Chapter Text
Nakayama was a stubborn man, he followed most things to a T and rarely did anything out of the ordinary, drunk shenanigans not counted.
But that didn’t mean he couldn’t differ from his normal schedule.
Today was a day Nakayama decided to be spontaneous so he left his office building during his break to go to the bookstore. It wasn’t just any bookstore though, it was the bookstore Shirafuji worked at.
His boyfriend Shirafuji.
Nakayama got his first boyfriend only recently, in his late 20s, but frankly he didn’t care if that was pathetic or not. Experiencing something he had only read about certainly gave him the same dopamine rush a cigarette could.
Hypocrite, he was smoking on his way to see him but as he hangs outside the storefront, seeing as he saw no one at the desk, he decides he can actually finish it instead of stomping half of it out.
What he doesn’t expect is to see big gray eyes staring at him through the glass before disappearing behind the bookshelves at the accidental eye contact.
Strange but not the strangest thing that’s ever happened to him, which is saying something since he’s seen his drunk colleagues do a worm, as in the dance move, competition in the middle of the road and nearly bared witness to one of them getting hit by a motorbike.
He’s going off track so he snuffs out his smoke before walking inside. Shirafuji must be in the bathroom or something so he takes his time wandering around, seeing if he can eye any of the new releases he might have been responsible for making happen.
Instead, he sees the girl from before trying to place books back in their shelves, he nearly snickers at how she has to use her tiptoes to reach one of the taller shelves. He nearly walks away to go wait at the desk for Shirafuji, wondering why a child is acting as if she works at the store, when he hears a strange noise causing him to turn back. He watches her gasp as the books begin to fall and somehow finds himself rushing over to make sure she didn't get hit. And there was a lot of books, he had to stop the shelf from toppling over too “Ah fuck-”.
As he shields her he remembers the time this exact same situation happened between him and Shirafuji except that time he was the one being shielded. Nakayama had grown flustered on the inside at the position they ended up in but Shirafuji had started stammering as an intense blush appeared on his face.
They started dating a week after that when Shirafuji finally questioned why he was always hovering in the bookstore and rarely buying anything. Nakayama had tried his hardest to be smooth and reply “I was checking you out instead of the books ” but had failed miserably on the delivery. Shirafuji still asked him out for coffee.
A meek thank you snaps him out of his thoughts and makes him realize the books are no longer falling.
“You’re welcome” he replies as he begins to help her pick up the fallen books in a neat pile. She stares at him for a moment before saying “Wow your voice is gruff and you smell funny”.
The girl in front of him had to be younger than 10. She had light purple hair that was tied in a very loose braid, topped off with a single white ribbon and a very messy fringe, she had gray eyes that shone with curiosity. She also had a similar green apron on her front that tried to match the headband she wore.
He could compare it to being ‘cute’, just like how he viewed his sister when they were younger. He just couldn’t excuse her comment “Gruff voice? Is that a way to treat someone who saved you?”.
The girl pouts “But you’re a stranger, my dad says I need to be careful around strangers”.
Nakayama sighs before crouching down “Well if we tell each other who we are we won’t be strangers anymore”. This is partially because he wants to find her parents for her safety and partially so he could get her in trouble for saying he smelled funny.
The girl looks like she is contemplating his words for a moment, her hand on her chin. “Well I guess we won’t be strangers if we introduce each other,” she says as she dusts off her apron.
“What’s your name mister? My name is Hidamari Shiori!” the girl, Shiori, beams at him as Nakayama’s world is put on hold.
“Hidamari? ” he can only blink “Is… is your dad’s name Shirafuji?”.
“Yeah!” she says before becoming more interested in the books on the floor “Now I need to clean up before Dad sees, otherwise he won’t let me help anymore”.
His first thought is “Oh no Shirafuji’s daughter saw me smoking outside the bookstore, she is going to tell him ”.
His second thought is “My lover has a child and I didn’t know?? ”.
“I’ll help you,” he says without thinking “and my name is Monogatari Nakayama”. He reaches out his hand and but she doesn't shake it “Alrighty then Naka-chan!”.
“Naka-chan?” he parrots and she laughs “Fufu Naka-chan is easier to say, so I renamed you!”.
