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“Petal, have you seen the—” Shouta stopped short, putting down the bundle of white camellias he was holding and looking around for the six year old.
“Eri? Eri! Shit.”
Shouta turned on his heel and sprinted to the bathroom, just to find the door open and the bathroom empty. He ran to the back of the shop again, calling for her until he heard a tinkling of bells, signaling that a customer had walked in. He took a deep breath and walked out to the front again.
“Hi, welcome to E—Oh, Eri! There you are!” Shouta breathed a sigh of relief as he saw his daughter standing next to a tall man and beaming.
“I think this belongs to you,” said the tall, blond man.
“Daddy, look!” Eri held up a drawing.
Shouta let out a relieved chuckle and walked around the counter, scooping Eri up in his arms and finally making eye contact with the man, whom he immediately recognized as the owner of Loud and Proud Tattoo Parlor, Hizashi Yamada.
“I am so sorry. She just wandered off! I had no idea. I’m so sorry.” Shouta shifted Eri to his other hip as she continued to try to get his attention. Hizashi laughed in response, bright and melodic.
“It’s no trouble at all. I just told the little tyke to come back when she’s eighteen if she wants a tattoo.” He winked.
Eri held the drawing up in front of Shouta’s face. “Look, daddy! Yamada-san let me keep a drawing!”
Shouta smiled and gently lowered the paper. He looked at the sketch, then up at Hizashi. “Is this a—”
“Harbinger-of-Spring? Sure is,” Hizashi smiled. “She said her name’s Eri.”
“Y-Yeah…” Shouta looked between the drawing of the little white and red flower, Eri’s beaming smile, and the grinning man covered in tattoos standing in his flower shop doorway. “These aren’t indigenous to Japan, though. How did you..?”
Hizashi laughed again. “I’ve been to The United States before, believe it or not. I met a lovely woman there whose name was also Eri, and this was her favorite flower.”
“Daddy?” Eri tugged on the strap of Shouta’s apron.
“Yes, petal?” Shouta said, looking at her. He just missed the soft look on Hizashi’s face at the sound of her nickname.
“What’s the flower?”
“It’s called Harbinger-of-Spring. It’s also known as Erigenia bulbosa. I think Yamada-san drew it for you because you told him your name is Eri.”
Eri beamed again. “There’s a flower with my name?!”
Shouta chuckled. “Sort of. It doesn’t grow in Japan, though.”
Eri pouted, then turned her head to look at Hizashi. “Thank you again for drawing this for me, Yamada-san.”
Hizashi chuckled. “You’re welcome, Eri.” He looked over his shoulder at the front door. “I should probably head back to the shop before my employees get any funny ideas about closing up early.”
“Right,” Shouta cleared his throat and held out his hand for Hizashi to shake. “Thank you for bringing Eri back. And for drawing her a flower.”
Hizashi grinned. “It’s no problem at all. And if you, or her when she turns eighteen, want to get that tattooed, feel free to stop by and I’ll be happy to do it. See you around, Aizawa-san. See ya, sprout!” Hizashi waved at the two of them before exiting out the glass door.
Shouta blushed slightly as he watched Hizashi leave the shop and head across the street to the tattoo parlor, then he turned and sat Eri on the counter. “Don’t run off like that again, missy. You had me scared half to death. You see this?” Shouta pointed to a gray hair on his head. “That wasn’t here this morning.”
“Yes, it was.” Eri giggled.
Shouta’s face fell and he shook his head. “Nevermind that. Just please don’t go wandering off on your own, okay? It’s dangerous to cross the street by yourself.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy.”
Shouta kissed her forehead. “It’s alright, petal. Now why don’t you work on your homework and I’ll finish up here, then we can go home, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy! Can you hold onto my drawing for me?”
“Of course, petal.” Shouta helped Eri off the counter, then took the drawing and carefully placed it inside the cover of a flower pressing book. He glanced out the door to the tattoo parlor and sighed.
“Daddy, you’re blushing.”
Shouta spluttered and jumped, turning to glare at his giggling daughter. He pointed to the back room of the flower shop. “Homework. Now.” He watched as Eri ran to the back again, giggling as she went, and shook his head. He turned back to the flower pressing book and carefully closed it before putting it up on a shelf for safekeeping.
