Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Naoto had always dreamt of being a police officer, a dream that was unfortunately cut short on his first year of highschool, when he and the rest of the Investigation Team discovered that Adachi had been the mastermind behind the whole case, and none of them had been any the wiser to his machinations.

After Adachi’s arrest, Naoto began to dig deeper into Inaba’s police force, finding more corruption and wrongdoing at each turn. Slowly, he began to realise that the police were not the pinnacles of justice that he believed them to be. In fact, there was deep corruption throughout the entire police force, and Naoto doubted that he - as one man - would be able to fix it. Chie too had her suspicions since the incident, and worked alongside Naoto to help change their respective dreams.

He still wanted to help people, but he wasn’t sure how to do that, until Kanji, his amazing boyfriend, randomly brought up the social worker who had helped Yu escape his parents to return to Inaba with Dojima.

At that moment, everything clicked.

Naoto may not have been able to help people as a police officer, but he would be able to do a great deal of good as a social worker. Giving Kanji a peck on the cheek for his troubles, Naoto hit the books.

Two years later, he graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, and jumped right into helping the most vulnerable people in his community. 

And he couldn't have been happier.

***

A few years had passed after Naoto’s graduation, and he had settled into married life with Kanji quite easily. Most days passed without much of note happening, except their friends coming to visit and dragging their kids with them in most cases.

While he and Kanji had signed up to be foster parents some time ago, they hadn’t received any calls yet, which Naoto assumed was because Inaba had a small population and therefore little need for foster parents. Even so, Naoto held out hope that they’d find their own kid one day, even if it wasn’t anytime soon.

It ended up happening sooner than either of them expected…

The visit was meant to be a routine welfare check, after a neighbour filed a noise complaint against one Madarame Ichiryusai, who lived with his adoptive son, Kitagawa Yusuke, far in the outskirts of Inaba. Naoto had done close to a hundred welfare checks since he became a social worker - most of which had gone smoothly - and he had no reason to think this one would be any different.

However, as he dug deeper into the case, he found that this was not the first time that a noise complaint had been lodged against Madarame. Over the past ten years, there had been over a dozen complaints made against the man, but none of them had ever stuck.

Naoto’s heart sank when he realised why. 

The officer's name scrawled at the end of all those ‘closed’ complaints was one he had grown very familiar with over the past few years.

Adachi Tohru.

Even in jail, that guy was still messing with them…

If Adachi had been the officer assigned to all these cases, there was every chance that he had been bribed into silence, and Naoto found himself wondering what dark secrets Madarame was hiding.

He would find out soon enough.

***

When Naoto knocked on the front door, there was no response, which should have been his first indication that something was wrong.

Luckily enough, the front door had been unlocked, so Naoto was able to enter the premises without breaking it down, though there was admittedly some internal disappointment that he wasn’t able to do that. Kanji would have loved to see it.

The second indication that something was wrong came in the form of Madarame himself, who was passed out drunk on the couch, bottle of sake in hand, at two o’clock in the afternoon. Never a good sign in these situations.

Looking around, Naoto could see no sign of Kitagawa, which worried him. “Kitagawa? Are you there?” he called, trying to get the child’s attention from wherever he was hiding. He could have sworn he heard a scared squeak from somewhere nearby.

If his detective's intuition was correct - though he wasn’t a detective anymore - the sound had come from the cabinet on the other side of the wall. Taking care to make his footsteps as light as possible, he moved towards the cabinet, opening the door and revealing a small boy, who was curled up, hands over his ears. 

He was absolutely tiny - smaller that Naoto had been at his age, which was saying something - and his clothes hung loosely off his body, as if he had been starved. The thought stabbed something deep in Naoto’s mind. 

He probably had…

“Hi, you’re Yusuke, right?” said Naoto, keeping his voice as gentle as he could. “My name’s Naoto Shirogane.”

Yusuke sniffed, shrinking further back into the cabinet. “Are you… a cop?” he asked. “Daddy said I’m not meant to talk to cops. They’re scary…”

“I’m not,” replied Naoto. “I’m a social worker. Do you know what that is?”

Yusuke shook his head. 

“It’s my job to make sure that people are okay,” Naoto explained. “Especially vulnerable people, like you. Now, I’m going to need you to be brave for me and answer some questions. Is that okay?”

“...Okay.”

Taking a deep breath to keep himself calm, Naoto thought back to the list of questions he was supposed to ask potential abuse victims. “Has Madarame ever been violent towards you?”

Hesitating a little, Yusuke slowly nodded. “Sometimes, when he drinks too much. It’s my fault though; I make him mad.”

“Has he hit you recently?” asked Naoto, thinking back to the unconscious man lying on the couch, not ten feet away from them.

Yusuke didn’t answer Naoto’s question. Instead, he lifted up his long sleeve to show Naoto the bruise on his arm. “It wasn’t that bad this time…” he mumbled, tears gathering in his eyes.

There was no way that Naoto was going to waste any more time by asking Yusuke questions that he was certain he knew the answer to. Instead, he patted Yusuke on the shoulder and told him, “Wait here. I’ll come back for you in a minute.”

With that, he rang the police and stormed into the other room, grabbed Madarame by his shoulders and slapped him awake. The man looked up at him with blurry, unfocused eyes, and Naoto wasn’t sure that he was even coherent.

That didn’t matter.

“I’m performing a citizen’s arrest,” he announced. “The police will be here soon, and you will never see your son again. That is a promise.”

Madarame tried to fight Naoto off, but the man was deceptively strong for his size, and pinned him down easily. He sure as fuck wasn’t letting this bastard get anywhere near that kid again.

***

The police arrived minutes later. There was something strangely cathartic about Naoto not needing to deal with them as much as he thought. In fact, he kept them all at an arms’ length from Yusuke, including the ones who tried to pretend that they were friends because they had worked with Naoto so briefly all those years ago.

Regardless, the officers did their job and took Madarame to the station, which Naoto was slightly thankful for, though he did nothing to show it. 

Yusuke still hadn’t come out of the cabinet, despite Naoto’s best attempts to coax him, and it was only when the officers finally left that he finally crept out and asked, “Are they gone?”

Naoto was unable to formulate a response, instead staring at the jagged scar above Yusuke’s eyebrow, which he had only just noticed. It looked like it might have been a glass wound, and the realisation sent a shiver down Naoto’s spine. 

Then, another realisation hit him. 

The scar looked just like Kanji’s.

“Shirogane?” repeated Yusuke, grabbing Naoto’s attention again. “Are they gone?”

“Yes, they are.”

“...Where am I going to go now?” whispered Yusuke, staring down at his feet. “If Daddy’s in prison, then I don’t have anyone to live with.”

“What about your mother?”

