Chapter Text
It’s been four months since he’s purchased his new house, since he stuffed a suitcase full of essentials and moved in by his lonesome. While it hadn’t been the best to look at during the initial walkthrough with his realtor, he hadn’t needed to be wooed by its potential in the slightest.
Two stories, huge kitchen, a finished basement, and a mantle above the fireplace—floor to ceiling windows, a wrap-around engawa, and so much yard that he practically has to take a hike to even get a glimpse of the neighbors..? The vision had been clear from the moment he’d first stepped foot onto the property, really.
Every appliance has been updated and every window has been replaced. Every inch of old tatami has been gleefully ripped up, the hardwood he’d chosen instead now sanded, polished, and stained anew. That ugly, ugly fucking wallpaper has been stripped, fresh layers of drywall and even coats of paint long since sealed in its place. Water heater, electric, the ancient AC system, all of it rewired and brought up to code, all hardware now top of the line.
Roofing? Done. Foundation? Done!
And now he has finally finished stocking up the place, has finally finished furnishing and decorating. Now he can finally pack up his kids out of that apartment; now they can all finally say goodbye to Kyoto for good. It’s been a long, grueling process of getting everything just right and it’s finally over!
He sighs happily and, standing between the dining room and the living room, turns in a slow circle; smiles as he takes in the splendor of his new home.
The kids are going to love it. Everything is ready for them. Everything is perfect...
His smile drops as his gaze peers past his glorious floor to ceiling living room windows and onto a spot towards the back of his sprawling backyard. It lands on the ground, in the shade of a bowing young willow, and over a stretch of tar-colored tarp. A gathering of dragonflies crowd one of the corners, dipping in and out, sending tiny flecks of water to dissipate in the afternoon sun.
...except for the pool. Everything is perfect except for the pool, it’s summer, how could he possibly forget about the fucking pool?!
He crumples to his knees with a long groan. Megumi had raved about it plenty of times over the phone with him too, about how he couldn’t wait to swim around with the dogs. Tsumiki is going to look at him with that disappointed look, a look that a nine year old has no business having, when she sees that her little brother’s excitement was for nothing.
‘It’s 6pm on a Sunday,’ he laments with another groan as he tips forward and bangs his head against the polished hardwood floor, ‘everybody is closed already! And I already promised them I would pick them up first thing tomorrow morning.. goddamnit, Satoru!’
The energy drains out of his limbs. He rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling, mind whirring. If he recalls correctly—and he does, now, stupid stupid stupid!—the pool isn’t going to be a simple drain-and-fill. It’s yucky in there, the previous owner having left it unused and uncovered for who-knows-how-long until they were ready to sell..
He fishes his phone out of his pocket. A quick search tells him that getting a pool that dirty all safe and clean for kids will take at least two weeks.
He groans again, this time smacking himself on the forehead. ‘I’ve been here for four months! Why didn’t I..?’
Even thinking back on how it slipped his mind, he can’t find a solid answer. Perhaps he was simply so focused on getting the inside together that he completely neglected having the outside taken care of.
‘That’s not true,’ he quickly tells himself, ‘I had solar panels put up. I had the siding replaced. I had the yard treated for pests and I had all the trees trimmed. I didn’t neglect the outside,’ he concedes with a sigh, now swiping through his phone and bringing up his starred contacts, ‘I just—’
“Forgot.” Megumi parrots back to him over the speaker five minutes later. “You forgot to get the pool cleaned? Dad..”
Satoru holds in another sigh, his frustration at himself mounting at the whining tone of disappointment in his kid’s voice. He paces the living room. He can only imagine how Tsumiki is going to sound when Megumi passes on the news. “I know, kiddo. I messed up. I’m gonna find someone to start fixing it up for you guys tomorrow, I promise! We’ll even throw a pool party when it’s ready. I’ll invite Auntie Hime and Auntie Sho. Uncle Suguru can bring the twins and you and Tsu-chan can take turns destroying them at marco polo. How’s that?”
“Mmm... Kage and Kumo can still get in, right?”
“Sure they can!”
“Yeah, okay.” Satoru fistpumps at the save, spinning on his socked heel. “How long ‘til then?”
“Hm? Mm, the pool will be done in a couple of weeks. But the party will be worth it, okay! I’ll get us ice cream. And a cake! And, oh, Auntie Sho can grill—”
“..Oh.”
Satoru stops in his tracks. “Something wrong kiddo?”
“You said, you said two weeks. Does this mean you’re not coming to get us tomorrow?”
“Of course I’m still coming to get you tomorrow. It won’t be in the morning like we originally planned, since I have to get someone to come and look at the pool, but I promise, Megumi. I promise that you and Tsumiki will be in the car before dinner.”
“You swear?”
Satoru grins. He can practically see the little furrow in Megumi’s brow—ahh, he should’ve FaceTimed. “I double dog swear.”
It earns him a little laugh. Satoru counts it as a triple win—he immediately owned up to his mistake, is rectifying it without completely freaking out, and has just made the gloomiest seven year old in all of Japan giggle at his silly joke.
They chat a little longer, Satoru reiterating his reassurances and pool party plan for Tsumiki when she eventually comes back for her phone. She’s not as upset as he’d thought she’d be, and for that he’s grateful. He makes them promise to finish packing up and to get a good night’s rest, because he expects them to answer when he calls at breakfast.
Satoru makes kissy noises at them until Tsumiki hangs up, and then he lets his body crumble back to the floor, his phone clattering when he lets it from his fingers without so much as a care.
Tomorrow his kids will finally be somewhere nice, somewhere good and peaceful where they can breathe and grow without those scumbags from the Zen’in Clan breathing down their necks.
They’ll finally be with him.
They’ll finally have a home.
Satoru puffs his cheeks with air and lets it out in a long sigh, unable to help the return of his grin. Everything really is perfect.
Except the pool, the evil little gremlin living in his brain supplies. Everything is perfect except the pool.
Scowling, Satoru picks his phone back up. He’s got some voicemails to leave.