“Eri, have you seen the—” Shouta sighed as he looked up to see an empty room. Eri had gone across the street to Loud and Proud nearly every day for the past two weeks, despite Shouta’s frequent attempts at telling her not to cross the street. Luckily, Hizashi was a very patient man and always brought Eri back to him, usually with a piece of candy or another drawing.
Just as Shouta had decided to close up for the day and head across the street to grab Eri, the bell above the door tinkled and Shouta looked over to see Hizashi holding a beaming Eri.
“Daddy! ‘Zashi said he’s free for dinner tonight!” Eri squealed.
Shouta raised an eyebrow at Hizashi, who blushed and rubbed the back of his neck with a slight chuckle. “Is that so?”
“Heh. Yeah, I guess Eri played a little trick on me. She said you were inviting me to dinner. I completely understand if you don’t—”
Shouta smiled as he walked forward and took Eri into his arms. “I was just about to close up for the day. How does 7 PM sound?” Eri whispered something in Shouta’s ear and he grinned. “You know, there’s that really great American restaurant a few blocks over. I hear they have amazing fried chicken.”
Eri winked at Hizashi and he bellowed in laughter. “You sure are the cutest little matchmaker, aren’t you?” Eri beamed and nodded.
Shouta blushed slightly and smoothed his hand over Eri’s hair. “Alright. Go clean up the stems and petals from the back, then grab your things, okay?”
Eri nodded again. “Okay, Daddy!” Shouta put her back on her feet and she ran to the back of the store.
Shouta smoothed down his apron and looked at Hizashi. “Well, I should finish getting cleaned up here. Where should I pick you up? Or would you rather meet at the restaurant?” Shouta slapped a hand to his forehead with a sigh of frustration.
“Dammit, I need to find a babysitter for Eri.”
Hizashi chuckled and put a hand on Shouta’s shoulder. Shouta lowered his hand from his forehead and glanced at him sheepishly. Hizashi smiled gently. “How about you text me your address, I’ll pick up some takeout for the three of us, and we can just hang out and watch a movie. Sound good?”
“The three of us?” Shouta asked.
Hizashi chuckled and dropped his hand to his side. “Of course! We couldn’t leave out Eri-Berry, now, could we?”
Shouta smiled faintly. “Just so you know, she’s really into princess movies right now.”
Hizashi leaned forward a bit. “I’ll bring my tiara.”
Hizashi had been joking about having a tiara, but he happily borrowed one from Eri and wore it proudly while she braided flowers into his hair. Eri insisted Hizashi perform all of the songs with her, and Shouta recorded them with his phone. The three of them enjoyed their fried chicken and made a fort using blankets and couch cushions. Two and a half movies in, Eri started to nod off against Hizashi’s arm, so Shouta put her to bed while Hizashi cleaned up from dinner and put the couch back together. As he was folding the last blanket, Shouta came back into the living room.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Hizashi grinned and tossed the folded blanket onto the back of the couch. “Hey, I helped make the mess. It’s only fair that I help clean it up, too.”
Shouta smiled. “Well, thank you.”
Hizashi nodded. He carefully pulled off the tiara and set it on the armrest of the couch. “I should get going…”
“Or…” Shouta said, stepping forward and looking at Hizashi under his lashes. “You could stay…”
Hizashi chuckled. “Yeah? I’m not overstaying my welcome?”
Shouta shook his head. “No, I’d like for you to stay.”
Hizashi raised an eyebrow. “You just want to finish Tangled, don’t you?”
Shouta let out a loud laugh, then quickly covered his mouth, looking in the direction of Eri’s room. Hizashi chuckled and gently pulled Shouta closer by the front of his shirt. “I’m sure she didn’t hear. Now, what did you have in mind for us?”
It didn’t take long for Shouta and Hizashi to become official, and it didn’t take long for Hizashi to move into Shouta and Eri’s house. The three of them had plenty of tea parties and dance parties, and watched princess movies on repeat until Hizashi could practically recite them in his sleep. Eri loved having Hizashi around all the time, and Shouta loved how happy she was hanging out with him. Shouta had never seen Eri that comfortable with someone before, and he was thrilled that he had found someone who loved her as much as he did.