Yusuke shook his head. “Mama died when I was small,” he sniffled, tears gathering in his eyes. “I don’t have anyone else,” he said, breaking into broken sobs.

Naoto wasn’t known for his moments of impulsivity, and he had no idea what compelled him to do it, but he reached down and wrapped his arms around Yusuke’s shoulders, holding him close, as the boy burst into tears, burying his face into Naoto’s shirt.

And he didn’t let go until they arrived at Yusuke’s new home.

Hopefully, Kanji would react well to their new son, thought Naoto, as he carried a sleeping Yusuke through the doorway. Then again, how could anyone hate that cute face?

***

Kanji was pretty damn pumped! He had never been a great cook, but he had been taking lessons from Yu and Yosuke and was excited to show Naoto what he had learned, which already meant he was better than at least half of the girls. As the front door creaked open, he went out into the hallway and greeted Naoto with a cheerful, “Welcome home!”

Naoto frantically shushed him. “You’re going to wake him up!”

“Wake who up?” Kanji asked before noticing that the thing Naoto was holding wasn’t some shopping bag. With how this random child’s hair blended in with Naoto’s outfit, it was hard to even notice him. “Oh… who’s he?”

“...I met him at work today. His name is Yusuke, and he’s going to be living with us for a bit,” explained Naoto. “The spare room is set up, correct?” 

“Yeah, I put some fresh sheets on the bed a day or so ago,” replied Kanji, keeping his voice quiet. “I still don’t know how Teddie manages to shed even without the suit.”

“I asked Yosuke about it; it’s either a medical condition or an issue with the kind of clothes he wears,” Naoto answered before stuttering, “Wait, we’re getting off topic here. I’m going to get this kid to bed, then you and I are going to have to talk about this. Deal?”

“Deal. Do you need a hand carrying him?”

Naoto shook his head. “I carried him this far with no issues. I think I’ll be okay.”

Kanji watched in disbelief as Naoto disappeared upstairs, wondering how in the hell they got into this situation. While he had been looking forward to being a foster father, he always thought they’d at least get a little notice. This felt all too much like they had a child dropped on their lap without explanation.

Hopefully, Naoto would give him an explanation, but until then, he’d have to wait. In the meantime, he portioned out the sushi he made for dinner, and poured Naoto a cup of coffee, since he got the feeling he had a tiring day.

A few minutes later, Naoto came back downstairs, rubbing at the bridge of his nose underneath his glasses. “Right, I owe you an explanation, don’t I?”

“Can you owe me an explanation while eating the sushi I made?” asked Kanji.

The statement caught Naoto off guard, making him chuckle. “Okay, I’ll do my best,” he said, sitting down at the kitchen table and picking up his chopsticks. “Thank you for the food.”

Picking up their first bite of sushi, Naoto was pleasantly surprised by the taste. “This is good. My compliments to the chef.” Kanji blushed a little at that, much to Naoto’s amusement, but he couldn’t hold onto that feeling for long. 

Eventually, he had to tell Kanji the whole story. “I didn’t think any of this would happen when I went to work today,” Naoto admitted. “It all happened so fast…”

“Take your time,” said Kanji, moving a few more bites of sushi onto Naoto’s plate. 

Slowly, the story poured out of Naoto, ending with him picking up Yusuke and taking him home. 

Kanji was oddly quiet the whole time, and when Naoto was finished, he gritted out, “It’s a good thing all you did was slap him. I woulda done something worse if it had been me.”

“Trust me, I wanted to,” replied Naoto, “but I don’t think the officers who arrested him would have been happy if he arrived at the station with broken bones.”

“He really has no one else?” Kanji confirmed.

Naoto shook his head. “His biological mother is dead, and we know nothing about his father. There’s no extended family in the picture either. Since there aren’t many registered foster carers in Inaba, we were the only ones who could really take him. I’ve already filed with Child Services to have him moved to our emergency custody, at least until we can find somewhere else for him to go.”

“Who said he has to go?” said Kanji. “I can tell you’re attached to the kid and we have talked about fostering before, so why not? I might not know a lick about being a dad, but I reckon I can learn on the job.”

“I think so too,” replied Naoto. “Thank you, Kanji, for agreeing to this.”

“It’s the least I can do, babe. Besides, the kid already looks like your son anyway!”

Naoto closed his eyes, thinking about Yusuke once more. “Yeah, I suppose he does…”

***

When Yusuke woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom, he was confused. 

More than that, he was scared.

Slowly, memories of the previous night came back to him, and he had a sinking realisation. Shirogane-san might not have been a cop, but he was a social worker. Yusuke wasn’t totally sure what that was, but he remembered him arresting Madarame, and then the cops came, so social workers and cops must have been similar.

Yusuke didn’t like the police one bit. There was one policeman who used to come round a lot, when Daddy got in trouble for being too loud, but Yusuke couldn’t remember what his name was. He smelled like cigarettes all the time, and he used to stay for a bit to have a drink with Madarame too. He even used to kick Yusuke if he got in the way.

Cops were scary and mean. Yusuke definitely didn’t want to live with one!

A sharp knock on his door made him jump out of his own skin, wanting to hide but not knowing where to go, and a proper sounding voice asked, “Yusuke, are you awake?”

It took a moment for Yusuke to recognise the voice as Shirogane, and he hesitantly replied, “Yeah, I- I’m awake.”

“That’s good,” replied Shirogane. “My husband has just finished making breakfast. Why don’t you come down and join us?”

Yusuke’s brain short circuited for a moment. Shirogane had a husband, even though he was a boy? Was that even allowed? What did he even look like?

Shirogane cleared his throat. “Yusuke, are you coming?” he asked.

Yusuke’s hunger eventually won out over his confusion and fear, and he tentatively opened the door. “Yes, I’m coming,” he whispered, grabbing ahold of Shirogane’s sleeve, more out of instinct than anything. He was a little nervous to meet Shirogane’s husband. What if he was mean or didn’t like him?

He was so preoccupied with his worry that he didn’t even notice Naoto smiling down at him fondly.

***

Kanji had decided to make something pretty light for breakfast, since Naoto had been worried that Yusuke’s stomach wouldn’t take any rich or fatty foods well. The kid was scarily underweight for his age, and they could only guess why that might have been.

This Madarame bastard was insane, starving a child like that. If it had been up to Kanji, he would have broken into whatever police station Madarame was in and shown him a serious piece of his mind. Madarame would have been lucky if he only escaped with some broken bones.

… and this was why Naoto was the social worker.

As Naoto and Yusuke entered the kitchen, Kanji took a deep breath, trying to calm down. He was pretty sure that children could smell anger. Or was that rabbits? He could probably ask Naoto later.

