Chapter Text
Giyuu shivers when the cold breeze brushes in, the shoji slides open revealing Sanemi holding a tray of hot tea and two little boys rushing into the room giggling. Giyuu sits up from the futon and coughs into his elbow, “Don’t get too close, I’ll get you two sick,” another cough came after his sentence.
Sanemi closes the shoji shut, cutting the cold wind from coming in, “Papa, can we play in the snow? I wanna play!” A boy with black hair, styled very much like Sanemi's, gives pleading puppy eyes to Giyuu. The other boy tugs on his yukata gently, his hair white as snow, yet long like Giyuu’s, giving him a concerned look, “When will you get better? I want to sleep next to you,” Sanemi sets the tray down carefully and prepares a cup while Giyuu answers the children’s questions. He hears a whine coming from the oldest, asking why he can’t play in the snow now.
“Itsuki, the wind will blow you away. I suggest you wait until it calms down or else you’ll get sick like me,” Sanemi wants to laugh but keeps it to himself, the kid won’t fly away but getting sick is one thing. However, winter is the season Giyuu gets easily sick too, so every year Sanemi is already prepared for when the man gets sick. The boy, Itsuki, caught an attitude quick and before he could stomp his little foot hard on the mat, Sanemi turned and pointed a finger to the boy, “Stomp and watch what happens, I dare you.” His foot stops midway, he grunts, crossing his arms angrily and faces his back towards them.
“This brat-'' a hand lands on his right arm, Sanemi looks at the hand then at Giyuu. He coughs a couple of times before shaking his head. “Leave him, he’ll get over it,” The scarred man surrenders and listens to Giyuu, he can deal with Itsuki later. The other boy stayed by Giyuu’s side, unlike his brother, Kazuya is the complete opposite of him. The boy gets up and runs to the oshiire, pulling out a blanket. The two older men do not notice him struggling to bring the blanket over, Sanemi successfully gives Giyuu his hot drink. Kazuya places the blanket, now all unfolded, onto Giyuu’s lap.
“Papa must be really cold, Yaya brings another blanket for you,” Giyuu smiles fondly at the boy, watching the little one’s sapphire eyes reflect the same smile when the man pats his head. An expression of thanks makes Itsuki peek, still slightly annoyed but keeps his eyes on the floor as he fixes the extra blanket and smooths it out to match the one beneath it. Giyuu doesn’t show his expressions, it’s hard for him to express it, but the scarred man can see the sadness in his eyes when Itsuki refuses to look at him. Sanemi sighs, “You can play in the snow, just not now. You’ll worry pops over here and he’ll get upset if you get sick too.”
Itsuki still refuses to look up as he fiddles with the blanket, Kazuya turns to his brother looking sad wondering why his big brother is not listening to their dads. It was only then when the oldest looked up and saw Giyuu and his brother’s expression, they looked exactly the same despite Kazuya having white hair and Sanemi’s eye shape, it’s a copy and paste. It felt like he stepped on a kitten's tail and he didn’t apologize for it. “F-Fine! I guess I can wait,” he looks away all embarrassed, ears turning red, Sanemi laughs at the kid knowing well that Giyuu and Kazuya’s sad expression makes him weak. He knows it all too well, “But I’m not doing it for you! I think for myself, hmph!” Itsuki puffs his cheeks up and keeps his head high. Sanemi shakes his head, he puts a hand on knee to make himself stand back on his feet, “Yeah, yeah whatever.”
•
“Wear the scarf or you’re not going outside,”
“I don’t wanna!”
“Then forget about playing.”
“But I wanna play!”
“Tomioka Itsuki I swear- then wear the damn scarf or so help me god.”
The commotion outside Giyuu’s room is making him sigh in disbelief, of course Itsuki is going to be difficult to deal with since he hates being layered in the cold. He wraps the scarf around Kazuya’s neck making sure he’s all nice and warm before he can step outside. Being such a gentle child, he’s never had any trouble with him unless it came to making him eat vegetables. That is the only time he isn’t cooperative. “Be careful, if you feel yourself getting too cold, come back inside,” Kazuya only nods before leaving the room. Giyuu is greeted by the sight of a grumpy Itsuki wearing the scarf messily wrapped around him, arms crossed and everything. Sanemi sits there proud and could care less if the boy is upset. He has to wear the scarf and if he takes it off, he can forget about playing outside ever again.