He feels his heart melt, his ‘stone-cold heart’ as Chiyo puts it, “She even has his laugh? ”.
He offers his hand out again to Shiori “Shiori I’ll make you a deal, if I help you with these books you’ll tell me more about your dad. I want to see if he is the same person I know”. She tilts her head to the side and thinks before this time slowly accepting the handshake “Deal, I can’t get to the top of the shelf on my own… and as long as you don’t have any funny ideas about my dad”.
She motions her hands for the top and Nakayama somehow understands, picking her up so she can reach the higher shelves. Despite working in an office nearly every day he surprisingly has some strength in his arms. It reaches a point where he is just maneuvering her as she does the work and talks about her dad.
From the weird way he likes his tea to the way he styles his hair in the morning to how blind he gets without his glasses. She talks about how caring and patient he was with her and how he tells her the importance of eating vegetables but how he never eats any himself.
“Yeah ,” is all he thinks “it’s the same guy, my boyfriend is her dad ”. He decides not to dwell on it any further and focuses on not dropping her. He supposes that before it was only for the lower shelves but since this shelf nearly fell she felt the need to pack all of them away.
He can imagine Souji laughing at him or his sister cooing at the sight right now but at the same time he came here to see his boyfriend and now he is helping out his child put books on a bookshelf.
“Did your brain explode earlier? Can I open and see?” she asks as Nakayama sets her down on the floor again but before he can answer he hears “Shio-chan don’t bother the customers with questions like that-”.
His boyfriend turns the corner and is surprised to see him with his daughter. The two men are at a standstill “Nakayama-kun? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”.
He huffs “I feel like there are more pressing matters here Shirafuji”.
He looks between his daughter and Nakayama before gesturing to him to go outside “Shio-chan, Dad will be right back. Don’t go anywhere and yell if you need help”.
She nods and with that confirmation, the two men go outside. Nakayama has to resist the urge to pop open his cigarette box and light one up but he stops himself because Shirafuji’s face is serious. He could surely feel his eyes on him.
“Shiori is my adopted daughter” Shirafuji starts “Barely anyone knows about her since we live on a quieter side of town, the only reason we come on this side is for my work and shopping at this specific grocery store. But I’ve had her for years, way before I met you Nakayama-kun”.
He explains some quicker stuff that makes sense, the reason why their meetups were planned and not spontaneous, why he couldn’t make it some nights and provided little to no explanations, it was probably because of his daughter and having to take care of her needs. It also might explain why he had been reluctant to stay the night with Nakayama, why he always left him alone in his apartment after carrying his drunk self home, why he never joined him instead and cuddled him till morning.
“The reason she started being with me at work on Thursdays is because her school changed their schedule a bit, for some reason, but my boss allows me to keep her with me as long as I get my work done. I never imagined you’d show up though” he admits but a lingering question is what is on Nakayama’s mind.
“Do you not trust me Shirafuji?” Nakayama quietly asks.
"Gosh no it’s just” he takes a breath “I really want this to work out and I know that for some people their partner having a kid usually is a… reason to not pursue the relationship”. He fidgets with his thumbs “And what if the worst case scenario does happen? What if you get to know her and then decide that there is someone better than me? Then you'd walk out on both our lives and I wouldn't want to subject her to that, I have faith in you but I have no idea how far from reality that faith could be”.
Nakayama scoffs at the thought of it “Do you take me for some kind of wuss? Only a man with no balls would leave you”. He takes Shirafuji’s hand in his “I am not gonna leave you because you have a kid, that's a stupid reason to end a relationship. And also don’t overthink it dumbass, there’s no one better for me than you”.
Shirafuji closes his eyes “She’s a blessing, a treasure to me. I cannot bear the thought of making her unhappy or her making anyone else unhappy”.
“And well Shio-chan has always had a strange thing against people hitting on me, it’s kind of weird but a long time ago a random customer tried to use her to get my favor. It’s actually the reason I stopped bringing her to work with me when I had to do surprise shifts on the weekends” he's being honest so it must have had happened.
“So you’re just cautious” Nakayama questions, arms folded against his chest.
He laughs but slowly regains that seriousness from before “Not a bad thing right? I want what’s best for her so I feel like you should know that as much as I cherish our relationship… if she feels uncomfortable with it after a while I’ll put her first”.
