Chapter Text
“You have neglected to include his left mitten, pencil case, toothbrush, and the backup change of clothes that his homeroom teacher specifically requested. And, a can of coke is not an appropriate lunch for a first-grade student, Gojo. If you continue to half-ass the care of our son like this, I will have to take the appropriate steps to renegotiate our custody agreement.” Nanami was half-joking. Maybe.
“Aw don’t be like that babe, I remembered to include the signed forms this time!”
“Ah yes, crumpled at the bottom of his backpack with a smiley face for a signature.”
“Yeah, exactly! I returned the form just like I was supposed to, Kento bo bento bananafana—” Nanami hung up on Gojo with a vengeance, pinching the bridge of his nose. Some doctor had once told him it was supposed to quell headaches, but clearly, this doctor had never dealt with the most obnoxious man on the planet.
“Was that Papa? Can I talk to him?” Nanami turned to look at Yuuji, who was struggling to fix the velcro on his shoes without getting his sweater caught. “Did you know, Daddy, Papa got these new light-up shoes for me! And he said that if, if I’m good today at school since it’s the first day and all, then he would buy me a, an AVT!”
“You mean ATV, Yuuji, and your Papa is a joke.” Nanami corrected, kneeling down to fix Yuuji’s shoes.
“Doncha mean Papa is making a joke?” Yuuji asked, already distracted from the conversation, hopping and stomping in a circle to get his shoes to work.
“I meant what I said.” Checking his watch, Nanami swept Yuuji into his arms, along with his own briefcase and Yuuji’s (appropriately) packed bag. “We’re running a little late today, so we will have to take the bike instead of walking.” He plucked both his and Yuuji’s helmets from their hook on the coat rack and locks the door behind him.
“But I wanted to show Gumi how cool my new shoes are! And Papa said I’m ready to peddle all by myself.” Yuuji swung his feet out, in hopes that the shoes would light up even off the ground. “And I don’t wanna sit, I’m too full of, of, flutterbyes!”
“Butterflies, Yuuji, and you can show Megumi at school. You will have the opportunity at recess” Nanami bundled Yuuji into the little mesh trailer attached to the back of the bike, clipping in his helmet and seatbelt. He feels a twinge of something bittersweet — the seat really was getting too small for him.
Nanami recalled how once upon a time, this bike trailer was all Yuuji wanted to ride. He would giggle and yell for them to go faster faster faster and swore up and down to Megumi that riding with Daddy and Papa was faster than a train. He actually started to beg them to ride down Mt. Fuji, and Nanami had to physically restrain Gojo from making that trip. As a compromise, Nanami took them to Disneyland. Unfortunately, Yuuji had eyes a little bigger than his stomach when it came to the jet coasters. Gojo had to pry his fingers one by one off of the safety bar when Nobara had dared Yuuji to go again, even after he spewed caramel popcorn the first time. He insisted through tears that he wasn’t scared and only let go when Nobara promised that they were friends and wouldn’t make fun of him, even if he was a scaredy cat.
Speaking of being scared, Nanami almost forgot. “Would you like Mr. Bear?”
Yuuji paused, his little body tensing. “I don’t want Mr. Bear. Non-chan says bears are for babies, not for first graders.” He started to gnaw on his lip.
“Yuuji, don’t be ridiculous, you’re still very much a child.” Yuuji frowned at that.
“Well,” He started, eyebrows drawing even closer together, “since I’m big now and everything, I even help Papa eat his veggies and stuff, so I don’t need Mr. Bear. Because I’m big now. And. Yeah.” He crossed his arms, half out of defiance and half hugging himself.
“It is perfectly appropriate for a child to want a comfort object at this developmental —“
“I’m not a child! And I don’t need a comfort whatever and I’m a first grader now!” Yuuji started to yell, squirming out of Nanami’s hold. Big tears gathered in the corners of his eyes and threatened to roll right down his cheeks. “And I don’t want to wear this stupid helmet!” He fought Nanami’s grip to wrestle the helmet off of his head. With his unnaturally strong grip, Yuuji made his move to fling it off, the buckles and straps whipping right by his eyes in the process.
