Work Text:
It had been another long day at work. Restoration was a very slow process. It was made even slower whenever a problem would come up in their plans and that seemed to happen a lot.
Takatora got home just passed 7 in the evening. The only good thing that came from this change in job was the fact they didn't work that late. They needed light to see after all.
That didn't mean his job was done for the day, unfortunately. Takatora changed into some better clothes for the evening and then set himself up in the dinning room with his laptop. There were a few reports he needed to finish up.
He was making good progress with his work when he was disturbed by the sound of someone coming home. Minutes later, Mitsuzane popped into the dinning room.
"Good evening, nii-san." Mitsuzane said as he crossed into the kitchen.
Takatora returned the greeting before going back to his work. He heard Mitsuzane grabbing things in the kitchen, but didn't pay it much mind. Hopefully by now he learned how to make things and not set the house on fire.
After a little while, Mitsuzane returned to the dinning room. He had made himself a small meal. He also brought out two cups of tea, setting one beside Takatora.
It was rare he would do something like that. Did that mean he had something he did that would get him in trouble? Or was he trying to get him to lighten up for something he was about to ask? Either way, he simply just thanked the younger for the drink and went back to work. He was almost done this report. Just a little more and he was free for the rest of the day.
"Nii-san?"
And there went the conversation. What would he want to ask?
"Yes?" Takatora gave Mitsuzane his attention.
"Could... Kouta-san stay the night?" Mitsuzane asked nervously.
Takatora weighed his options. Kouta was a pretty well behaved kid. There was nothing he had against him. Nothing that gave him much ground to say no to the request other than just because he said so.
"As long as you two behave I don't see why not." Takatora gave his answer.
Mitsuzane smiled a bit at the answer, "Thank you, nii-san."
...
Half-an-hour later, the doorbell rang. Takatora went to answer it as he was just a room over. Kouta stood at the door. He gave Takatora a slightly nervous smile.
"Good evening." Kouta said.
"Evening." Takatora nodded to him, "Mitsuzane is in his room. Come."
Takatora led him to the room. He knocked on the door and waited. Mitsuzane opened it. He smiled at the sight of Kouta and gave him a hug. Kouta returned the hug.
Takatora walked away silently. He didn't want to ruin the moment they were obviously having. Though he did question just what their relationship was at this point. The two younger boys seemed a lot closer than most friends.
Takatora wouldn't pry though. Mitsuzane would tell him when he was ready if there was more to their relationship. All he could do for now was simply wait.
And also hope those two would indeed behave while they were here.
...
The next morning, Takatora was surprised to find the two boys in the kitchen making breakfast. It was quite early.
"Good morning. You two are up quite early." Takatora greeted them.
"There's an event we're going to that opens in two hours." Kouta explained.
"What is this event?"
"It's like an art and talent show thing. You could apply to have a booth or perform and show off your stuff. There's also gonna be some recruiters for jobs and stuff there too."
"Sounds right up your alley. I'm sure you two will have a lot of fun there."
"I hope so."
...
It had been a little over a week since Mitsuzane had first made that request. And every single day since then he made the exact same request. It was starting to feel like Kouta lived at their house now.
Takatora had no reason to say no to the request still. Kouta never caused any problems while he was here. The two boys mostly kept to themselves and didn't bother him much. Takatora didn't want to say no either when it was obvious Mitsuzane really wanted to be with Kouta. Why he never asked to maybe stay over with Kouta instead was beyond Takatora though.
This was the first time that Mitsuzane hadn't asked if Kouta could spend the night. It honestly through Takatora off rhythm. He had gotten used to Kouta's presence and now him suddenly not being here felt weird.
Takatora was working away at trying to organize some data that had been messed up by a glitch in their system. Mitsuzane had vanished into his room at some point. That was quite normal for this time of night. Especially with the weather outside. It was pouring down rain. Not an evening you would really want to do much anyway.
The doorbell rang. It was hard to hear. The rain was really muffling it.
Takatora got up and went to see who was there. He hadn't expected it to be Kouta but it was.
"U-uh..." Kouta nervously smiled, "I uh..."
"Get in here before you catch a cold." Takatora drug him inside.
Kouta shivered as the air from the house hit him. He was soaked to the bone. Water was dripping off of him and starting to form a puddle underneath him.
"Stay here. I don't need you tracking water through the house. I'll be right back." Takatora said.
Once he got a confirmation that Kouta heard him, he went off to grab a towel. When he returned, Kouta had kicked off his shoes and taken off his jacket as well. He was still shaking a lot.
"Here. Dry off a bit." Takatora wrapped the towel around him.