The implication is as clear as day and Nakayama should hate him for having such a thought in the first place, isn’t it what others would perceive as selfish?
He looks at him, the man he had been dating for a few months, and instead of being angry he can only think about how caring he is, how compassionate he is “Ah he makes me want to be a better person… I think I’m falling in love, what a thought ”.
He hums after a moment of silence “You know Shio-chan used to be very quiet, she shys away from strangers because she's scared of what they're thinking”.
He scoffs “Really? She just couldn’t stop chattering”. In response to this Shirafuji chuckles “Fufu, maybe you’re just special. Shio-chan has always been a good judge of character” he waves his hand around before resting it over his chest “She’s my little treasure after all”.
Nakayama notes the small smile, full of affection, that graces his face. This makes him make up his mind.
“Shirafuji, would you mind if I spent a bit of time with you two today?” he mutters and he swears Shirafuji’s face lights up with emotion “Nothing would make me happier, darling”.
Nakayama has to fight the urge to blush hard right there, he is a grown man he should not be acting like a high school girl getting asked out by her crush she’s known since childhood!
Shirafuji ignores his inner turmoil and grabs his hand, leading him back inside the store. Shiori perks her head in their direction at the sound of the bell chiming from the door opening. Shirafuji lets go of his hold as they walk up to his daughter.
Nakayama sees him smile as he says “Shio-chan, Nakayama-kun is going to stay with us for a bit today. Do you want to take him to your favorite yakitori shop stand after I close?”.
She glances at Nakayama before running to Shirafuji, he leans down as she loudly whispers in his ear “Is he trustworthy?”.
Shirafuji laughs “Fufu very trustworthy, and he’ll pay!”.
Before Nakayama can grumble about being put on the spot like that he notices the way Shiori beams at him “Thank you Naka-chan! It’s really delicious, I promise!”.
“I’ll let this slide once, ” he thinks, crossing his arms and watching the two “It’s not the end of the world ”.
Shirafuji is smirking at him so he takes back the thought “Oi, don’t push your luck Shirafuji I won’t have you making fun of me!”.
When they arrive at the stand Shirafuji kisses him on the cheek, despite being in public, and whispers in his ear a sincere thank you.
-----------------------------------------
Nakayama, ever the diligent person, manages to finish all his work on time. In theory, it should have taken more time since he got one of the most stubborn authors known to man but he prides himself in being able to make even the toughest people bend to his will.
So what does he do with his free time, on his supposed break?
He rereads his text messages with Shirafuji after having searched on his phone ‘best gifts to buy girls aged 9’ . He sees lots of kids' jewelry, toy cameras, dolls, yet nothing really stands out.
He’s known Shiori for three months now, spent time with her and Shirafuji much to his boyfriend’s pleasure, he knew that if he wanted to be part of his life he’d have to be part of her life too. It had taken around two weeks before Shirafuji dropped the bombshell that they were dating and Shiori somehow grew more protective over her dad during that time.
“No! Naka-chan needs my approval! ”.
“Fufu isn’t my little treasure so funny, Nakayama-kun? ”.
He isn’t opposed to it, not at all. Shirafuji made him see color in the bleak world he had grown used to, he was like a breath of fresh air to his ash-stricken lungs, Shirafuji made him want to be a better person.
And recently Shirafuji had invited him over for dinner, next week to be exact.
It’s been nearly a full year since they started dating and this was the first time he’d be over to his apartment, he knows it’s customary to bring gifts to whoever is hosting but Shirafuji had told him he didn’t have to.
He still thinks he should bring something special for Shiori, the girl liked him yes but she still seemed slightly wary of his relationship with her dad as frustrating as that was to Nakayama. As much as he wants to, simply because it's easy, he cannot win her over with food. He wanted to get something that he could easily go out to buy like a basic toy but re-reading a certain message from a few weeks ago changed his mind.
⤷ Shirafuji: I am sorry I might be late, Shiori is watching the newest episode of her magical girl anime and she refuses to move so I can drop her off at her school friend’s house. She can’t stop yelling for the blonde one with the orange skirt to win, I think she’s her favorite.
