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Shouta glances up from his scroll, looking at the lavender-haired boy that is currently lying in Shouta’s bed. Hizashi, Shouta’s husband, is away on a mission for the king, leaving the two mages alone at home. Well, when Hizashi left, it was just one mage at home.
There was a lot the two would need to talk about once Hizashi got home.
It wasn’t like Shouta made a habit of picking up random teenage boys off the street, but the other option was to watch the kid get executed by a demon, and Shouta was having none of that.
The kid didn’t talk yet, just ate his dinner and slept, but Shouta had a feeling he knew where the demon came from. The boy seemed proficient in magic, but judging by the littering of scars on him, it was clear his magical energy came from blood magic. While Shouta could use his mana to call upon psychic forces, this kid’s work was something much darker.
Hizashi would let him keep the boy, though, Shouta was sure. They couldn’t abandon a child like this, even if he was a blood mage.
~*~
Blood magic was rare, often coming from a pact with a demon. It was frowned upon by all schools of magic, and typically done by those who couldn’t master any other class of magic. They were often adults, however, as demons weren’t known to make deals with children. But based on the kid’s story, he’s been a blood mage since he was old enough to use magic.
It wasn’t clear if it was genetics or abuse that led the kid down the path of blood magic, considering he didn’t have any memories of his birth family. The demons took care of him, as much as they could, for the last ten years, and only recently had they started to abandon him.
His name was Hitoshi- Shouta learned that after Hizashi came home. The blond was, of course, confused as to the sudden addition of a teenager in their house, but he ultimately accepted the situation they found themselves in. Hizashi would rather hide the blood mage from the king than risk the boy being lost and confused in the world on his own.
Or worse, and more likely, dead.
Hitoshi rarely uses his magic, only when it’s a dire emergency. Shouta thinks that’s why the demons abandoned him, because he wouldn’t fuel their bloodlust anymore. Shouta starts to work with the kid, teaches him magic that he can use with his own mana rather than his life force. Hitoshi learns quickly, picking up everything he can.
“What’s with the magical scarf?”
Shouta glances up from underneath the scarf he keeps wrapped securely around his neck. It’s not magical, per se, but it has magical elements to it that allow him to control the ends like limbs. He can restrain his enemies with it, and soon Hitoshi learns to do the same.
It’s funny, watching the kid mess up and end up tangled in the scarf over and over. Shouta, too, had that same issue when he started out. It’s almost cute, seeing it with someone else.
“Our kid,” Hizashi refers to the boy as, but Shouta doesn’t want to jump to conclusions just yet. They’ve only had the boy for a month, and it seems fast to just decide that they have a child. Especially since Hitoshi has learned so much about loneliness and abandonment at such an early age. It would be cruel to lead him on, or Shouta says.
Shouta, who told Hizashi that they’d never have kids, ends up bringing another child home. A little girl he finds in a dungeon, being held by a terrible monster. She’s timid, as to be expected of a girl who went through so much abuse, but she bonds well with Hitoshi. She tells them to call her Eri, and she calls them ‘papa’ and ‘big brother’ in return. It doesn’t take long for Shouta to be completely wrapped around her finger.
~*~
Shouta finds nights like tonight the hardest.
He and Hizashi moved- they had to after suddenly gaining two kids within a year- and each of the children had their own bedroom. The bedrooms weren’t far from Shouta and Hizashi’s, though, so hearing the terrible nightmares plaguing Hitoshi’s dreams was inevitable.
Shouta didn’t mind waking up. Hizashi, partially deafened by years of using loud explosive magic, slept through the disturbance, and Shouta didn’t find any reason to wake the blond up. Instead, he did what he does every time, slides out of bed quietly and makes his way to the room on his right.
When it first happened, Shouta made the mistake of waking Hitoshi up, nearly losing sight in his right eye because of it. Hitoshi didn’t mean to hurt him, even if the boy felt guilt every time he saw the pink scar underneath his father figure’s eye. Shouta never blamed him; he learned from then how to handle Hitoshi’s nightmares.
Tonight, Shouta does what he’s learned is the best response in these case. He takes his sleeping roll, laying it out on the opposite end of the room than Hitoshi’s bed, and settles in for the night. He opens scrolls he’s been studying, his eyes reading over lines he’s read several times. Shouta recently got a job at the local mage’s college, and he feels like he should know these scrolls inside and out if he’s going to teach them.
Hitoshi whines from the bed, and Shouta glances up when he hears the noise. He can’t do much, but he can at least make sure the boy isn’t hurting himself. A unique form of magic that Shouta learned was cancelling out other magic, and when Hitoshi looks like he’s about to cast a spell, Shouta easily cancels the spell to protect the boy.
Eventually the nightmares fade, but Shouta’s comfortable. He’ll stay here until morning, enjoying the time he gets with Hitoshi, even if it’s while the other is sleeping. When morning comes, just like every time this happens, Shouta will put down the scrolls at the first hints of light. Hitoshi wakes up shortly after, and the two silently go about getting ready for the day. Hitoshi grabs Eri from her room and brings her downstairs where Shouta and Hizashi are making breakfast.
The only thing that makes this morning as distinct from any other is what Hitoshi says at breakfast.
“I’m going to apply to UA.”
UA, the magic college Shouta recently got a job at, is the most prestigious college for mages in the land. Hitoshi’s come a long way in his non-blood magic, and Shouta’s proud of him. So instead of arguing, trying to convince the boy to go anywhere else, Shouta just smiles behind his scarf.
“You know it’ll be a rough entrance exam,” he says, without a hint of doubt that Hitoshi could do it.
“Yeah, but my dad teaches there now; I’m sure that I’ll get in.”
Shouta nearly drops his mug of coffee, shocked to hear himself referred to as a ‘dad’. Eri calls him ‘papa’ all the time, but hearing it from Hitoshi is new, different. And something warm settles in Shouta’s stomach. “Don’t think you’re getting in on nepotism.”
“Nah, he’s a good teacher, though,” Hitoshi grins, drinking his own mug of coffee. Hizashi tried to tell him he’s too young for coffee, but it’s too late now- Hitoshi is beyond addicted. “I’m sure I’ll get in just from what I’ve learned.”
“We’ll see, kid,” Shouta says, and when Hitoshi makes it into UA later that month, there’s no hint of surprise among the others.
They finally have their family. Shouta and Hizashi never meant to have one, but now that they do, it’s absolutely perfect.