(Naoto would later inform him that children could not smell emotions, and that rabbits couldn’t either, although some animals could smell the pheromones associated with those emotions. Naoto was so smart.)

The kid looked pretty unassuming, all things considered. Now that Kanji was getting a better look at him, he could see how small the child really was, hardly coming up to his waist. Yu and Yosuke’s boy, who was about Yusuke’s age, was far taller. That was probably due to his malnutrition.

Now he was pissed off again at this kid’s dad again, and was trying and failing to rein it in when the boy nervously asked, “Am I allowed to sit down?”

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t you be?” asked Kanji, pulling out a chair for him. 

Yusuke shrugged in response, before taking a seat. “What are you eating?” he asked, looking warily at the food still cooking in the pans. 

“We’re having fried eggs,” replied Kanji, taking the pan off the hob. “Do you want one or two?”

Yusuke shrugged again. “Don’t mind.”

“I’ll give you two. If you can’t finish it, that’s fine.” Kanji busied himself with cooking two more eggs for Yusuke, while Naoto went over to the fridge and took out two cartons of juice: orange and apple.

“Yusuke, do you want orange juice or apple juice?” he asked. Something in Yusuke’s expression twisted in a way that Naoto couldn’t quite recognise, before he shrugged again. “You have to pick one of them,” asserted Naoto. “Which do you want?”

“I don’t care,” mumbled Yusuke.

“Then pick one,” Naoto insisted. “If you don’t care, then the choice doesn’t matter, does it?”

Naoto’s logical reasoning seemed to win out over whatever was preventing Yusuke from picking, and he pointed towards the apple juice. “A fine choice,” commented Naoto, pouring Yusuke a glass. “I can’t stand orange juice either; we only have it in the house because Kanji likes it.”

“...It’s too pulpy,” mumbled Yusuke after picking up his glass and taking a sip. “The texture feels weird in my mouth.”

Naoto couldn’t help but take note of that particular comment, filing it away in his brain for later.

Sensory issues involving food…

It could be nothing, but it could never hurt to be sure.

“I better not be hearing you diss my OJ,” grumbled Kanji, placing Yusuke and Naoto’s eggs down on the table. “The pulp is what makes it taste good.”

Naoto rolled his eyes, picking up his fork. “Sweetheart, I love you, you know this. But everything you just said is incredibly incorrect.”

The rest of breakfast passed relatively painlessly, except for a moment where Yusuke spilled his drink and Kanji had to grab a rag to mop up the mess with. It wasn’t that big of a deal, but Yusuke’s face had gone completely pale when he realised what had happened. Even so, Naoto and Kanji had handled it, and the mood slowly calmed back down again. 

***

After breakfast, Naoto decided to deal with the second item on his to-do list: getting Yusuke some proper clothes. Picking up his phone, he texted the group chat he had with his friends. Once, a long time ago, it had been their Investigation Team group chat, but it had stopped fulfilling that purpose when they stopped entering the TV world. Now, it was just a place for Teddie to spam memes, and for everyone to send pictures of their kids. Speaking of which…

Naoto: SO, I SORT OF STOLE A CHILD LAST NIGHT.

Rise: Do you ever start a conversation in a normal way?

Yukiko: You did what?

Chie: Seriously?

Teddie: Nice.

Rise: Ted, stop encouraging them!

Naoto: HIS NAME IS YOSUKE. HE IS A VERY NICE YOUNG MAN.

Teddie: Why did you adopt my brother?

Yosuke: Thank you?

Naoto: *YUSUKE. SORRY, AUTOCORRECT.

Yu: Damn, Yusuke and Yosuke, that’s going to get confusing.

Yosuke: We’ll figure it out. So, what’s the story there? Do we have to keep this on the down-low or something?

Chie: Why are you always the one most down with crime? You were the same when we were kids too.

Yosuke: Idk, sometimes you gotta do illegal stuff, yk?

Teddie: A history of retail work does things to people… and bears.

Naoto: I AM FOSTERING HIM LEGALLY.

Naoto: HE DOESN’T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CLOTHING. DO ANY OF YOU HAVE SOME THAT HE CAN USE UNTIL WE CAN TAKE HIM TO OKINA?

Now that Naoto was thinking about it, it probably wasn’t a good idea to take Yusuke to Okina until he had settled in a bit more. He had a feeling that Yusuke might find the bustling city a little overwhelming compared to their quiet hometown. 

Everyone on the group chat agreed, saying they’d drop some stuff over at some point that day, and Naoto was silently thankful that today was a Saturday, and that neither he nor Kanji had to go to work. He hadn’t even considered what they were going to do during the working week, since Yusuke wasn’t enrolled in school yet.

Decisions, decisions…

Sending everyone a thank you for their help, Naoto went upstairs to take a shower to clear his head before Kanji used up all the hot water.

***

Yusuke was confused. 

Breakfast with Kanji and Naoto had been weird. He was so scared that he was going to say the wrong thing or mess something up, and get his food taken away, but they had been strangely patient with him. Even when he spilled his juice everywhere. 

They had wanted him to pick things too, which was an odd feeling since he wasn’t used to making his own decisions. Daddy would pick things for him because he said he knew better, and Yusuke always let him do it without question. Making his own choices wasn’t easy…

After breakfast, Naoto had disappeared upstairs, mumbling something about a group chat, and Kanji had gone into the basement, to fetch something or other. For the first time in a long while, Yusuke was alone, and it was quiet.

He had no idea what to do with himself.

If he was at home, he would busy himself with painting or drawing, but he hadn’t brought his sketchbook with him when he left, so that wasn’t a possibility. The only thing that Yusuke could do was sit and wait listlessly…

The door to the kitchen slammed open, making him jump, and Kanji dropped a heavy cardboard box on the table. “Nao told me that your old man was an artist, so I figured you might like drawing too,” he said, cutting through the tape binding the box shut with the tip of a pair of scissors and rummaging through the box.

“I knew they were in here!” he exclaimed suddenly, pulling out a sketchbook and a set of pencil crayons. “I used these all the time in high school. I figured, since I’m not using them, you could have them.”

Yusuke’s eyes widened, and the biggest smile he had for as long as he could remember appeared as he immediately snatched the sketchbook and pencils from Kanji’s hands and started doodling.

“Heh. You’re welcome, little man.” Kanji said as he started wiggling his hand through Yusuke’s hair, to which he paused and looked at him confused.

“What are you doing?” asked Yusuke, tilting his head to the side.

Kanji frowned. “I’m ruffling your hair? Did your old man never do that?”

“...No,” mumbled Yusuke. “I like it, though.”

Before Kanji could freak out at how adorable his kid was, there was a knock at the front door, and he hollered, “Come on in!” and moved the cardboard box off the table. 

