Chapter Text
goro knew from akira that the metaverse disappeared, and he also confirmed that the metanav app was gone from his phone too. since then, he tried his best to lead a normal life, mainly helped by sae who agreed to take him in as an intern while he studied.
so imagine his surprise when he saw the metanav app on his phone again. this time, however, when he tapped on it, it showed a pop up that said it was only good for a one time trip and asked if he was sure. curiosity got the best of him so he decided to go in.
the sight around him was familiar, but it was eerily quiet. there was no sound of trains, of shadows shuffling about, nothing. the silence was nearly deafening.
just as he decided to leave, goro heard a thud behind him and whirled around, on high alert, only to do a double take when he saw a small lump of human child lying face down on the floor of mementos, having tripped and fell.
his first instinct was to wonder how the heck a child could end up there, and his thought right after was that his unruly mop of black hair was somehow familiar.
the child pushed himself up and looked at goro, and goro's eyes widened.
"kurusu?"
the child pushed himself up, but then plopped down on his butt on the floor, staring at goro curiously. he was dressed in a t-shirt with a cat print on it, a pair of shorts, and slip-on shoes. goro squashed his desire to internally coo at the child, reminding himself that this was his insufferable rival who was decidedly not cute.
"what happened to you?" goro asked as he walked over and squatted down in front of the child. for a second, he wondered if this was a trap somehow, but he couldn't sense anything in mementos, and in the back of his head he could sense loki who wasn't reacting at all, so he figured he would be fine.
the child stared at him, blinking his wide eyes. instead of answering, he reached out a hand and grabbed a lock of goro's hair, grinning.
"hey, stop that," goro grumbled as he pulled away from the child. "really, what is it? is it a status effect? but there's no one here."
he looked around again and noted that it was still eerily silent, which was slightly unnerving. sighing, he decided to take akira out with him and he could ask for an explanation once the status effect was gone and akira was back to normal.
"do you know me?" he asked. hopefully the status effect didn't include confusion or amnesia. but if the child didn't recognise him, why would he be so quiet while being scrutinised?
the child nodded, pointing at goro. "gowo."
"no, it's akechi," goro corrected. "i didn't give you the permission to call me that."
mini akira frowned, pursing his lips. he mouthed the word a couple of times and looked back up. "ake?" he asked, still frowning, then shook his head and his tone grew even more insistent. "gowo!"
he stared at the child, sighed, and wondered where he went wrong in life that he was stuck arguing with a toddler about his own name.
probably the moment he came up with that half-baked revenge plot on shido instead of staying the heck away from the man.
"alright, you're coming with me," goro said as he knelt down beside the child again, holding onto his shoulder. "hang on tight."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
exiting the metaverse never became easier, but it was especially hard after a long time of not being in there.
goro groaned as he found himself in a back alley, and his heart dropped to his stomach when he felt the tiny lump bump onto the side of his leg.
"gowo."
"oh no," goro said as he looked down to see mini akira latching onto his pant leg. "why are you not back to normal? ugh, i better give you back to your keepers. they can deal with you."
he bent down to pick up mini akira, covering him up with his coat and hoping everyone would be too busy minding their own business to question why he was carrying a bundled up toddler. thankfully, mini akira was quiet and simply stared at him curiously even while he was being manhandled into the coat.
"let's go."
the toddler cheered and wrapped his arms tightly around goro's neck and goro wondered if he was trying to strangle him to death, but mini akira simply hummed and rested his chin on goro's shoulder, seemingly content where he was.
goro sucked in a deep breath, repeatedly reminding himself that this was his insufferable rival who was. not. cute!
he made his way to leblanc as quickly and discreetly as he could. when he got to the front door, he could hear noises from the inside and sighed. maybe it was lucky that they were all there anyway.
but then, why was akira in mementos by himself? even the cat wasn't there.
bracing himself, he straightened up and walked inside the cafe. the noise died down as the thieves turned to see who walked in.
"oh. hey, akechi," ann greeted.
while they were all civil to him, possibly because of akira, ann was genuinely friendly to him, and even if he would only be there for a short amount of time, he was glad she was there.
"what have you got there?" she asked, motioning at the coat in his arms.
instead of answering, he pulled down the coat and revealed mini akira's head, which was still buried in the crook of his neck.
"did you kidnap a child?" makoto asked as she frowned at goro.
"why would i add to my burden? do you think i have too much time and money?" goro snapped back. "here, i came to give him back to you guys."
"him?" the others asked questioningly.
"kurusu. i don't know what happened to him," he said, setting mini akira down on the table of the booth between them all.
"what happened to me?"
goro looked up and blinked when he saw akira walk down the stairs from the attic towards them. he looked back down at mini akira, then at akira.
"what the fuck?"
"hey! don't swear around a child!"
morgana nearly had a heart attack when he saw mini akira, but allowed the toddler to pet and hug him while he glared at the others, as if daring them to refer to him as mini akira's pet cat.
