eyes light up, clenching his fists and taking a deep breath. “We want THAT one.”
I turn to the sales assistant. “Is this boy potty trained?”
The woman shrugs. “Maybe you should ask him?”
Shu nods, parting the curtains leading to the boy’s enclosure. He angles the curtain so that his face is obscured by the wall. “Hey little guy, are you potty trained?”
“Nyehh? I’m 17,” the kid replies.
Shu scoffs, “He’s dodging the question. Tell me, boy, are you potty trained or not?”
“Not telling.”
Enraged by the child’s cheekiness, Shu bursts into the enclosure. “I need to know if you defecate yourself.”
The boy’s eyes light up, his composure switching immediately, “Are ya PuppetSovereign?”
Shu gasps. “Y-you receive entertainment from our collaborative project? ValkyrieSMP?”
“Hell yeah, I do!”
Shu flinches at the profanity, but seems delighted nonetheless. I take the opportunity and emerge behind him, making my own face visible to the orphan.
“Holy shit, Nazunyan! You too? I love you guys!” the boy says, “But ain’t cha guys famous? Whatcha doin’ at this normal adoption center?”
I blush. “Looking for a third member of our family.”
Shu nods. “Yes, a third member of our VSMP. And we want YOU, so tell us… Are you potty trained?”
“I mean… I’m 17, so I assumed ya would know… of course I can shit in the right places.”
Shu claps his hands together. “Très bien! You may come home with me and Nito!” He turns to the sales assistant. “How much for this one?”
“He’s free if you want him, we were gonna put him down anyway. We don’t usually do that but this one is so fucking annoying,” she grumbles.
The thought of putting down a child - regardless of appearance or the presence of heterophobia - makes me feel sick to my stomach. How could they do something so horrible to an innocent child? I feel my heart wrenching in sympathy for the boy.
I turn to the newest member of our family. “Do you have a name, little guy?”
“Yah I do, ‘m Mika Kagehira,” the boy responds, getting to his feet and towering over me. “‘N please stop callin’ me little guy, ‘m taller than ya.”
“Well…” I start, “let’s go home. We can stop off at Lawson’s on the way there, since we need some cans of Mountain View and baking supplies.”
Shu nods as he fills out paperwork for Mika. “That sounds exquisite. Take the little Kagehira into the car will you, darling?”
“Sure,” I reply, taking Mika by the hand as I lead him outside.
“Please excuse Shu,” I say under my breath, “he can be a little overbearing sometimes.”
He doesn’t look phased by Shu’s comments and instead looks excited, “‘S cool. You guys rock, so it’s whatever. Can ya show me the setup when we’re home?”
I think back to the setup we have made ourselves at home; Shu’s sophisticated collection of dolls which sit in a neat row below his monitor, a polished mechanical keyboard which clicks with each letter; mine, too, though not nearly as organised, an assortment of plushies, bottles of Mountain View bunched together, the brand new Minecraft figure Shu had bought for my birthday a week prior still sat unopened on my desk.
Home.
I smile. “Of course.”