Kouta dried himself off as best he could. At least now he wasn't dripping water all over the place. It was a start. Now to warm him up a bit.
"Come with me." Takatora said.
Kouta followed him without complaint. Takatora led him to the bathroom.
"Why don't you get a bath to warm up? I'll get you some dry clothes to wear when you're done." Takatora prompted.
"T-thank you..." Kouta did just that.
Once Takatora heard the water turn on, he went to Mitsuzane's room and knocked on the door. It took a minute before it opened.
"Do you need something, nii-san?" Mitsuzane asked.
"Your boyfriend got caught in the rain and came here for shelter. I'm guessing you have clothes he can wear, do you not?" Takatora said.
"Boy...friend?" Mitsuzane repeated, "How did you... know that?"
Takatora shrugged, "You guys weren't hiding that very well."
So he had been correct that those two were a couple. As long as Mitsuzane was happy he could care less about who he was dating.
"Where is Kouta-san?" Mitsuzane asked.
"In the bathroom down the hall. You can go give him the clothes."
"Okay. Does that mean he's staying for the night?"
"What else is he supposed to do? The storm won't end until tomorrow morning."
"True."
"I swear it's starting to feel like he lives here." Takatora said.
"You don't mind that he's here so often, do you?" Mitsuzane asked.
Takatora shook his head, "No. I don't really care. I just hadn't expected it to be so often."
...
Kouta still spent more time at their house than not. They had gotten into a pretty regular schedule now of what days he would drop by on. It just became a part of the normal routine they had.
Kouta had even started calling their home his second home now as well. Takatora didn't say anything about that statement. He couldn't deny that he was growing fond of the boy. He was starting to see Kouta as part of the family.
Takatora had a day off from work. Mitsuzane and Kouta were off somewhere, most likely with their friends. Takatora was going to the cemetery. It had been a while since he visited his family's grave site. There were also a few other graves he wanted to visit while he was here.
That got derailed a bit as he noticed a familiar person standing over some graves. Kaito was here. It seemed he had the same idea.
Takatora paused nearby where he was at. Should he say anything to him? They hadn't really spoken much ever. Would he appreciate the attempt or get annoyed by it?
Takatora opted to say something. "It's been a while since I've seen you around."
Kaito flinched at his sudden voice. He turned his head to look over.
"Why are you here?" Kaito asked.
"Same reason as you, I would guess. Visiting some family members' graves." Takatora replied, moving closer, "Are these your parents' graves?"
"Yes." Kaito's voice was tense.
Right... his parents died inadvertently because of Yggdrasil. Takatora's own family was partially to blame for this.
"I'm sure they're very proud of you for how far you've come." Takatora offered to try and ease the tension.
"I don't care." There was a slight bit of grief in his voice.
"Why not?"
"I don't care what they think... not when they were so pathetic they could even stay alive for me..."
"Do you have any family left alive?"
Kaito shook his head. So it was really just him against the world now.
"I don't care." Kaito stated, "I'm fine alone. I don't need anyone. All I need is myself."
"You say that, but I've heard you do care deeply about your friends. You're only lying to yourself to say otherwise." Takatora replied.
Kaito paused, caught of guard by what he said, "I... it's not the same as having a family. That doesn't count."
That was how he was going to deflect things? Very well. Takatora could also work with that. He didn't know why but he felt like he needed to take responsibility and try to help him out. After all, his family was to blame for everything. He was making amends for their actions by doing this.
"I don't know if this will interest you, but my home is open if you need a place to belong." Takatora didn't necessarily know why he was offering that, but he was, "Kazuraba practically lives with us at this point. I know it won't be the same but it's there if you need it."
"I don't need anything. I'm fine alone." Kaito grumbled.
"Of course. My offer will still stand if you ever decide to change your mind." Takatora left it at that and walked away.
He had no idea if Kaito would actually consider his offer. It was obvious he had a lot of pride to himself. It wasn't likely he would ask for help like that. And would he especially want Takatora to be the one he did seek help from? They still were practically strangers at the end of the day.
...
Two days had passed since his interaction with Kaito. He hadn't seen the boy since that day. Not that surprising. He rarely saw him any way. This was no different.
It was getting quite late at night. As usual Kouta was spending the night. Him and Mitsuzane were in their room already. Takatora was just finishing up some last minute work as per usual. Even when he thought he caught up something new always got in his face that needed to also be done.
Takatora was not expecting anyone else, so he was quite surprised to hear the doorbell ring. Especially this late at night. Who could it be?