The scarred man plans to keep an eye on them while cutting up some wood, he needs to restock anyways and since Giyuu is sick the minka needs to be warm for everyone at least. The kids play in the snow, making their own snowman to see whose is better. Both of their snowmans were disproportionate but they still looked decent, Giyuu turns away to laugh or he’ll get an earful from Itsuki and a crying Kazuya. It didn’t help when they went to ask Sanemi which one looked better, to which he had no idea how to respond. Giyuu had to keep his composure as he heard Sanemi tell the boys to go ask him, immediately he heard the little running footsteps towards his direction.
The sick man had to layer up, despite being sick he too wanted to keep an eye out. He sits at the edge of the engawa, observing the two small figures having a snowball fight. His partner would occasionally shout at Itsuki to not play so harshly or to “tone” it down with the pitching, also just to prevent either one of them from crying. Giyuu drinks his tea to keep him warm, meanwhile Itsuki and Kazuya giggle and squeal, enjoying their fun. Maybe a little too much, because Itsuki had been filled with such energy it’s like watching Inosuke if he’s being honest, and began to throw the snowballs a bit too hard. The closer he got to Kazuya. The snow haired boy’s laughter slowly died down to protests and whimpering. He could hear one of his dad’s voices calling out to him, something about stopping and “that’s enough now”. However, it’s probably not a big deal. He laughs and gathers up some more in his freezing hands and forms a ball. Itsuki runs up to his younger brother and smashes the ball into the other’s face. Kazuya gets on his knees wiping the snow off his face, suddenly he was pushed onto his stomach and face planted into the snow.
Itsuki puts his foot on Kazuya’s back and yell’s, “Victory! I won!” laughing. Then he stops laughing when Sanemi approaches them, he is pissed to say the least and Kazuya lifts his head and bawls his eyes out. “Get your foot off him, now,” the black haired boy obeys and runs to Giyuu and hides behind him. Yet, the man is also displeased with Itsuki’s actions. The scarred man lifts Kazuya onto his feet and brushes off the snow from his small body. Brushing off the excess snow from his flushed cheeks, they have turned to a peachy-red from the cold. He continues to cry, spreads his arms out, Sanemi brings the boy into his arms before standing up, “You better apologize.” The other boy pouts, still hiding behind Giyuu, “Why?! But I won.”
“Slamming a snowball into your brother’s face isn’t something to be cheering over,” Sanemi attempts to calm Kazuya, he tries to get a good look at the boy’s face but he swats his hand and stuffs himself in between his shoulder and neck. Giyuu looks behind himself to Itsuki, “You need to apologize, you were playing too rough with Kazuya. You get riled up when you’re playing.” Itsuki stares at his father, in disbelief. “It’s not my fault Yaya is weak! He lost because he’s a weakling! So he deserved it!”
“Eh?”
…He wants to take it back, the look Giyuu gave him. Made him feel like he just kicked an animal. “I-I’m kidding!” Itsuki runs back to Sanemi, but stops a few feet from the man and approaches him with caution like some wild creature . It ticked him off, why is his six-year-old acting like that? Lousy brat, he’s not going to kill him. Kazuya has somewhat calmed down, he shifts to be put down and Sanemi does. Itsuki looks away to avoid those manipulating puppy eyes that belong to his brother. “Nii-san’s sorry for throwing a snowball at you,” The younger sniffles, clutching to Sanemi’s yukata and rubs his left eye, “It’s okay.” Itsuki smiles and looks back at Giyuu, with a now pleased expression, then back to Sanemi for his approval. The man smirked, shaking his head and ruffling the oldest hair, “You need to take care of those you care for, not hurt them.”
He pouts, maybe his father has a point. Just maybe since his arms are now full of his younger brother who tackles him in a hug, nuzzling him which makes Itsuki get annoyed and tell Kazuya off, “Get off you’re suffocating me!” He manages to get out of the other boy’s hold and taps his chest, “Tag! You’re it!” He runs off towards the snowy forest giggling and Kazuya goes after him squealing. Sanemi yells at them to come back and before could go after them, Giyuu insists for him to stay. He coughs, “I’ll go get them.”
“No, Giyuu you’re sick. You are in no condition to be out in this fucking cold,”
“I’m not weak and I don’t want to sit and lay all day,” Giyuu steps out, letting the blanket fall off his shoulders. The scarred man is used to Giyuu being stubborn as a bull. He knows his partner isn’t someone who needs protection. He can take care of himself just fine, but it’s normal to worry about him when he’s got the cold clinging to him.You can’t tell him off or explain a thousand reasons why he can’t do something, because he’ll go ahead and say, “I’m not ______.”