⤷ Shirafuji: It feels good to just be able to tell you now why I run late sometimes. Feel free to look around while I try to get there as soon as I can darling.
He hates how that nickname makes him feel things. If his sister found out she’d have a field day with that information.
Moving on he knew exactly what show his daughter was watching, Sailor Moon, and based on the description her favorite scout must be Sailor Venus. He doesn’t dabble in anime as much since he sticks to novels, sometimes manga, but he still knows about it.
And thus he knew the search terms to apply, she’s young so getting merch that’s soft like a plushie was his best bet, the problem is that those pieces of merch were ridiculously expensive. He puts his head in his hands for a moment before locking in his search.
He scrolls and scrolls until he swipes back on the perfect one. Cute, small, reasonable in price, bonus Pompompurin on the side. He immediately clicks on the link to get directions for the store, pleasantly surprised to see that it was a lot closer than he thought it’d be.
He can already imagine it: Shiori’s smile as she holds the gift as Shirafuji kisses him on the cheek as a thank you, he deserves it! “Ha ha Shiori will be thanking me for days! ” he thinks triumphantly before his vision is thrown out the window for no reason.
His chair spins around before he can comprehend what's going on, coming face to face to a black-haired man with glasses. His colleague smirks at him “Oh my on company time? Keep your spending hobbies for at home Nakayama-san otherwise you’ll fall even further behind me!”.
“Souji…” he grumbles before hiding his phone “Don’t sneak up on people like that!”.
Souiji's smirk grows even wider “Oh should I announce your presence when I arrive? There is the great Nakayama-san, the man who skipped the last part of his shift again!”.
He tsks, Souiji knows about his request. It's been a month “Shove it up your ass Souiji-san! I requested shorter work hours on that day a long time ago!”.
He hears him laugh “Do you mean to say “I don’t think you understand”, Nakayama-san?”. Nakayama then decides to act totally mature, Souiji squawks “Ah don’t try to hit me, what are you in grade school?!”.
Their behavior gets shut down when their supervisor walks by and the two get reminded that yes they are in fact working adults. When pitted against each other in either work or conversation all logic is lost.
Sometimes the supervisor is surprised that he and Souiji are two of the best employees they have.
Eventually, their glares get pushed aside and Souiji does ask him about some upcoming terms and conditions the company is sending out, but still trying to get a rise out of him in the process because of how he was looking at plushies on his phone, bringing it up ever so casually. This time however Nakayama keeps his cool. From his lack of reaction it is evident Souiji grows bored and instead looks to his watch, eyes widening before looking back up at his colleague.
“I’ll report you to management for your language and not doing work during company time if you try to do overtime today!” Souji laughs, Nakayama snarls back “I WAS ON MY BREAK! Who the hell died and made you boss?”.
Souji holds his shit-eating grin as he walks off to his meeting.
Nakayama glances at the clock before setting down his phone and getting back to work. He’d be off soon enough anyway and then he could go searching. It was only for two more hours, he wasn’t planning to do overtime today anyway so he supposed Souiji would think he was getting his way.
He watches the clock hands like a hawk.
He lets out a sigh of relief when he finally walks out of the building with the knowledge of the store he must go to, all that’s left is to find a way to get aside without getting sniped down by his colleagues or someone related to any of his colleagues, he’d never hear the end of it at his office “Ah what a pain in my ass ”.
The solution to his problem comes in the form of a pink ball of energy rushing toward him from the top of the street.
“NAKAYAMA-KUNNNNNN☆” he hears before feeling someone latch onto his side, he quickly lifts his cigarette upwards so the woman doesn’t catch fire “Chiyo?!”.
The pink-haired woman only grins, squeezing him before letting him go “The one and only! It’s been so long though, how’s my favorite grumpy old man?”.
“He hasn’t been anything, he needs a smoke” he huffs out, taking a hit in a way that doesn’t send the smoke Chiyo’s way “How have you been?”.
Chiyo blushes and fiddles with her low pigtails “Ehe I’ve been super duper wonderhoy, there’s this really cute lady with sage-green hair and the most gorgeous purple eyes that’s been hitting on me lately. Yeah, she definitely has. I feel so kira-kira that I keep going to the café where she works so I can talk to her during her shifts~”.