On the day Hizashi bought the ring, he took Eri out for a picnic, just the two of them. He packed all her favorite foods and a special treat of caramel apples. They took their picnic to the park where they watched the petals fall from the cherry blossom trees and talked about their favorite things. As they finished up their picnic, Hizashi pulled out a red, velvet box and turned to Eri.
“Eri-Berry, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Eri looked up at Hizashi. “What is it?”
“Well, your dad and I have been together for about a year now. And I have absolutely loved every second of living with the two of you. You’re my favorite people in this world.” Hizashi grinned. “I would like to ask your dad to marry me.” He opened the ring box and Eri gasped softly, her eyes sparkling at the thin, gold band. “I love your dad very much, and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. With both of you. But I know this decision doesn’t just affect him and me, and I want to make sure you’re okay with it, too. I’d like to ask for your blessing to marry your dad.”
Eri looked at Hizashi with wide, teary eyes and leaped into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Yes! I can’t wait! I’m so excited!”
Hizashi laughed as he hugged her back. “So, I’m guessing that’s a yes? Because I was hoping to do it this weekend.”
Eri squealed and hugged Hizashi tighter. “Yay! I can’t wait!”
Hizashi hugged Eri until she decided to let go, and they packed up their things and headed back home. Hizashi reminded Eri that the proposal was a secret, and she put a finger to her lips with a giggle, promising not to tell. The two of them returned home, and Eri went to her room to play while Hizashi unpacked their picnic.
“How was it?” Shouta asked, wrapping his arms around Hizashi from the back. “Did you two have fun?”
Hizashi smiled and turned, cupping Shouta’s face in his hands. He kissed the shorter man’s forehead. “Oh, we had a blast. We ate all of Eri-Berry’s favorite food and watched the cherry blossom petals fall.”
Shouta smiled and rested his head on the front of Hizashi’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you had such a great time.” Hizashi tilted Shouta’s chin up and looked at him, smiling and pecking him on the lips. Shouta blushed. “What is it?”
“I love you, Sho.”
Shouta chuckled lightly. “I love you, too. Is everything okay?”
Hizashi smiled and nodded. “Yeah, everything is great. Wonderful, even. You make me so happy, Sho.”
Shouta tilted his head slightly. “What’s this all about?”
Hizashi shook his head with a chuckle and kissed Shouta on the forehead before getting down on one knee. “I wanted to make this more special, but I just can’t wait. Shouta, will you marry me?”
Tears welled up in Shouta’s eyes as he nodded, pulling Hizashi up into a kiss. They laughed against each other’s lips and Hizashi fished for the ring in his pocket, pulling it out as Eri ran over from where she had been spying on them behind the door. Shouta scooped her up, and Hizashi slipped the small, diamond covered ring on Shouta’s finger. The three of them hugged each other with tears in their eyes and massive grins on their faces.
The ceremony was simple. A few of their closest friends were there; childhood friends, a few of the employees from Hizashi’s tattoo parlor, and their families. Eri decided she wanted to be like her dads with a sky blue suit and matching braids with Hizashi. She had the very important job of holding onto the rings, and everyone complimented her on how well she did keeping them safe. As Hizashi finished his vows to Shouta, he called Eri to come up to the front and knelt down to her level.
“Eri-Berry,” He smiled softly at her and wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “I was ready to take on the role of your dad from the moment you wandered into my tattoo shop and I thought you might’ve been an orphan.” Eri, along with Shouta and the rest of the wedding guests, laughed.
“I never expected that you were actually trying to set me up with your dad, so thanks for that, kid.” Hizashi fist-bumped her. “I hope you know that today, I’m not just making a commitment to your dad, but I am also making a commitment to you. I vow to love and cherish your father for the rest of my life, and I vow to love you and to take care of you as my own daughter. I promise that I will always take you on picnics and draw you pictures of pretty flowers and let you eat ice cream when your dad says no.” Hizashi winked up at Shouta, who laughed wetly and dabbed at his eyes with his handkerchief. Hizashi looked back at Eri and cupped her face. “I love you so much, Eri-Berry, and I can’t wait to be your Papa.”
Hizashi picked Eri up as he stood, and the officiant stood to the side as he announced them married. While the guests cheered, Shouta and Hizashi kissed and Eri grinned at the photographer’s camera from her Papa’s arm, making a hand heart.
That photo hung proudly in their living room, right above the adoption papers for Eri, officially making Hizashi her Papa.