Yet he tries, knowing after the second try it’s no use. He sighs, seeing his breath become a cloud and disappear, he walks towards his partner. He observes him with the blank stare he always has, but there’s curiosity in those irises of his. The squeals and yelling in the background is enough to tell them the boys aren’t far. Sanemi stands in front of Giyuu and takes off his scarf, wrapping it around the other.
Giyuu grabs his hand, “You’ll get sick,”
Tch, “I can get another one.”
There’s something about the little things the raven haired man does, Sanemi doesn’t know how to describe it. It could be the way his partner softly smiles, or how adorable he can be and at times it really makes him want to punch a damn tree. Or when he eats he never notices how much of a messy eater he can be with all that rice stuck in the sides of his lips. How much of a pretty boy Giyuu can be when he sleeps, face of a prince. It pisses him off but he’s the bastard that fell in love with said prince. Yet, he wouldn’t trade anything in the world to be away from this man. He'd rather have a stubborn lover than being alone. He has a family with this man. A man who is as stubborn as he is, took him out from that dark hole he was in. Maybe he…
“Nemi?” Giyuu snaps him out of his thoughts.
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be back,” Sanemi nods, Giyuu leaves after retrieving his hand from Sanemi’s wrist to cupping his cheek and rubs thumb across the scar on his cheekbone. Giyuu leaves into the forest until he is no longer in the other’s sight.
•
“I’m on base! You can’t tag me if I touch the tree. I’m safe!” Itsuki stands proudly with his hand against the tree. “Nii-san, that's not fair! You’re just saying that because I almost tagged you!” Kazuya pouts, watching his big brother be selfish and making up rules just to not get tagged. He sits on the snow still pouting and crosses his arms. Itsuki’s groans, “You’re no fun-”
SPLAT!
Snow is all over his face. His brother’s laughter was enough to upset him and smother off the snow, in the process of doing so he felt a tap on his left shoulder, “Tag!” and footsteps ran away from him. Itsuki wipes the remaining snow off his face and runs after Kazuya, “You’ll pay for this!” A squeal comes from the boy and they continue to run farther into the woods. Their laughter fills the silence in the air, the snow gently falls. They ran so much, Kazuya starts to slow down running out of stamina and pants, “I don’t,” inhale, exhale, “I don’t wanna play anymore, I’m tired,” inhale, exhale, “Nii-san, let’s rest.”
“Aaaaaand tag!” Itsuki reached for Kazuya, but missed. His brother dodges his tag and runs off even though he said he was tired. Itsuki gets annoyed once again, why can’t he get him? He’s faster than his brother so what changed? He’s only a centimeter or two taller than him and weighs more, because he has more muscle….is what Itsuki likes to think of himself. It’s gotta be the snow, he thinks while running to catch up to Kazuya. He jumps over tree roots that can be seen from the surface of the blanket of snow. Pushed through bushes and branches that are leafless. He reached through an open space, there were less trees and dried bushes. Kazuya stood there frozen with his back facing his brother, unaware that Itsuki was there. His body language was strange, he was trembling but made no sound, “Yaya?” He calls out, but he fails to receive a response. Despite being so young, anyone can tell something was wrong, he walks forward slowly. Kazuya’s breathing was abnormal, it was quick and hitched. Only being a few steps away from him, a deep growl makes him stop in his tracks. Itsuki’s eyes grew wide, he stayed still contemplating whether he should look or not.
Yet, there’s one thing he is very sure of. They’re in danger, and their dads are not around to help them. He shallows hard and faced his fears to peek at what's in front of his brother. He felt like a coward to hide behind this younger brother but right now was not the time to be thinking about that. A wolf stands before them, the creature is large enough to rip them to shreds….the only thing that went through his mind was what do we do?
“You need to take care of those you care for, not hurt them.”
Itsuki didn’t think. He runs in front of Kazuya to protect him, scared for his life. His whole body trembling, breathing accelerates as he stands his ground in front of the animal in front of him. The wolf snarls, getting closer very slowly, Kazuya holds onto his brother's clothing, “Y-You…you leave my brother alone! Go away!” he swats his arm and the wolf snaps at him, letting out a very loud bark. The boys flinch but Itsuki stays on the defense. They are so scared, they wished they never came this far into the woods, he looks for anything in his view to distract the animal. Crap his despair makes him paranoid, why is there nothing-
There….