Nakayama grimaces “Please tell me you are not spending tons of money just to see her while she is working” before whispering “I mean I can’t say anything, I just didn’t spend a lot of money”.
Her eyes open in shock “Eh? ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SOMEBODY TOO? IS THAT WHY YOU WERE LOOKING WORRIE–”.
Nakayama freezes before grabbing her arm, stomping on his dropped cigarette in the process “CHIYO, WE ARE IN PUBLIC!”. He successfully moves them away from his office building and the busy street to a quieter area. Nakayama speaks before Chiyo can start bombarding him with questions “If you must know I am interested in somebody, except I’ve moved past that. We’re dating, we were actually already dating the last time I saw you”.
She makes sad puppy dog eyes “And you didn’t tell me…? We’ve known each other since college and you didn’t tell me?”.
He clears his throat “Chiyo you never asked, but I am not worried about him I’m… I’m worried about his daughter. I was invited over to dinner and I want to buy her a gift, she’s a big Sailor Moon fan so…”.
They stare at each other as he trails off and then he grabs her hands dramatically “Chiyo be my shield”.
“You’re going into battle?” she gasps and he shakes his head “No no! I need to go into a store and buy a Sailor Moon plushie, specifically Sailor Venus. It’s for his daughter but I can’t be caught buying magical girl merch, I am not wearing my disguise”.
He was too busy tomorrow and the day after that, he had to buy it today. It could even be out of stock by tomorrow, the market was an unpredictable place. This is what he had to do for Shiori and by extension for Shirafuji!
She stares at him blankly “Hey! No judgement and I’ll buy you taiyaki after”. Her face shows a mischievous smile “Perfect☆ Lead the way Nakayama-kun!”.
And thus this led to Nakayama nudging Chiyo in the right direction, sliding her cash to buy the plushie, before being dragged to the nearest taiyaki stand she could find, the sailor scout securely in a non-see-through bag.
Chiyo smiles as she bites into her treat “I’ve loved taiyaki since I was a little girl, my grandpa used to buy me it allll the time. Maybe you should buy your boyfriend’s daughter some next time too!”.
Nakayama hums before biting down “I’ll think about it, she probably has a sweet tooth like him”. The red bean paste is tasty, he hasn’t had anything like it in a long time, it's Chiyo’s favorite and he wonders what Shirafuji’s favorite flavor would be.
All is peaceful until Chiyo speaks up again “So who's the lucky guy that captured your stone-cold heart? Is he nice? Charming? Hot? On a scale of one to wonderhoy–”.
“I suddenly don’t want to talk anymore” he curtly answers which causes Chiyo to start whining “Wait no I’m sorry please Nakayama-kun I wanna know! Please just give me a name!”.
“Screw the taiyaki I need a drink ” is all he thinks.
-----------------------------------------
The next week he finds himself at his boyfriend’s door, checking his watch to make sure he was on time after checking multiple times he was at the right place. As the hands showed 6:30 he rang the doorbell.
After a few seconds the door opens to reveal Shirafuji who smiles at the sight of him “Nakayama-kun, you’re right on time! Please come inside”.
He does, taking off his shoes and setting down his bag before properly greeting his boyfriend. He notices the various hair clips he has in his ponytail, clips of various colors, so he reaches out to run his hand through the tip of the ponytail “Nice hair clips”.
He chuckles, “It’s courtesy of Shio-chan. I see you aren’t wearing your stuffy uniform”. Nakayama feels a hand trace where his tie would have been so he returns the favor by gently stroking his cheek “And I see you aren’t wearing your out-of-date apron, seriously the straps are so close to breaking”.
“Naka-chan!” breaks them out of their moment. Shiori had come to the entrance too, which they hadn’t noticed since they were too busy focusing on each other.
The girl is dressed in cozy black dress with long sleeves and has her hair loose with a white headband today.
Seeing as the two were in the room he takes hold of the bag again “Shiori I have a gift for you and since I chose it I think you’ll really like it heh”.
Shirafuji speaks “Nakayama-kun I said you didn’t have to” but he nudges his side with his elbow “I wanted to, who said you can tell me what to do?”.
She looks at the bag handed to her skeptically, slowly opening it and dropping it at the sight of what’s inside. She does a double take while squealing, picking up the plushie, and excitingly lifting it up “IT’S SAILOR VENUS, DAD NAKA-CHAN GOT ME THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL!!!”.