The door creaked open, and a man Yusuke didn’t recognise stepped inside, stumbling a little at the weight of the box he was holding. “Hey, Kanji. I’m here to drop off the clothes Naoto asked for. We figured it would be better to not overwhelm the kid on his first day with you, so I’m the only one who came.”

“Who’s that?” Yusuke asked, turning to Kanji.

“This is Yu, an old school friend of mine,” explained Kanji, taking the box from Yu and placing it on the floor. “He and his husband have a boy about your age, actually. Hopefully, you two will get along.”

Yusuke didn’t look entirely convinced, but eyed Yu with curiosity. So this was one of Kanji’s friends… Maybe he’d be able to get an idea of what kind of person Kanji and Naoto were from meeting their friends?

“I’m going to go tell Naoto that you’re here,” said Kanji, turning to Yu. “I’ll be right back. Keep an eye on Yusuke for me.”

It was definitely a risky move on his part, but he had a feeling that Yusuke and Yu would get along just fine…

***

As it turned out, Yusuke and Yu got along a little too well, and Kanji had to practically shoo Yu out the door because the pair would not stop chatting. While he was glad that Yusuke got along with him, he was pretty sure Yu was meant to either be helping Yosuke with something at JUNES, or with their kid while Yosuke was over there, and he didn’t want to keep him too long. 

“Is Yu still here?” asked Naoto as he came downstairs, his hair still damp from the shower. “I wanted to say thank you.”

“You just missed him,” Kanji replied, picking up the box again, and beckoning Yusuke towards him. “Let’s put all of this away before we forget. It won’t take us long if we do it together.”

Their friends had given them all sorts, and Kanji was pretty sure he could guess which kid each piece of clothing had come from. That pair of shorts was probably Ryuji’s old running gear. That obscure band shirt was definitely Akira’s (he and Yosuke shared a love for obscure music). That skirt was obviously Ann’s. Naoto was pretty sure he had seen her wear it a few times. Later, he would find out that Rise had put them in there, since she wanted Yusuke to have the choice, and he thanked her profusely. 

Naoto picked up the clothing, ready to put it away, when he caught the wide-eyed look on Yusuke’s face. “Is that really for me?” he asked, gesturing to what was in Naoto’s arms.

“Of course. Our friends gave these to us for you to use until we can take you to Okina to buy some of your own,” explained Naoto. “They are just hand-me-downs, but I hope you don’t mind.”

“But those are girls' clothes,” insisted Yusuke.

Kanji leant in from where he was hanging up clothes in the closet to say, “Clothes don’t have a gender, kiddo. If you like it, you can wear it, and if you don’t, then you don’t have to.”

“...So, you don’t think it would make me look like a fag?” asked Yusuke, his voice so innocent that Naoto almost couldn’t register the word that he had said. He did, however, hear the sound of Kanji gripping onto the closet door hard enough to make it splinter. 

With a small sigh, Naoto patted the bed, prompting Yusuke to sit down next to him. “Yusuke, if you wanna wear girl’s clothes, we will completely support you. What matters is that the clothes you wear make you happy.”

Though he didn’t look convinced, Yusuke nodded.

Naoto continued, “Also, please don’t use that word. It’s a very mean term for someone who is gay, and if people hear you say it, you’ll get in a lot of trouble.”

Frowning, Yusuke said, “But I never told Daddy that I like boys.” 

And immediately clasped his hand over his mouth.

If it wasn’t such an emotional conversation for them all, Naoto probably would have laughed at the sheer irony of it all.

“That’s okay too,” assured Kanji, having finally calmed down from his initial shock enough to join the conversation. “You love who you love, and nothing can change that.”

Yusuke looked like he was about to cry, but Naoto was pretty sure they were good tears. “Can I… Can I have a hug please?” he mumbled, his voice a little shaky.

Of course, Kanji and Naoto obliged, wrapping their arms around his shoulders and squeezing him tightly.

Yusuke couldn’t remember a time that he had felt this safe, even if it was in the arms of two complete strangers. 

Chapter Text

Things had been quiet for a few days since Yu came over to drop off the clothes Naoto and Kanji asked their friends for. After Yusuke’s emotional outburst - when he had asked to hug the two of them for the first time - the boy had become quite clingy, spending every possible moment that he could around Naoto and Kanji. 

It was pretty cute…

Naoto was relieved that Yusuke was beginning to become more comfortable around him and Kanji. Though the changes were only incremental, they were definitely noticeable, if you knew where to look.

For example, Yusuke would often sit in between Kanji and Naoto while they watched TV, sometimes dozing off with his head resting on their shoulders. He also enjoyed helping Kanji in the kitchen - food was another issue they were slowly working on - and would help Naoto sort through his paperwork when he had time. 

The biggest sign of Yusuke becoming comfortable with them came when he approached them after dinner, looking a little nervous. “Can I talk to you two for a minute?” he asked, fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt, which Naoto recognised as one of Akira’s cast-offs.

Kanji looked over at Naoto from where he was doing the dishes and nodded hesitantly. “Sure, what’s up, kid?”

“I was thinking about what you said before about clothes not having a gender,” began Yusuke, seeming struggling to find the words he needed. “I know you meant that it’s okay for me to like girl’s clothes even if I’m a boy, but I don't think I am? I don’t know…”

For a moment, Naoto didn’t know what to say. “I know that can’t have been easy to tell us,” he said, doing his best to be reassuring. “If you’re a girl, then we accept you as you are.”

Yusuke shook his head. “I don’t think I’m a girl either…” he mumbled. “I don’t know. This is so hard to explain.”

“Maybe try explaining it in another way?” suggested Kanji. 

Thinking for a moment, Yusuke finally said, “It’s like… if being a boy was blue paint, and being a girl was red paint, I’d be purple. Somewhere in the middle. Kind of a mix of the two, but also a different thing.”

Naoto smiled at Yusuke’s choice of metaphor. Of course his child would describe his gender with something like paint; they always had art on the brain. “More people feel that way than I think you realise,” he said, and Yusuke’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“Really?”

“There’s a wide spectrum of gender identities out there,” said Naoto with a shrug. “Some people fall on one end of the spectrum or the other, and some people don’t. It seems like you’re one of those people.”

Naoto offered to show Yusuke a few websites so he could find out more, and Yusuke spent a close to an hour looking through them, eventually coming across a term that he liked.

Genderqueer…

He showed it to Kanji and Naoto, the former of which ruffled his hair. “Hell yeah! Congrats on figuring it out, little guy!”

Naoto beamed with pride. He was overjoyed that Yusuke was comfortable enough to come to them with his problems, and to even come out to them. 

He definitely made the right decision that day. 

***

As Kanji and Naoto were working out their schedules for Yusuke while he was asleep, they looked at each other inhaling through their teeth as they realized that both of them were going to be at work.