He answered the door. Kaito stood on the other side. He refused to make eye contact at all.
"I... got evicted from my apartment..." He mumbled.
That wasn't good.
"Come in." Takatora stood back.
He couldn't help but notice how all Kaito had were two suitcases. Was that all he owned or all he could carry with him? Should he pry?
"Is that all of you stuff?" Takatora asked.
Kaito simply nodded. Fair enough then. He wouldn't press him for more information. He would talk when he was ready if there was anything else to say.
"You can stay in one of the guest rooms. Follow me."
Kaito nodded. He didn't seem to want to talk much right now. He was probably embarrassed to have to be asking this. At least his pride hadn't stopped him from getting this far.
Takatora led him to an empty bedroom. Kaito hesitated at the doorframe, before entering and setting down his things. He still seemed a bit uncertain about things.
"You're welcome to stay for as long as you need." Takatora said.
Kaito glanced at him. He was unable to maintain eye contact still. He hesitantly moved to stand in front of Takatora. What did he want? What was he going to say or do?
Takatora got his answer. It wasn't one he had even fathomed in his mind. Kaito had slowly brought himself closer and hugged him. Takatora felt a wetness on his shirt before long. Kaito was crying.
Takatora wasn't sure what to say so he simply returned the hug and waited. This hadn't been how he expected this to go. He had no plan for what to do in this situation and was struggling to think of one on the spot.
"Why...? Why are you doing this...?" Kaito asked quietly.
"I'm part of the reason you've suffered so much. It's only fair I take responsibility for the aftermath." Takatora replied.
Kaito said no more, but his grip tightened on Takatora a lot.
...
The next morning was quite chaotic. Takatora had managed to inform the other two boys of the new housemate before they saw him. Kaito was very quiet for the morning, not seeming up for much talking. Kouta tried to get him to lighten up but dropped it after a few attempts.
Takatora wasn't sure what to do. He hadn't planned to end up taking in anyone like this. Kouts had been easy enough to handle. Mitsuzane did most of the interacting with him. Takatora was just kind of there if he was needed.
However, Kaito was not going to be that easy. Maybe those two would have better luck with him but who knew. This one might be all his responsibility to deal with.
"Nii-san?" Mitsuzane got him alone to talk at one point.
"Yes?"
"Is this really going to work out?"
"I'm sure it will. Just give him some time."
"Why are you helping him?"
"I feel like it's my responsibility to help since I'm part of the reason he's suffered so much."
Mitsuzane glanced over toward where Kouta was once again pestering Kaito to talk. "Are you just going to adopt anyone you've hurt?"
"Adopt?" Takatora repeated.
He hadn't thought of this as adopting someone but it did fit that definition. He was taking them in and treating them as family. Hell, Kouta had started to occasionally call him "nii-chan" at times. Maybe he really was adopting them...
"Is that not what you're doing? You're letting them join our family." Mitsuzane said.
"I guess I am." Takatora replied, "You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
Mitsuzane shrugged, "Not really. It's just... weird."
"We'll figure it out eventually."
"I hope so."
"And as far as I know there shouldn't really be anyone else that will be joining this family. Everyone else that I can think of has others to support them. There should be no reason for them to need an extra family."
"We'll see I guess." Mitsuzane replied with another shrug, "It's less lonely in the house now at least."
Takatora couldn't argue with what he said. "It certainly is more lively than it's ever been."
"Are you doing anything today?"
"Just going to check up on some projects. Make sure things are going as planned. It shouldn't take me more than a few hours."
"Okay."
"Try not to let them cause too much trouble while I'm gone." Takatora spared at glance at the two boys.
It seemed Kouta had succeeded in getting Kaito to talk a bit. He didn't seem too pleased with Kouta pestering him though. Hopefully they wouldn't cause too much trouble with their bickering.
"I'll do my best, nii-san." Mitsuzane promised.
Takatora nodded. In a few minutes he was set to head out. He began the long and agonizing task of making sure things were going smoothly. People loved to forge their progress on reports more than they should be.
As he hopped between locations, he ended up taking a short break. He stopped and stared out at the water. It was a pretty peaceful day. He wished he didn't have to spend it doing things like this but that was the job he signed up for. He didn't trust anyone else to do this either.
"Kureshima-san."
Takatora glanced over his shoulder at his name, "Minato. Haven't seen you around for a while either."
Yoko moved to joined him in staring out at the water, "Been all over the place. Doing odd things here and there. Legal things... mostly."
Takatora opted to not ask any more of that. "What brings you here today?"
"Seeing if I can find a job somewhere. Nothing had really met my interest yet." Yoko replied, "And what about you?"