Shiori twirls around, the plushie looking like it’s flying. Nakayama instantly knows he has hit the jackpot, feeling really smug about it.
She inspects the bows and the Sanrio character attached before she hugs the plushie tightly. Shirafuji looks at Nakayama fondly “It seems Nakayama-kun isn’t soulless after all, is he? Shio-chan say thank you”.
Instead of words she rushes to hug him, plushie squished between them. Nakayama accepts her gratitude as Shirafuji sneakily snaps a photo on his phone.
Once she is finished hugging him she keeps the plushie in one hand and grabs his hand with the other “Dad will you call us for dinner?”.
Shirafuji agrees and Nakayama just decides to go with whatever she wants to do, he can’t really fight it.
As they begin to walk to presumably her room he hears “Nakayama-kun?” being called out “Please continue to keep in mind the language you use around my daughter okay?”.
Ah the swear words, Nakayama hadn’t even been fully conscious of how often he used them until Shirafuji was slapping his hand over his mouth when he said 3 consecutive swear words in a row right in front of Shiori.
Now he sticks to the word ‘frick’ which still gets him a disappointed glance, because yes he still says ‘fuck’ he is an adult he can say what he wants!
He still tries, for his boyfriend’s sake. He’d been doing good this month, which isn’t saying a lot.
“Yeah yeah, go cook!” he yells back.
She drags him, more like he lets himself be dragged, to her room. She has to go on her tiptoes to open the door and the first thing Nakayama notes is the amount of purple: the futon, the cushions, her backpack. On the backpack was another Sanrio character as a keychain but he doesn’t know which one it is.
There isn’t much in her room but he does note a lot of books, like father like daughter he supposed. He also notices the few posters put skewed on the wall, one of them having a girl in red clothing with two buns in her hair posing like a ninja, and a platypus plushie on one of the cushions.
She lets go of his hand and moves over to the cushion, placing the platypus gently on her futon before sitting down on the cushion in its place, letting her new plushie rest on her side. She points to the other cushion “Naka-chan please sit, I’ll make it quick since Dad is almost done”.
He has no reason to object so he folds his knees and sits down. Shiori in return folds her arms and nods to herself “I’ve been watching you Naka-chan, and ob-ser-ving you”. She’s having slight trouble pronouncing words he assumes she deems as ‘big words’.
“Have you?” he questions and she replies “Yes, I even re-fer-enced you to understand you better”. She pulls out a card from under her cushion revealing… Sailor Mars “This is the best I could do”.
“Is she… comparing me to an anime girl? ” is his reaction to this “She really seems more analytical than I thought, just like Shirafuji ”.
“Naka-chan is no-nonsense, he’s honest and talks about himself a lot. He smells like those weird grown-up drinks but he styles his hair pretty. Just like Rei-chan here!” she begins “So I took that and I thought about it when you hung out with us”.
She rambles a bit before stopping herself. “You’re not like some other people I’ve seen, you make Dad smile… but like a real smile like when he is with me or people he enjoys being with like Yuriko-nee.. and now you” she lets out a small smile.
“So I have decided what I think and not even my dad can change my mind!” Shiori shouts.
Gray eyes meet his own amber ones.
He feels under more pressure than the time he was under scrutiny for taking too much overtime, which he didn’t even know
“Naka-chan,” she says, pausing to increase the suspense, “I have decided that you pass”.
Nakayama doesn’t care how he looks and fist pumps the air as Shiori ducks and moves her futon to grab something. She scrambles back to where he is sitting and hands him a drawing.
She’s a child so it obviously isn’t going to be a work of art but at least it wasn’t just stick figures. In it he can make out what’s supposed to be her, Shirafuji and… him? She even added eyebrows pointing down, he looked ‘grumpy’ while she drew a huge smiley face on herself and had forgotten to give her dad his two cyan hair streaks. It also looked like they were all holding hands. There was also a very huge sun in the corner, neon bright.
It should be just a drawing in his eyes but then he sees the words at the top saying ‘To: Naka-chan’.
“It’s an approval drawing, I drew all of us!” Shiori smiles.