“Yaya, run,” The younger looks at the wolf to his brother to the wolf again and to his brother. Confused, the younger shook his head, he couldn't leave his brother behind.
“No! I’m not leaving!”
The wolf gets closer than Itsuki likes as he turns to his brother with tears already forming on both of their faces, RUN! He pushes his brother in the direction he originally came from, he sprints to reach a rock that rests against a tree near them and before the wolf could attack his brother he throws the solid object as hard as he could. It was only then Kazuya listened. It yelps in pain trembling from the hit and shakes it off. Itsuki had taken the chance to catch up to his brother, he kept running and didn’t look back. He didn’t dare to, he was afraid that if he did his speed would decrease. A small figure became a part of his front view, the faster he ran the more clear the figure became. He recognized the white long hair, once he got to his side he took his hand and guided them through the forest. Kazuya was startled by the sudden grab but it was his brother yet he couldn’t process everything at once because the howl of the wolf fills the silence of their hitched breaths. The heavy galloping of the wolf’s paws begins to catch up to them. Itsuki started to pick up a speed he didn’t think he’d have and ignored his body that was screaming to stop. Kazuya couldn’t keep up with how fast his brother was running and he almost started to trip, unable to match the other’s running footsteps, “Nii-san! I can’t!” He sobs. Itsuki’s so terrified. He shook his head, “We have to keep running!” but Kazuya just couldn’t keep up, he’s tripping so much he stops. Itsuki just cries and pulls his brother to keep running, he turns to his brother and pleads, “Yaya, don’t stop running!”
However, the oldest trips, his foot took a misstep. The children went flying and fell to the ground. They struggled to catch their breaths, their bodies still shaking from terror. He didn’t feel the fall at all from the adrenaline rush, his brother however started to cry he injured his wrist from the attempt to catch his fall. Itsuki stood up quickly to aid his brother, he told his brother hastily that he’s okay. He didn’t know how to help him but the need to comfort him wasn’t an option in their position. He takes his brother’s hand to stand, the wolf jumps out of nowhere. Itsuki eyes grew wide, everything stopped in slow motion…. The wolf is horrifying, he could see all of its fangs. Snarled expression, large paws with long claws that can tear flesh easily. He pulls his brother close to him and the boys shut their eyes waiting for the wolf’s impact, but nothing came. A hard thud along with yelping and whimpering of the animal made Itsuki confused. He opened his eyes to see what the commotion was, Kazuya refused to look and hid in his brother’s shoulder whimpering. When the raven-haired boy takes in what is happening, he sees a man holding down the animal. It struggled to escape the man's grasp, refusing to resist and surrender, he held the wolf by its head to the ground with his hand. The rest of his body was on top of the animal, his back was familiar to him. He assumed the man had kicked the animal before apprehending it, then he spoke…
“I know you’re hungry and your pups need to feast” he stands with the animal's head still in his hand, pulling it towards his body to make it stand and pushes the wolf brutally away, “but you will not touch my children.” It snarls at him, it’s legs trying not to give in before getting up and making a run for it, the man coughs covering a hand over his mouth. He turns to the boys who are now both staring at him, tears already at a halt for some time, fear still lingering from the wolf.
It was Giyuu who came to their rescue, his worried eyes showed relief that the boys are fine. He opens his mouth to say something, but the boys burst out crying and began running towards him with the little energy they had. Giyuu crouched to his knees and welcomed his children in his arms. He placed a kiss on the top of their heads and held them closer, he’s so glad he came in time. They cried into his shoulders, apologizing for going too far. Giyuu shushes them, “It’s okay, don’t apologize,” he whispers. He cradles them in, one on one arm and the other on the other arm. He stands and takes them home as they hold on tight to him. Kazuya’s injured wrist doesn’t go unnoticed by him, he makes a mental note to treat him once they arrive home. Sanemi might make him go straight to bed, but there’s a chance he might not after Giyuu tells his partner what happened.
•
Sanemi was waiting outside the minka wondering what took them so long. It was already getting quite dark and they haven’t come back yet. He was starting to get pissed off, he finished chopping wood a long time ago and Giyuu was taking his sweet ass time to get the kids. He knew that cold was going to weigh him down. “Tch, idiot,” he decides to go after them, until Giyuu finally emerges from the woods and coughs. The boys were sound asleep in Giyuu’s arms, he was a rather enduring sight but Sanemi would never admit it out loud, “What took you so damn long?”