They really needed to enroll Yusuke at Yasogami junior high soon…

They needed someone to babysit him in a few days, and thinking about what everyone else would be doing that day, there was really only one person they knew who would be able to take care of him in that time period, since everyone else had work, so Naoto pulled out his phone to check.

Naoto: LISTEN, I KNOW I DON’T ASK A LOT OF FAVOURS OF YOU, BUT COULD YOU BABYSIT YUSUKE NEXT WEEK? I KNOW RISE IS BUSY TOO THAT DAY, SO I HOPE IT ISN’T TOO MUCH TO ASK OF YOU.

Naoto and Kanji didn’t need to wait long for a response, despite their need for some suspense.

Teddie: Sure! You can count on me!

Naoto: ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN HANDLE IT?

Teddie: Yep! No problem, Nao!

“Yeah, he’s got this.” Kanji nodded. “He and Rise do have a kid.”

Naoto frowned. “I love Teddie as much as the next guy, but he can be a bit… much sometimes. I’m worried that he will upset Yusuke.”

“I’m sure Teddie will handle it,” Kanji said as he patted Naoto on the back. “Come on, let’s go tell Yusuke about this week’s schedule.”

***

Yusuke knew Kanji and Naoto would have to go back to work eventually, but he definitely wasn’t looking forward to it. Even though Kanji had been insistent that Teddie was a fun guy and that Yusuke would get along with him, Yusuke was still nervous. 

Yusuke was firmly clutched to Kanji’s leg when he rang the doorbell, and only held tighter upon seeing the blond man who opened the door.

“Hiya, Kanji! Oh, is this little Yusuke?” He greeted the pair, an excited grin on his face. “Hi! I’m Teddie Hanumura! Your dad’s told me so much about you!”

Yusuke didn’t respond with anything, still hiding behind Kanji’s leg.

“He’s a little bit shy,” said Kanji, hoping that Teddie would get the hint and back off a little. 

Unfortunately, Teddie didn’t get the hint. Grinning from ear to ear, he beckoned Yusuke towards him. “Come on in, you’re gonna have a great time here! We’re gonna have mac ‘n’ cheese for lunch and do some arts and crafts. You like drawing, right?”

Yusuke still didn’t look convinced. 

Kanji put a hand on Yusuke’s shoulder, crouching down to his height. “You know you can trust Teddie, right? He’s one of our oldest friends. We wouldn’t let him look after ya if we didn’t trust him.”

“... can’t I just stay with you?” Yusuke whispered, glancing down at the ground. 

“I wish you could, but I have to help my mom with something at the shop, so I’m going to be too busy to keep an eye on you,” explained Kanji. “It’ll only be for a couple of hours, I promise.”

Yusuke sniffled, and eventually let go of Kanji. “Okay…”

But the moment Yusuke walked over the threshold of the house, he booked it past Teddie, disappearing into another room. 

“Woah, he’s fast!”

“Yeah, the little guy can be a runner when he’s scared. He hides a lot too.” Kanji knew exactly why Yusuke acted like that, and the very thought made his blood boil. “Just give him some space and he should come out on his own.”

“If you say so…” Teddie muttered, grinding his foot into the ground. “See ya, Kanji-kun. I’ll text you to let you know how it goes!” But the moment Kanji was gone, he looked inside the house, wondering, “Now where could that boy have gone…?”

***

Yusuke hated this.

He hated new places. He hated new people. He especially hated changes to his routine.

Today, he had to deal with all three and it wasn’t fair. At least he knew that Kanji and Naoto were safe, and he had grown used to their routines and habits. But this Teddie fellow was weird and different , and Yusuke didn’t like him one bit.

Yusuke was on the verge of breaking into tears, when a girl with blond pigtails stuck her head under the table he was hiding underneath. “Hey, you’re Yusuke, right?”

She was just as cheerful as her dad, but not nearly as overwhelming, so Yusuke nodded hesitantly. “Nice! I’m Ann. Daddy’s been looking everywhere for you.”

“... sorry.”

To his surprise, Ann crawled underneath the table to sit next to him. “Daddy can be a little overwhelming the first time you meet him but I promise he’s a good guy.”

Yusuke didn’t say anything.

Ann raised an eyebrow. “Not in the mood to talk, huh? Akira gets like that sometimes, so I get it. We can just sit here, if you want.”

Taking Ann up on her offer, Yusuke briefly wondered who Akira was. Perhaps he was the child of another one of Kanji and Naoto’s friends? He vaguely remembered Kanji mentioning someone with that name before.

As the two sat underneath the table, Ann humming to herself, Yusuke slowly became more relaxed. Since Ann was so nice, maybe he could get along with Teddie too?

It was worth a try…

***

Teddie waited, consciously whimpering upon Yusuke’s disappearance. “He hates me. Then he’s gonna tell Kanji he hates me, then Kanji will hate me, then Naoto will-  well, I dunno if he ever liked me in the first place, and Rise… well I think she’d be more mad at them than me but what if-”

“Daddy?”

The sound of his daughter’s voice snapped out of that self-deprecation.

That’s right. He had his own kid.

“Ann. Hey, bear-cub.” He smiled at his daughter, picking her up. “Did you find Yusuke?”

“Yeah, he’s under the table.” Ann giggled as Teddie held her tighter. “I tried telling him you’re nice, but I don’t think he wants to talk to anyone right now.”

“That’s okay.” Teddie said as he ruffled Ann’s hair. “I know he’ll come out eventually once Kanji comes back…”

As if on cue, Yusuke came into the room, with Ann waving towards him. “Hi Yusuke! There he is, Daddy!” she ran over to Yusuke, taking his hands in hers. “I knew you’d come out! We’re gonna have so much fun!”

Yusuke still looked a little nervous, but far less than he had before. “O-okay…” he stammered. 

“If you don’t want to, we don’t have to!” Teddie clarified in a panic. “Whatever you want. You’re the guest, after all.”

“No, I want to do that… that thing you told me when I came in?”

“Crafts? Can we please, Daddy?” Ann pleaded.

“Sure! Let me get the supplies out.” Teddie went upstairs, and suddenly, while waiting with Ann, Yusuke lay down on the carpet, and a soft feeling settled across his whole body…

***

Looking over Yusuke’s shoulder, Teddie gave a whistle of appreciation. “You’re a really good artist, kiddo!”

Yusuke nodded. “Daddy was an artist. He taught me.”

Teddie grinned. “Yep, I remember. Kanji was always doodling away when we were in high school.”

That made Yusuke go silent, pencil still in his hand. Glancing over at Ann, Teddie quickly turned back to Yusuke and asked, “Is something wrong? I’m sorry if I said the wrong thing. I do that sometimes… a lot of the time… most of the time-”

“I meant my other dad. He was the one who taught me to draw.”