Nakayama, despite everything, feels as if he is going to start bawling like a child.
“If you wait after I clear the table I will draw Sailor Venus on here too” she says confidently but before he can reply they both hear Shirafuji calling them for dinner.
She tucks away her Sailor Venus plushie in her futon before going to open her door “Let’s go Naka-chan, Dad said he is making tempura!”.
When he reaches the dining room he sees Shiori already at the table chopsticks in hand as she sighs dreamily at the smell wafting through the room. Nakayama quickly joins her, noting that it appeared to be tendon, tempura bowls. He can see Shirafuji in the kitchen grabbing something he can’t see thanks to the counter. His hair has switched over to a higher ponytail, the clips still in place.
He can actually see a variety in the bowl which completely goes against what he thought of before…
“You know I thought you’d be the type to just eat pre-made bento and instant noodles when I first met you” Nakayama says, trying not to sound astonished at the sight of the meal “Your eyebags certainly suggested it”.
Shirafuji sits down with them, setting the side dishes on the table “Ah maybe when I was younger, I got better at cooking for Shio-chan. It’s a miracle I can make tempura properly without the oil exploding fufu”. He quickly wipes the small fog that has accumulated on his glasses.
“Dad doesn’t have any vegetables in his bowl again…” Shiori pouts as Shirafuji looks away guilty.
They all say thanks for the meal before Shiori digs in first, momentarily forgetting about being upset at her dad for not eating his vegetables.
Nakayama thinks for a moment, Shirafuji did say his daughter’s smile was the most important thing to him.
He picks up one of his vegetable tempuras off the rice and brings the chopsticks over to Shirafuji “You need to eat some, here say ahh”.
Shiori giggles as her dad stammers “Um but Nakayama-kun–”.
He cuts him off “Please for me… Shira?”.
Shirafuji immediately takes a bite. Nakayama snickers “Grown ass man, a pathetic wet cat of a man ” before he eats the rest of it. Nakayama’s eyes practically light up as the flavor bursts in his mouth, as reluctant as he is to admit it this might be better than his own recipe.
Embarrassingly he finds himself asking for more alongside Shiori. Shirafuji seems proud of himself, but Nakayama doesn’t care as long as he doesn’t think he’s better than him.
He might be, he might not be.
As Shiori is polishing off her second bowl she asks him “Can Naka-chan cook anything yummy? I need to inspect your house soon”.
“Shio-chan you can’t just invite yourself to Nakayama-kun’s house…” Shirafuji says, slightly worried about her sudden proposal.
Nakayama finds himself not minding as he finishes his bowl “I don’t mind, I’ll cook lots of yummy vegetables for you and your dad”. He sends a shit-eating grin over to his boyfriend “How about it Shirafuji?”.
Shirafuji dramatically sighs, hand draped over his forehead “Nakayama-kun… I don’t think we can continue this relationship if you’re going to be so cruel to me, making me eat those disgusting greens. I'll never want to see you again”.
“Eh?” Shiori drops her chopsticks after hearing that, eyes immediately holding unushered tears waiting to spill “I-Im sorry I-I won’t make you cook vegetables” she stares at her dad “please don’t make him go a-away-”.
It seems Shiori took it too seriously much too quickly.
Nakayama can only stare as Shirafuji rushes to her side “Are children this emotional, was my sister like this? Was I like this? ”.
He tries to console her as he swipes a few tears away “Ah wait no Shiori, Dad was joking–”.
She hiccups “Do you love him?”. Shirafuji, much to Nakayma’s embarrassed shock, immediately nods. Shiori then proceeds to slam her hands on the table “Then marry him, right now!! I approve!! Naka-chan say yes so you stay together!”.
“Shiori!” he gasps out but she keeps going “Naka-chan makes Dad really happy, I’ve always noticed it. Dad shouldn’t joke about not seeing him”.
He looks at her as she says that and can’t help but think “She really does care about Shirafuji’s happiness ”. That’s why she was so judgy at times but she’s just a kid, she shouldn’t think she has to shoulder such a responsibility.
She needs to give him more credit damnit!
Nakayama can’t remember the last time he had to comfort a kid, nonetheless a kid that experiences multiple changes in her mood throughout the day, but he’ll still try.