"so you saw the metanav app again, but when you got there, there was only, err, this child there?" ann asked as she leaned close to look at mini akira, poking his chubby cheek.
mini akira ignored her and scratched morgana's head, staring thoughtfully when the not-cat began to purr. he turned towards goro and beamed. "gowo! pet!"
"i'm not a pet!" morgana protested.
goro stared at the child. "you want me to pet you?"
mini akira nodded, still beaming, and goro sighed but reluctantly reached out a hand to pet mini akira's head, causing the boy to hum happily.
"so what do we do with him?" makoto asked as she stared at mini akira as well. "i don't think he's human, but we don't know what he is either."
"since you found him and he's imprinted on you, i think you should take care of him," akira said to goro as he looked down at the mini version of himself, who was still humming as he butted his head against goro's palm. "and you somehow understand him better than us."
"how would we know he's not going to kill him too?" ryuji asked.
"ryuji!" ann scolded.
"what? i'm just asking!" ryuji protested.
"i don't think we need to worry," surprisingly, it was haru who piped up. "after all, no one is paying him to kill baby akira, right?"
"err, baby akira?" akira asked as he looked down at the toddler version of himself. "maybe we should give him a nickname so it's not confusing."
"good idea," ann said cheerily. "what do you want us to call you, little guy?"
mini akira blinked at her, then grinned. "aki!"
"okay, aki," ann said. "i wonder where you came from."
"you see, ann, when a man and a woman love each other very much--"
"i refuse. i don't have the time and money," goro interrupted. "well, now that i've returned him to you guys, i'm going to leave," goro said. he stopped petting aki and stood up then patted the imaginary dust off his coat. "i'll see you guys... hopefully never."
he turned to walk out of the cafe, but before he could exit, he heard aki started bawling.
"oh no, what's wrong, aki?" ann asked worriedly, patting aki's back gently.
"gowo!" aki screamed, fat tears flowing down his reddened cheeks. "no leave!"
the thieves tried to calm him down, but aki wouldn't stop crying, so goro walked back to him and sighed as he picked the toddler up, who immediately stopped crying and buried his face in goro's shoulder again.
"honestly," he grumbled, even as he gently patted aki's back. "you and that guy are both menaces."
"hey!" that guy protested.
the thieves were still a bit wary, but they considered what haru and akira said, and the fact that aki wouldn't stop crying if goro left him behind, and agreed that the best course of action for now was to have goro take aki home.
goro himself still looked hesitant, but he didn't want the child to cry all night, so he ended up agreeing to take him home, with the condition that the thieves would help him with aki whenever needed.
haru organised for someone to come bringing baby supplies, change of clothes, and other things that might be necessary to goro's place so he didn't have to lug them around. she told them the items would be delivered first thing the next morning.
"thank you," goro said. at least he didn't have to hurry around trying to get stuff for aki. "well, i suppose we'll be going now then."
"wait," akira said as he stood up as well. "could i talk to aki really quickly?"
"make it quick," goro snapped, handing aki to akira. "i still need to go to the shop."
"of course," akira said, grinning at him. he carried aki back deeper into the cafe with him while aki stared at goro, as if making sure goro wouldn't try and leave him behind again.
"you're very honest, aren't you?" akira asked in amusement as he looked down at aki, who stared back at him in confusion. "i wish i could have been as honest as you are."
morgana frowned but didn't say anything. he knew there were times akira cried when he thought goro was dead, though it wasn't as loud or open as aki's bawling just then. if he didn't have to lead the thieves to see the end through, would he have broken down like aki did back in the ship?
maybe they really were one and the same.
"look after goro for me, okay?" akira asked, patting aki's head.
"cos," aki said as he nodded seriously.
akira smiled at him. "good."
he went back to hand aki to goro, and aki waved cheerily at the thieves before they left.
"okay," goro said as he looked down at aki. "i guess we should head to the supermarket. i don't exactly have baby food... wait, you have teeth, don't you?"
aki nodded and leaned his head back slightly while opening his mouth wide to show his milk teeth to goro.
"alright, that's good," goro said. "let's go then and see what you can eat."
"aki no picky," aki said, resting his chin on goro's shoulder again.
goro stared at the crown of aki's head and his stomach clenched with unease. "aki," he called, "are you really, or are you saying that so i'm not mad?"
it reminded him of nights spent holding back nausea as he made sure to finish everything on his plate. he didn't find out his own food intolerances until after he started living alone because he didn't want to become a burden to whoever was housing him at the time.
he might not be a good or experienced caretaker, but he promised himself that he would try his best to be better for aki.
"aki no picky," aki said as he leaned back and held onto goro's cheeks. "owy, gowo."
"why are you sorry, you weirdo?" goro asked as he laughed.
"cos ebil people mad at gowo," aki said as he frowned, then pouted.
"oh? and how would you know that?" goro asked, but aki didn't answer him, choosing to bury his face in goro's shoulder again. "fine, don't answer me. right, let's go and you can choose your own dinner."