“Yuuji!” Nanami snapped. Yuuji startled at his raised voice and stopped in his tracks. “I understand you are having some big feelings right now —“
“Am not —”
“Let me finish, please.” Nanami cut in, voice hard. Yuuji swallows, looking equal parts indignant and ashamed. The tears finally spilled over, falling in big drops.
Fuck. Get it together, Kento. Nanami took a deep breath and tried again. “We can have big feelings and that’s ok, but it is never acceptable to throw things, especially something hard like a helmet. It’s dangerous and you could have hurt yourself.” Nanami knelt down to meet Yuuji at eye level. He tried his best to project firmness without anger or frustration.
“It seems like you’re feeling upset and scared. When we go into new situations, everyone can get scared.” Nanami recited, thinking of the scripts he wrote for situations like these. Validate, then explain. Keep your calm, and don’t raise your voice. “Let’s both take some deep breaths together.”
Of course Gojo isn’t here the one time he would be helpful. Despite the mountain of textbooks on childrearing Nanami had read, he had to admit that Gojo was a natural when it came to Yuuji’s feelings. In fact, Nanami couldn’t remember a time when Gojo ever ran out of patience for him. What Nanami wouldn’t give for that. “And I’m sorry for raising my voice. That wasn’t appropriate or kind of me.”
Meeting each other’s eyes, they both took a deep inhale. Yuuji puffed up his cheeks and exhaled noisily, his breath hitching. Nanami breathed with him, counting out three cycles of breath.
“I’m sorry for trying to throw things.” Yuuji sniffed, after regaining a sense of calm. He wiped away some of his tears and snot with his sleeve.
“I accept your apology, Yuuji.” Nanami dabbed at his sleeve and face with his spare handkerchief.
“I ‘ccept your apology too.” He blinked hard, looking toward the ground. “… Daddy, is Mr. Bear really only for babies?”
“Not at all.” Nanami brushed Yuuji’s hair from his face and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Can I hold him and still be big?”
“Of course.”
The remainder of the trip to the local elementary school was as uneventful as they cycled (at a safe, reasonable speed) through the winding streets off the main road. Spring was in the air, but it was still chilly; Nanami kicked himself for not dressing Yuuji in more layers while Yuuji tried to fit his mittens over his shoes.
Nanami had just unbuckled Yuuji from the trailer and was about to put the mittens back on him when Yuuji wriggled out of his seat and sprinted toward the main gate.
“Gumi!!! Nonchan!!!!!!” Yuuji carried himself as fast as he could on his little legs, arms reaching out. “Oof!”
“Ew, ew, get off me!” Nobara squealed at the same time Megumi grumbled “Don’t call me that.”
“Guys, guys, guys, you won’t believe what I saw on TV last night!! It was this about this girl who died or got flushed in the toilet, I’m don’t remember, and then she died and then she lives in the toilet and she has super long hair or something —“ Yuuji started to ramble when Nobara interrupted him.
“You can’t get flushed down a toilet, that’s stupid and fake.” Nobara tossed her hair over her shoulder, even though it barely reached her jaw.
“Nu-uh, it was real! Papa said so. He said bad boys who hold it in get flushed and then exploded!”
Nanami, who had caught up to Yuuji after locking up their bike and carrying their bags, reminded himself to change his Netflix password and lock Gojo out for good.
“I don’t think toilets are strong enough to flush down a whole person. Remember when you tried to flush your rubber duck, Yuuji? It got caught.” Megumi, ever the realist, piped in.
“No, but what about airplane toilets? They’re super strong.” Yuuji countered.
“And scary.” Nobara mused.
They all nodded in agreement as they mulled over the logistics of flush strength.
“Who is getting flushed down toilets?”
“Maki-chan!” Nobara squealed.
“Tuna.”
“Hi Maki-chan! Toge-kun!” Yuuji flashed a megawatt smile at the newcomers to their growing circle. “You guys are second graders now right? That’s soooo cool!”