"Examining the restoration sites to make sure people aren't lying about their progress on it." Takatora sighed.
"Busy as ever." Yoko chuckled.
"If you wanted, you could get a job working on that stuff."
"What type of job?"
"Lots of things you could do. Arguably a bodyguard would actually be viable. Some citizens are still taking their anger out on some workers."
"I think that could work."
"We can fill out the paperwork then. I have one place left to check first if you want to see what's going on."
"Sure. Might as well see what I'm getting into." Yoko agreed.
They set off in silence for a while. Takatora didn't know what else there was to talk about. It still was strange being around Yoko after everything.
"How's your brother doing?" Yoko broke the silence.
"Alright. He has a boyfriend now. Kazuraba." Takatora replied, "Somehow that ended in him practically living at our house."
"Just wants to be near his boyfriend a lot I guess."
"I don't know. He's started referring to me as 'nii-chan' every now and again. I might've accidentally adopted him. I don't know what's going on anymore."
"You always have been kind hearted." Yoko commented, "Leave it to you to accidently aquire a kid."
"Two. Two kids. I think."
"Oh? There's another?"
"Kumon."
"Now that I wasn't expecting. How did you adopt him? How did he let you do that?"
Takatora shrugged and recounted briefly what happened. Yoko simply nodded along. She didn't say much afterwards about it.
Before long they were back to the office. It was mostly dead at the time. Everyone was out places. No one even batted an eye as they walked through.
It wasn't hard to do the application process and hire Yoko. It was done in an hour. That had gone smoothly. Since he knew her they didn't have to do so many checks to confirm things.
"You can start tomorrow then."
"Sounds good."
...
When tomorrow came, things seemed to be going a bit better. Kaito had warmed up a bit to the idea of staying with them. He still wasn't the most sociable but that was how he was.
Takatora trusted they were fine by themselves again and went off to work after exchanging a few words with them all. They all seemed to have plans after Mitsuzane was done with school for the day. Takatora didn't ask what the specifics of the plans were.
He arrived at one of the construction sites. Yoko was already there. She nodded to him as he approached.
"Good morning." Takatora said, "Anything of interest happen yet?"
"No. A few people gave some glares but didn't do anything more." Yoko replied, "Perhaps they're already intimidated by me."
"You can look pretty scary if you want to. I wouldn't be surprised." Takatora said.
He was called away to discuss things soon after. It was just another normal day at the job. It was best that nothing went wrong. He hated having to fix problems that never should have occured in the first place.
Yoko was doing a good job at just standing guard. If she was asked to help with anything small she would. Everyone had warmed up to the extra presence quite easily. Takatora wasn't sure how it would be taken considering some of the workers had to know her previous affiliation.
The day went by fast for once. Everything went as it should and quite a lot of progress was made. Perhaps they were trying to show off a bit for their new member? Either way, Takatora was pleased with how today went.
Everyone was slowly packing up and leaving for the evening. Takatora always waited until everyone else had left before he did. He wanted to make sure everyone was good before he left.
Yoko remained even as everyone else left. Takatora wasn't sure why. Was she waiting for something? Did she just want to talk to him alone?
"You planning to head home?" Takatora finally questioned her.
Yoko gave a sly smile, "I was thinking I could drop by your place. See the little family you've acquired for myself."
Takatora shook his head with a chuckle, "Fine. You trying to join in now too?"
"We'll see." Yoko teased, "I want to see things before I'd consider it."
Takatora rolled his eyes and started walking home. Yoko walked by his side. They didn't talk much on the walk.
When they arrived, it was to the sound of the three kids talking. They sounded like they were playing a game of some sort. Takatora went off to see where they were. Yoko followed behind.
They were in the living room, laying on the floor. There was some board game out that they were playing.
"You're home, nii-san." Mitsuzane was the first to notice him.
"Yes. I brought a friend as well." Takatora nodded to Yoko.
"You guys wanna play too? We just finished a game." Kouta asked.
"I'll join." Yoko said and took a seat.
"I guess so." Takatora shrugged and joined them as well.
They started up a new game. It was definitely strange. This house had never been very lively. It was always so cold and empty.
For the first time the house didn't feel so lonely. It felt like a home. A place to come back to after a rough day and be at peace. Not a place that haunted you like it normally did.
All it took was accidently adopting a few kids to brighten up the atmosphere apparently. Takatora still had no idea how he had gotten himself into this situation but he couldn't say he ever wanted to do things differently if given the chance. He quite liked this little family they had going on now.
Hopefully this was the last of the additions.