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“Can you sing me somethin'?" Yuuji asks, sitting in her lap, amber eyes peering up at her through thick lashes.
How the fuck can a 5-year-old be so damn cute?
She blinks at the question, as if the term ‘singing’ short-circuits the cogs and gears in her head.
"Sing you somethin’? Like what?"
Yuuji bites the corner of his bottom lip, eyes falling down to the floor for a second, before his eyes light up like a Christmas tree.
"Favorite song!”
She chuckles.
"I ain’t a mind reader, kid. To top that off, I’m terrible at guessing. You're going to have to tell me what your favorite song is."
He rolls his eyes playfully.
"No, silly! Your favorite song!"
She’s surprised by the request, Yuuji’s head lifting from her chest expectantly.
A protest builds in the back of her throat, but when he looks up at her with those big, shining honey eyes…
She’s a goner.
Cute, adorable, sweet kid - 1.
Crass, sarcastic, misanthropic Special Grade Sorcerer - 0.
The question has her thinking for a minute.
"You know, kiddo, I don't really have a favorite song. I've got a bunch of songs on my phone, though—"
She reaches for her jacket pocket, but a stern shake of Yuuji’s head has her pausing.
“No! I wanna hear you sing a song!"
Her eyebrows pinch together.
"Why me?"
A pinkish tinge crawls up his neck, coating his cheeks a rosy color.
Yuuji is blushing.
Where the fuck is a camera when you need one?
“… You have a pretty voice."
She isn’t sure the last time her heart swelled - shit, aside from Nanami, it never has.
Yuuji’s too damn cute for his own good.
"All right, Yuuji - but give me a minute. I'll think of a good one."
The answer satisfies him, happily settling in her lap.
But his request truly leaves her at a stalemate.
What i s her favorite song?
She has a grand playlist of over 25,000 songs, each listened to at least 20 times.
But her favorite song…
The lyrics tumble past her mouth before she pinpoints the song.
“That’s life, and as funny as it may seem,
Some people get their kicks, stomping on a dream.
But I don’t let it, let it get me down,
’Cause this fine ol’ world, it keeps, spinning around.”
Yuuji nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck, enjoying the sound of her voice and the humming vibrations of her throat against his cheek.
“I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a king,
I’ve been up and down, and over and out, and I know one thing.
Each time I find myself flat on my face,
I pick myself up and get back in the race,”
She can’t believe the lyrics to this song are spilling out so easily. Granted, it is a classic. There isn’t a single soul that can deny Frank Sinatra.
“That’s life, I tell ya, I can’t deny it,
I thought of quitting, baby - but my heart won’t buy it.
And if I didn’t think it was worth one single try,
I’d jump right on a big bird and then I’d fly.”
She rubs small, soothing circles on Yuuji’s back.
‘I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a king,
I’ve been up and down and over and out, and I know one thing,
Each time I find myself, laying flat on my face,
I just pick myself up and get back in the race,’
Yuuji’s fast asleep by the chorus - but she hums the last lines.
She isn’t sure why, but Yuuji’s breathing evening out brings an overwhelming sense of relief to her.
She’s sure he hasn’t slept much, if the dark circles shadowing his eyes are any hint.
And if she’scompletely honest with herself, she’s becoming…
Attached.
Which is never a good thing for anyone involved.
As the last lyrics leave her lips, a wave of peace crashes over her and, right at that moment, she thinks it isn’t a terrible idea to sleep for a while, too…
•
Outside their bedroom, Nanami clasps his hands over his mouth as to not make a single sound - gasp or sob.
He had no idea how beautiful how beautiful her singing voice is, each line spilling from her lips like the richest wine, each sentence weaving delicious shivers down his spine, each syllable igniting a flame in his belly.
More so than that...
She’s singing.
She’s singing to Yuuji.
She’s singing to their adopted child.
She’s singing to their son.
To the sweet boy they adopted when he a toddler after his parents died in a horrific crash accident.
There wasn’t a single family member alive to take him, so it’s not like they weren’t going to ask him to be apart of their family.
Nanami clenches his teeth, urging the tears to stop falling, only for them to subside when he realizes the love of his life and the apple of his eye are curling-up in each other’s arms...
The bittersweet tears bleed into joyous, exhilarate, cascading drops tracking down his face, one hand staying against over his mouth because he’d die before ruining such a precious moment, one hand clutching the skin of his torso - his heart.
Come Hell or High Water, he will not forget this priceless, heavenly moment.
Especially not when Yuuji cuddles her like a koala, perching his head over her shoulder, burying his face in her neck.
Especially not when one of her hands cradles the back of Yuuji’s head, close enough so if he wanted to squirm out of her head, it wouldn’t be much difficulty whatsoever.
Especially not when Nanami can’t stop smiling at the gorgeous family he’s had for 3-years.
No, right now...
Right now, things are absolutely perfect, and Nanami Kento wouldn’t trade them for the world.