The group chattered on as they made their way to the front entrance of the school, where their teachers would be waiting in their designed classrooms. Nanami and the other parents trailed behind, already half-forgotten in the excitement of the first day.
At the doors, Nanami reached out to Yuuji, but thought better of it. If he really wanted reassurance, he would seek it himself. He was a big boy after all, Nanami thought bitterly.
“Wait, wait, wait guys! I gotta do something first — give me a sec!” Yuuji flew back outside, throwing himself at Nanami. “Bye bye Daddy! I’ll see you later!” He lowered his voice, “And I’m sorry for throwing and stuff.”
“That’s ok, Yuuji. You’re going to have a great time today. You’re going to do so so well.” Nanami gripped Yuuji a little tighter. “Be yourself, and listen to the teacher, okay? And don’t forget to wash your hands — with soap, Yuuji, it’s important to get rid of bacteria. And wait 15 minutes after eating to run around, and I packed a snack for you in the front pocket just in case you need something extra, and don’t —“
“Daddy-Daddy I get it“ Yuuji squirmed, “I’m gonna be late, Daddy!”
“Ok, ok, sorry,” Nanami huffed in amusement and let him go. “You’re going to have a wonderful time in the first grade. I love you.” He gave him one last kiss on the forehead and Yuuji was off like a rocket, scrambling to catch up with his friends.
“Oh wait!” He stopped in his tracks, spinning on his heels. “I love you, too, Daddy!”
Left alone at last, Nanami walked his bike home, sans Yuuji. The commute was only 20 minutes, but it felt like an hour. He wandered listlessly before slumping down on the couch. The house feels entirely too big and deafeningly silent. He’s thinking of dismantling the bike trailer when his cellphone buzzes.
“Nanami—n! How was it? Was Yuuji ok? Are you crying your eyes out yet?” Gojo’s laughter fills the room, breaking Nanami out of his reverie.
“What do you want?” He grunts, trying and failing to keep his voice from cracking.
“Wait, are you actually crying?”
“Can it, Gojo.”
“Ahaha that’s precious! Our little Yuuji’s growing up, after all. Big bad Nanamin brought to tears by the first day of school?”
Nanami clears his throat. “Yeah, actually. That’s right.”
Gojo falls silent.
“If that’s all, then I’m hanging up.”
“Wait, wait,” Gojo’s voice drops a little. “I’m —I’m uh. Me too. It’s crazy huh, hah, I mean he used to be so small, and now …” The line goes quiet for a bit. “This is a lot harder than it looks, huh.”
Nanami sighs. “No shit, senpai.”
“The second-grader classrooms are up the stairs — you guys will be down that hall,” Maki announced, naturally taking the lead. “We’ll see each other at recess. We can meet by that big tree in the yard.”
“Salmon.” Toge offered.
With that, the second graders took off to their own classroom, leaving the three to find their classrooms. Yuuji and Megumi start walking in the direction of their new homeroom when something yanked on their backpacks. Nobara pulls them aside, uncharacteristically quiet.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m actually, I’m actually maybe a little, um.” She tugged at the hem of her poofy skirt. “Are you guys, like. Maybe a little bit scared? To go in?”
“Actually,” Yuuji blurted out. “I’m a little scared too. But like only a little. Like super super tiny small amount. I’m definitely not a scared cat, though.”
Megumi grabbed both of their hands. “It’s gonna be ok, guys. Tsumiki said that the teachers are actually really nice and the snacks are really good. Plus, we’re here together.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad, I guess. But if you guys tell anyone, I’ll make you eat one kazillion pins, okay?” Nobara stared them both down. “Pinky promise.”
“Ok, but can we hold hands until we get to the classroom?” Yuuji asked, dead serious.
“Deal.” Nobara finally broke out into a grin.
“Guys, we’re gonna be so late!” Megumi brought them out of the moment, pulling them both behind him. The other two gasped, scrambling to get ahead and ending up dragging Megumi instead. They squabble and push and shove and giggle all the way down the hall.