For a minute, Teddie thought Yusuke was talking about Naoto, which was confusing because Naoto could barely draw a stick figure. Then, Teddie finally worked out what Yusuke meant.

He wasn’t talking about Kanji or Naoto.

He was talking about his previous father.

Teddie hesitated, not sure what to say.

Thankfully, Ann beat him to it. “I remember Mom saying you were coming to live with Kanji and Naoto because your dad wasn’t very nice to you…”

Yusuke nodded. “He was mean…”

“Then I’m glad you don’t live with him anymore!” Ann declared, grinning ear to ear. “Plus, now me and Ryuji and Akira have a new friend to play with!”

“...we’re friends?”

“Of course we’re friends! If you’re Uncle Kanji and Uncle Naoto’s kid, then we basically have to be friends. Those are the rules!”

Finally, Yusuke managed a smile. “O-okay!”

“Want a hug? You still look a bit sad.”

“Yes, please…”

***

Naoto would be the first to admit that he was a little worried about leaving Yusuke with Teddie, but Kanji had insisted that he would be fine, and Naoto trusted his husband more than anyone else around.

Kanji texted him on his way to work to let him know how the dropoff went - not well, to say the least - and promised to forward anything he got sent by Teddie throughout the day.

As Naoto sorted through his paperwork, he kept an eye on his phone, waiting for a text from Kanji.

A little after lunch, Kanji sent him a handful of photos, one of which included Yusuke smiling at the camera with a face covered in macaroni and cheese, sitting on the floor with Ann and drawing on a sheet of craft paper and playing a game of tag with her in the garden.

Kanji: I told you they’d get along.

Kanji: Sure, it was a rocky start, but they got there eventually.

Kanji: Apparently, Ann has claimed Yusuke as her ‘best friend ever’. Not sure how Akira and Ryuji are going to feel about that.

Chuckling a little, Naoto sent Kanji a quick reply.

Naoto: I’M FAIRLY CERTAIN THEY WILL BE MURDEROUS.

Naoto: MY ‘DETECTIVE PRINCE’ SKILLS MAY WELL COME IN IMPERATIVE FOR THIS FUTURE CASE.

Kanji: Was that a joke that I saw there, Nao?

Naoto: YOU SAW NOTHING!

***

After meeting Teddie, Yusuke began to open up bit by bit, gradually agreeing to meet the rest of Kanji and Naoto’s friends and their kids over the course of a few weeks.

It started with Yusuke asking Kanji who Akira was, since Ann had mentioned him while he had been at Teddie and Rise’s house.

“That’s Yu and Yosuke’s boy,” said Kanji. “Remember Yu? He’s the one who dropped off that box of clothes on your first day here.”

Yusuke hummed, still looking at his sketchbook, and asked, “Can I meet him soon?”

“... why the sudden interest?” Naoto asked.

“Ann was talking about him when I went over,” said Yusuke. “She said we were pretty similar, so I’d like to be his friend if I could.”

“Sure,” said Kanji. “Yu and Yosuke are coming over next Saturday to teach me a new recipe, so you’ll get a chance to meet him and his younger brother then.”

“What are you going to learn?”

“Since you liked the mac ‘n’ cheese at Teddie’s, Yosuke offered to teach me how to make hamburger steak,” Kanji explained. “They’re both kinda western, so I think you’ll like it.”

Yusuke hummed in agreement, but he still looked a little nervous. 

“If you don’t like them, we can get you something else,” Naoto added, knowing that Yusuke could be a picky eater when it came to new foods. “At least try one or two bites.”

“Okay, Papa!”

The following Saturday rolled around faster than they expected, and Yusuke took a few minutes to help Kanji wash the dishes so the kitchen would be clean in preparation for the cooking lesson. 

Around an hour before lunchtime, there was a knock on the front door.

Yusuke was the one who went to open it this time. Yu was there, as well as another man Yusuke he didn’t recognize and a boy with frizzy black hair.

“Alright, let’s get this over with.” The new brunet huffed. “That bear always gets me with those big blue eyes of his…”

Yu rolled his eyes, taking the shopping bag from his husband’s hand. “Teddie does suggest some odd dishes sometimes, but you always like them in the end.”

“That’s true,” the man sighed, “I still regret introducing him to western food, though.”

“Come on, he loves it.” Yu then looked down to see Yusuke waving at him. “Oh hey, Yusuke. Feeling better since we first met?”

Nodding, Yusuke glanced over at the other man, making Yu realise that he hadn’t properly introduced them to each other yet. “Yusuke, this is Yosuke. Yosuke, this is Yusuke.”

Laughing a little, Yosuke said, “This hasn’t gotten any less confusing, hasn't it?”

Nodding slightly, Yusuke looked to the boy who was standing with them. “You’re Akira, right?”

“That’s me!” chirped the boy. “Ann’s been calling you her ‘new best friend,’ you know that?”

“... I’m sorry?”

“That’s not a bad thing!” Akira amended. “I figure we should probably be friends too, that’s all. Wanna go play outside with me?”

“O-okay!”

***

When the hamburger steaks were done (though not after a single burnt attempt by one of the two, with both of them believing the other was responsible), Kanji called for the kids to let them know to come inside. Akira and Yusuke tumbled into the house, their clothes stained with dirt, laughing like they had known each other for years, rather than less than an hour.

“Dad, Akira knows the best games!” cheered Yusuke, more animated than Kanji and Naoto had ever seen him. “Can he come over more?”

“Yu and I can bring him most Saturdays,” offered Yosuke. “Now you two go wash up for lunch. Make sure you do it properly!”

Kanji was proud of how well his hamburger steaks had turned out, and presented them to Yusuke with a flourish. Though Yosuke acted annoyed by Kanji’s more dramatic side, Kanji knew the other man found it amusing deep down.

“Your lunches, monsieurs ,” he declared, making Akira snicker, as he pulled his plate closer to him. Yusuke matched Akira’s lighthearted energy as he took his own plate, chatting with Akira like they had always been friends.

Kanji smiled internally, seeing the side of Yusuke that Akira drew out of him…

Leaving the kids to eat their lunch, Kanji and Yosuke returned to the kitchen to chat with Yu and Naoto (and to eat their fair share of the food they made).

“How are the kids?” asked Yu.

“Akira and Yusuke are having a great time,” said Kanji. “Chuck me one of those hamburgers, love.”

Naoto obliged, even adding a little extra hot sauce exactly how Kanji liked it.

“Teddie’s gonna be so jealous when he hears about this!” Yosuke snickered.

Kanji blinked twice at Yosuke. “Jealous over a couple of burgers?”