"but--"
"just because you're not picky doesn't mean you can't have a choice," goro said. "now let's go."
goro made his way to the supermarket near his apartment while aki took a nap in his arms. he rolled his eyes when he saw aki was asleep, but then smiled sadly. he missed out on so many things in his childhood, including being carried around in someone's arms gently, and he wanted to shower aki with affection so he could live vicariously through the child.
"we're here, aki," goro called as he patted aki's back, trying to rouse the child. "come on, wake up and pick your own dinner."
aki blinked his eyes open and tried to cover his yawn with his tiny fist. goro looked away and pursed his lips to make sure he didn't start cooing.
this was akira. akira was not cute!
... but aki was adorable.
finally giving into temptation, goro raised his free hand to pinch the toddler's cheek. aki looked at him in surprise, but then grinned widely at him.
"aki can kis?" aki asked as he held onto goro's cheeks.
"hmm, okay."
aki beamed at him and pressed a wet kiss on goro's cheek. two school girls walked past as he did and squeed before they hurried off, not wanting to be stared at.
"alright, let's go choose our dinner. oh, and i better get a plastic spoon and fork for you."
aki nodded and hummed to himself as goro walked inside towards the bento section. he looked around at the options and picked the one with egg roll and chicken cutlet.
"you sure you can eat this right?" goro asked aki who nodded. "alright. let me get some plastic cutleries for you."
"gowo," aki called softly, almost shyly, looking up at goro with wide, pleading eyes. "aki can have tweet? pish?"
goro had to look away again, sucking in a deep breath as he did to stop himself from cooing. oh, he was sure everyone who knew him would laugh at him if they knew he was being manipulated by a toddler with doe eyes.
then again, akira didn't seem like someone who would manipulate others, unlike himself. he was sure that if he said no, aki wouldn't have thrown a fuss.
"alright," goro relented. "but only a small one, okay?"
aki beamed at him. "kay!"
"ugh... this kid is going to be the death of me," goro thought to himself.
but as aki kissed him again and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, goro thought that maybe it was fine. it was nice to be showered with physical affection for once in his sorry life, and if it took a toddler version of his rival for that to happen, then so be it.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"here, i'll cut it for you," goro said as he put aki's bento in front of him and started cutting the chicken cutlet into bite-size pieces. he didn't cut the egg roll because he figured it was soft enough that aki could cut into it himself easily.
as he did so, he thought about having to do it every day, about having to childproof his apartment, helping the child change, and so on.
caring for a child is hard work. maybe his mother shouldn't have given birth to him.
"gowo!"
goro snapped up to look at aki and noticed the child frowning at him.
"no bad tot!" aki scolded, waving his plastic fork in the air as if it was a magic wand that could magick goro's sadness away.
goro snorted then laughed. "you're ridiculous," he said, continuing to cut the chicken. "here you go. eat well, aki."
aki stared at goro suspiciously, but relented when goro simply smiled at him. he struggled through exclaiming 'itadakimasu', then started eating happily.
"gowo no eat?" aki asked worriedly. he paused to chew and noticed that goro hadn't touched his food. surprisingly, goro noted, aki chewed and swallowed first before he spoke.
"ah, sorry, i guess i was distracted watching you," goro admitted. "you're really cute, huh?"
aki grinned bashfully, squirming happily in his seat.
goro laughed, reaching out a hand to pinch aki's cheek. "cute," he said. "okay, let's finish eating then i'll help you bathe and brush your teeth so we can go to bed."
"kay!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
goro blinked his eyes open and stared at the white ceiling above him. it took him a second to realise he was crying and that was why his sight was blurry, but he couldn't even remember what dream he had that made him cry.
what he noticed next was a childish voice singing next to him, tripping up over the words and humming the parts he didn't know the lyrics to, but goro recognised it as a lullaby. he then noticed the tiny fist going through his hair gently as well.
"aki?" he called out in the darkness.
"oh," aki said as he stopped stroking goro's hair. "gowo kay?"
goro blinked and turned, looking at the outline of the small child, and despite himself, smiled at the boy.
"you're really sweet, aren't you?" he asked, reaching out to pat aki's head. "i wonder if he is as sweet as you are."
aki hummed and settled down on the bed next to goro, resting his head on his chest and cuddling close. goro sighed as he wrapped his arms around the toddler and pressed a kiss on the crown of aki's head.
"thank you... akira."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
akira blinked his eyes open and noticed it was still dark out. he reached out his hand to grab his phone next to his bed and squinted at the bright screen to see it was only past midnight.
it felt like he just had a long dream. strangely, the dream was focused around goro and aki. he saw the two in the supermarket and eating dinner.
was it a dream or was he somehow seeing aki's memories?
but seeing goro smile and laugh... he really hoped it wasn't a dream.
"good work, mini me," he mumbled to himself as he closed his eyes, preparing to go back to sleep. "please keep looking after him."