“A wolf was after them,” that line was enough to knock the wind out of Sanemi. He started going off, quietly to not wake up the kids, at Giyuu and pushed them inside where it’s warm. He scolded him for being so stubborn and not asking him for help. To which his partner replied, “Then we wouldn’t have reached in time and they would’ve been dead. Just because I’m sick doesn’t mean I’m a damsel in distress.” Sanemi felt like pulling his hair out. He instead asked if the kids were okay. They thankfully were, it was just Kazuya’s wrist that needed treatment. As Giyuu suspected, Sanemi didn’t push him to bed. He sat across from Giyuu in their room scrutinizing him as he wrapped the little one's wrist in bandages. Itsuki is in a futon next to them sleeping soundly, Sanemi covered him up and changed his clothes. Kazuya would knit his brow together from the discomfort of his wrist being bandaged. Sanemi looked so serious, but everytime Kazuya would whine from the soreness he would wince as if it also hurt him. The other man glanced and found this comical, he smiled when he poured his attention back to the boy. Sanemi’s left brow twitches, “What’s so funny?” He asked. The raven haired man shook his head as if to say “nothing.” Giyuu made sure to finish quickly and put Kazuya in clean clothes before putting him to bed.
It was Giyuu’s turn to be taken care of, Sanemi brought him his tea, which he had to heat up again, and okayu. However, Sanemi didn’t forget the boys. He felt bad to wake them up but they needed to eat something. He brought them yakiimo and miso soup. Perfect for the cold weather. He made sure the boys ate well, despite them almost sleeping in their soups. Giyuu made a face at the okayu but Sanemi could care less. He’ll treat him just like the kids if he refuses to eat what is in front of him. He’ll stop cooking their favorite meals, knowing Giyuu he can’t “live” without his salmon daikon. Itsuki and Kazuya finished their meals before Giyuu did. Sanemi painfully had to watch Giyuu take small bites of his food. The urge to smother the okayu down his throat, the gap was so big, but he had to remind himself. Not in front of the kids, they’re sleeping. At least with this dish, Giyuu isn’t messy when he eats. What felt like an eternity, Giyuu finished his meal. The man sighs in relief and cleans up the dishes taking them to the kitchen. He comes back minutes later to the room and lays on the tatami mat, resting his head on Giyuu’s lap. The other soft coughs into his elbow, then raked his calloused hand through Sanemi’s hair. He gently massaged his scalp, a relaxed sigh came from the scarred man who shut his eyes and melted in his touch. “They went too far didn’t they?” Giyuu brought his free hand into Sanemi’s scalp, massaging his temples very gently. “They were too caught up playing, it's not a surprise that they didn’t notice.”
Sanemi grunts, brows knitting together in a frown. He opened his eyes, “They were probably scared shitless, one of them is going to have nightmares,” Like any parent, Sanemi was concerned, thinking what would have happened if Giyuu wasn’t there to help them. He doesn’t show a lot of emotions like his partner. To the kids, he seemed to be grumpy all of the time. Giyuu believes that he probably gives the wrong impression to them because they would go over to him and sometimes shoot a stink eye to Sanemi for being “mean” to their dad. In reality, this is just how they have always been. They’ve never seen his soft side, it’s only something he shows to his partner when he feels like it. Giyuu knows Sanemi was probably thinking of all of the horrendous things that could have happened to the children. He retrieved his left hand from the scarred-man’s hair and placed it on his cheek, gently pulling his face to look at him. From Sanemi’s point of view, his partner looks down at him with such fondness. He felt his ears go red and looked away with a grunt, “Don’t just stare at me, bastard! Say something!” Giyuu coughs in his elbow once more, he tugs his face to him again, Sanemi just glares up at him. He caught the man off guard and felt pressure against his lips, Giyuu had placed a handkerchief to kiss him. “Quit worrying so much, they’re here in one piece aren’t they?” Sanemi sits up almost immediately, almost knocking heads with Giyuu. “Don’t do that ever again, idiot. Now let’s go to bed.” The sick man watched his lover make his way towards the kids fixing the blankets, even though there was nothing to fix. Giyuu just smiles, “Okay.”