“Nah, I mean how well our kids are getting along. Teddie told me it took him ages to get Yusuke to warm up to him and Ann.”

“Dude, he’s only been there like, once,” countered Kanji. “Plus, he wasn’t in a great mood to begin with, so that definitely didn’t help. Separation anxiety, you know?”

“Teddie used to have that too when we met him, remember?” Yosuke mentioned.

“Oh yeah, he would not leave you alone when he first came to our world.” Yosuke and Yu had a good laugh as they recalled the fond memories.

Naoto nodded in between bites of their hamburger steak. “I had intended to speak with you about that, actually,” they added, turning to Yu. “While he’s definitely become more comfortable being apart from us recently, I’m worried that it might be an issue again when he starts attending school.”

“A lot of kids have separation anxiety, and most of them grow out of it,” explained Yu, turning on a little something that Kanji playfully nicknamed his ‘therapist mode’. “Yusuke is probably more susceptible to it because of his past. Even so, he’s definitely made progress thanks to you two.”

“Going to school might be what he needs,” added Yosuke. “Teddie’s separation anxiety got way better after he started coming to school with us and meeting new people.”

Kanji nodded. “That’s true. He had an absolute blast with the home economics club. I had to clean up so many of his messes though…”

“Plus, we’ll ask Akira to keep an eye on him,” added Yosuke. “I’m sure Ann and Ryuji will do the same.”

Naoto smiled. “That means a lot, Yosuke.”

“No problem at all, dude!”

***

Yusuke was a little nervous about his first day at Yasogami Junior High.

The uniform was a little too tight, but his parents helped make it a little looser, and he was especially relieved to learn how many other ways he could wear it.

Rise had even given him one of Ann’s school skirts, which Kanji was going to help him alter to fit him correctly when he had some time, which Yusuke was excited for.

His teachers were nice enough, for the most part, especially compared to some of the horror stories he had heard from Dad and Papa about Mr. Morooka and Ms. Kashiwagi. He knew it wasn’t nice to want people dead, but he hadn’t been upset to hear that Mr. Morooka met an unfortunate end almost a decade ago.

The real problem Yusuke had was with the other students. It was no secret that he didn’t fit in with most of his classmates, and some of them seemed to actively dislike him, though Yusuke couldn’t figure out why, whether it was his outfit or his actions.

In fact, he was pretty sure he heard one boy say a rude word that Dad and Papa would have been very upset to hear him say. It was the same word he had been told not to use the other day…

Despite it all, Yusuke had made it through the morning without too many issues, and was walking down the hallway to meet Ann and Akira in their classroom for lunch. Ann was planning to introduce him to Ryuji, who was the son of two of Naoto and Kanji’s friends, Yukiko and Chie.

Right before he got to the classroom, a boy shoved himself in between Yusuke and the wall, making him back up a little bit. “So you’re the kid living with Shirogane, huh?”

“Yes?”

The stranger looked him up and down. “You look like the type.”

Yusuke furrowed his brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You and her are both freaks,” stated the boy, glaring at Yusuke. “Like mother, like son…”

Clenching his fist, Yusuke tried to remember what Kanji told him to do if someone bothered him. “Don’t talk about my dad like that!”

Yusuke was caught off guard by the boy grabbing a hold of the scruff of his shirt, shoving him against the wall, his schoolbag abandoned by his feet. Freezing, Yusuke tried to remember what he was meant to do if someone attacked him, but he couldn’t remember anything. 

All he could remember was a different set of hands around his neck, a different scowling face, and the same feeling of absolute terror in his bones. 

Finally, he was drawn out of his own mind by a voice, coming from behind the stranger. 

“Hey!” A kid with blond bleached hair just like Kanji pounded his fist against his hand, causing his attacker to grit his teeth. “Let go of him!”

“Or what?” growled his assailant. 

“You’re about to find out!” In an instant, Yusuke’s blond saviour leapt in and landed a clean hook across the guy’s face, knocking him to the floor. “Now leave my friend alone!”

The single punch was all he needed to make the boy crumple, bawling his eyes out.

“You ok?” The blond boy asked Yusuke, offering him a hand to help him to his feet. Yusuke hesitantly accepted, straightening himself out as he stood.

“Thank you…”

The boy grinned. “No worries!” he exclaimed, glaring at Yusuke’s attacker. “This guy won’t bother you again on my watch. You’re Kitagawa Yusuke, right?”

“Yes, and you are?”

“I’m-”

The door to the faculty room slammed open, and one of the teachers shouted, “What the hell have you done now, Sakamoto?”

“Gotta run!” Sakamoto stammered, shoving Yusuke’s bag back into his hands. “Say hi to Ann and Akira for me! Bye!”

With that, he bolted down the corridor, rounding the corner. 

“Stop right there!” shouted the teacher, running down the corridor in hot pursuit of Sakamoto, leaving behind a stunned Yusuke and a sniveling boy at his feet, who ran away as soon as he got the chance.

Entering Ann and Akira’s classroom, Yusuke figured he should tell them what happened. The second the name Sakamoto left his mouth, Ann groaned in annoyance, her head in her hands. “I can’t believe Ryuji got in trouble again! Aunty Chie and Aunty Yukiko are going to literally kill him.”

“That’s the third time this month,” added Akira. “They’re definitely going to ground him this time.”

Ann frowned, playing with the ends of her hair. “Yep… looks like you’re not going to get a chance to meet Ryuji this week.”

“Um… yeah,” Yusuke stuttered, almost silent, but Akira noticed that something was still off.

“Yusuke? What was that guy saying to you that made Ryuji so upset?”

“Nothing much…”

Akira put his face close to Yusuke's, making him flinch and back away, almost blushing as well.

“Yusuke, we’re friends, you can tell us if something happened.”

Yusuke frowned. “It’s not a big deal.”

“If someone upset you, then it is a big deal,” Akira insisted. “I’m worried, okay?”

“... they were saying some stuff about me and Naoto,” Yusuke finally admitted. “That me and Naoto were meant for each other because we’re both freaks…”

“Urgh, some people need to grow up!” Ann snapped, making Yusuke jump in his seat.

Akira nodded in agreement. “Agreed! Naoto came out years ago, I can’t believe people still haven’t gotten over it yet.”

“Are you sure Ryuji’s parents are going to ground him?” Yusuke whimpered. He didn’t want Ryuji to get in trouble because of him. 

Ann, weirdly enough, laughed at the question. “You’ve got nothing to worry about. Knowing Chie, she’d probably be proud of Ryuji for that.”

“He’s probably still gonna get into some trouble, though,” added Akira. “Yukiko doesn’t like it when he gets into fights.”

Yusuke’s tears finally started to diminish upon hearing that. He was thankful to have such good friends, even if he and Ryuji hadn’t been formally introduced yet. 

***

Apart from one less than pleasant encounter, the rest of Yusuke’s first week at Yasogami junior high went well, and Kanji announced that they were going to have dinner at the Amagi Inn to celebrate. After hearing about the mishap, Naoto and Chie made it certain that Yusuke and Ryuji would get to meet there. Chie also mentioned that she was planning on having a very serious chat with the parents of the boy who had been bullying Yusuke. 

The menu was big and intimidating for Yusuke, even the kids’ version, so he asked Kanji what he should get.

Kanji thought for a moment before replying, “You liked the ramen I brought home the other day, right? The ramen here is good too. How about you get that?”

“Okay!”

While he didn’t want to make too big of a deal about it, Naoto was secretly proud of Yusuke for becoming more comfortable with a wide range of foods since he came to live with them. Their son was definitely making progress, and Naoto couldn’t be prouder of him. 

“Yusuke!” A familiar voice yelled.

“Ryuji, keep it down.”

“Right, sorry, Mom!”

The blond kid who had saved him arrived to give Yusuke a strong hug, almost as, if not even stronger than Kanji’s.  

“I’m so happy to see you!” he blurted. “I would have said hi to you at school, but I kind of got suspended. Mom says it was kinda my fault for losing my temper, but that jerkwad totally deserved it, right?” Ryuji barely even stopped to breathe. “Akira’s been telling me everything about you. I feel like we’re friends already, isn’t that weird?”

“I’d like to be friends,” said Yusuke, quietly, making Ryuji grin from ear to ear. 

“Hell yeah! Let’s be best friends!”

“Ryuji, keep it down! And watch your language!”

“Sorry, Mama!”

***

Everything around him was strangely familiar - scarily familiar, in fact - but Yusuke couldn’t place any of it.

Then, he looked up at the foreboding oak door in front of him, and the realization of where he was hit him, making him stagger backwards.

Madarame’s house.

Why was he here?

As he stumbled backwards, a hand caught his shoulder, pushing him back upright. Turning around, he saw that Kanji and Naoto were standing behind him, shoving him forward.

He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. 

Why were they doing this? After so many weeks, he had finally thought they cared about him. Was that all a lie? All of it? He wanted to break into tears, but he knew that would do no good. 

His voice cracked as he asked, “Why? Why can’t I stay with you two?”

“He wants you back,” replied Naoto, his voice cold and aloof. 

Kanji laughed, much harsher than Yusuke was used to. “Did you really think you were staying forever?”

“... yes.” Yusuke’s voice was barely above a whisper. “I really did…”

The foreboding door behind him swung open and a hand reached out from the darkness, grabbing a hold of him. Even though he struggled, he was quickly dragged back into the darkness. 

With a scream, Yusuke startled awake, heart beating out of his chest and his breath coming to him in shaky gasps. 

None of that was real. He had to remember that it wasn’t real. It felt like it was actually happening, but it wasn’t real.

Why wasn’t that reassuring him?

There was a small knock on his door and Naoto called, “Yusuke, are you okay? We heard screaming.”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Well, that’s what Yusuke wanted to say, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

Instead, he burst into tears.

***

Kanji wanted to punch something.

Correction, he wanted to punch someone. A specific someone.

Madarame was lucky that he was behind bars for the rest of his damn life, because otherwise Kanji would have fucking killed him otherwise.

It took him and Naoto almost an hour to get Yusuke to go back to sleep after he screamed himself awake. Most of that time was spent reassuring Yusuke that they weren’t going anywhere - like hell they were - and that they would never hurt him, even if he upset them.

The scars Madarame had left were fresher than either he or Naoto had first suspected, and Kanji’s heart was aching to see how much pain Yusuke was in after everything he had been through. 

Kanji and Naoto had already decided that they were going to adopt Yusuke, but that night only solidified his resolve. 

Yusuke was their kid, and nothing was going to change that. 

Not now.

Not ever. 

***

“Alright, make sure you don’t poke yourself with these, okay, little man?” Kanji instructed, handing Yusuke a small box of sewing pins. 

Yusuke nodded sagely, opening the box and getting to work.

Kanji had been carefully teaching Yusuke how to sew, and with Yusuke's naturally artistic mind, he followed one of his fathers’ patterns fluently. Naoto, despite wanting to see how adorable it was, was told not to look so that Yusuke could surprise him.

After a few hours of hard work, Yusuke eventually beckoned Naoto into the sewing room, asking him to close his eyes. When Naoto complied, Yusuke pressed a blue cap, of a similar style to the one Naoto wore almost constantly when they were in highschool. 

“Yusuke, this is amazing.” Naoto examined the hat closely, taking in the careful hand stitching. “You’ve done a great job!”

“See? What’d I tell ya?” Kanji bragged while patting his husband on the back. “I knew he could do it.”

“I suppose I was just concerned based on the last time you tried to teach me how to sew,” Naoto wondered, shaking at the memory.

“Nao, I told you we never have to try that again,” Kanji told him, holding his face in his hands. “Some hands ain’t  made for sewing like others, that’s all.”

Before Kanji could say anything more, Yusuke piped up, “Dad? Papa? Can I ask you something?”

“Anything you want, kiddo.”

“Why did you two agree to look after me?”

Naoto glanced over at Kanji, before replying as honestly as he could. “You needed some help and we could give that to you. It was the right thing to do.”

“Besides,” interjected Kanji. “Naoto’s a huge softy, so he couldn’t help himself when he saw a kid who needed help.”

There was the smallest smile on Yusuke’s face. “Okay! I love you, Dad! I love you, Papa!”

“Love you too, kiddo.”

“As do I, my little prince.”

The night was coming in with how long it took to make the hat. Yusuke was rubbing his eyes, so Kanji hoisted him up into the air. “Alright, let’s getcha to bed now.”

Yusuke was placed snugly onto Kanji and Naoto’s bed, looking confused. “This… isn’t my bed.”

“I know, I know.” Kanji told him. “We just wanted you with us tonight. Is that okay?”

Grinning, Yusuke replied, “Yeah, it’s okay.”

Yusuke stared at his parents with sleepy eyes, right in between the two. Naoto’s hair was soft, as Kanji often enjoyed. But being hugged deep into Kanji’s arms was warm, like a big lion’s mane. “I love you.” Yusuke said in his sleep. It was ironic how Naoto, who had often been known to be the lightest sleeper in the Investigation Team, fell asleep before Yusuke.

But Kanji didn’t mind one bit, that just meant more of those cute little snores from his family to calm him to sleep. Not with his little boy, not with his short husband, both curled in a foetal position. Like father, like son, he supposed.

The following morning, Kanji and Naoto would surprise Yusuke with adoption papers, and their family would finally be complete.