“I think… Shio-chan is a crybaby” he states.
“Huh?” she says, tears stopping.
“I think she’s a crybaby because she is crying over something that won’t happen. Your dad is stuck with me and I’ll make him eat his vegetables” Nakayama reaches over to place his hand over hers “I am a stubborn grumpy old man, you know? But I also really like your dad and I am not letting him go, you just approved our relationship too”.
She’s staring at him with big eyes full of wonder “I want to cherish this relationship we have going on and it’s a bonus that he is really handsome. He’s really important to me just like how you’re important to your dad, he’ll get sad if you cry any longer”.
Shiori wobbly smiles, clearly not expecting him to do such a thing. Shirafuji mimics the reaction nearly the same as hers “Nakayama-kun…”.
Out of character? Yes. Did it matter? No.
Suddenly she wiggles her hand away from his, pushes back her seat, and hops off.
“I’m going to go do my important thing, I am going to make it perfect, please clear the table for me!” she says as she runs off. Before Shirafuji can call out for her Nakayama speaks up “It’s alright, we got this”.
They clear the table and make their way to the sink with all the dishes.
Shirafuji is washing, Nakayama is rinsing and packing. He told him that he didn’t need to help because he was a guest but Nakayama refused to hear him out on it.
“I really appreciate what you said back there, you made her and me really happy” Shirafuji tries to make conversation again when he is doing the last few ones “I know she kind of just sprung the question on me earlier but I feel like I need to say the words on my own terms”.
Nakayama is setting the last dishes on the dry rack when he hears “I love you Nakayama and one day I wouldn’t mind marrying you.”
“W-what? You can’t j-just say that!” he stutters out. He is sure his face must be in flames, his boyfriend just told him he loved him while they were doing the dishes as if they were a domestic couple.
Shirafuji picks up the dish towel to begin drying the dishes as he laughs at Nakayama’s flustered shock “Oh is the Monogatari Nakayama stuttering because of me? What an honor!”.
“Shut it old man” he says knowing damn well he is a few months older. He moves his arms to hook around Shirafuji’s neck as Shirafuji drops his dish towel and brings his arms around Nakayama’s waist.
Shirafuji blushes before saying “Say it back and I will”.
He brings him closer by the arms he’s looped around his neck “I love you too Shirafuji… and I wouldn’t mind marrying you either”.
He’s the one that brings their lips together, it felt like it had been too long since they last kissed like this. It wasn’t like a kiss from a fairytale but he still felt as if he was floating whenever they connected like this, always chasing for more than a brief touch.
The first kiss they shared Shirafuji had told him he tasted like sake, they both had been tipsy but coherent enough to remember the exchange the next day when he went to the bookstore to confront him but he left with a kiss on his cheek.
In the present Shirafuji tried to deepen the kiss but Nakayama had opened his eyes to see Shiori peering into the kitchen. He moves his arms so he can push him away, the purple-haired man’s arms still remain on his waist however so he can’t move that far.
He tries to tell him that his daughter is watching them but he just keeps trying to kiss him!
“Enough” he mutters against his lips and has to pull his head back as Shirafuji leans forward. He pouts at the action “No more kisses for little ol’ me? Please Naka-chan…”.
“Why the fu-... frick am I dating you?” he says and Shirafuji laughs “Forgive me I just wanted to see if you’d swear even if Shio-chan isn’t here if I tried to embarrass you, it’s nice to know Nakayama-kun is so committed~”.
“I'll never understand you-” he starts grumbling out but–
–“FRICK! NOTICE ME!” Shiori yells, making herself known, as she leaps to Nakayama’s legs.
Shirafuji’s face grows shocked when he finally notices her presence, letting go of Nakayama in the process.
Nakayama leans down slightly to take the picture in her hands. It is the same picture from before but a lot more sparkles were drawn and a blonde girl was next to him. It was a terrible drawing yet one made with effort that he couldn’t help but like it “Thank you Shiori”.
She points to her new addition in the drawing, yellow lines squiggled everywhere “I made it perfect for you! It now has Sailor Venus next to you, cause you’re both blonde!”.
“It does” he simply replies.
They smile at each other and unknowingly have a high chance of sending Shirafuji’s poor heart into cardiac arrest.
When she runs off again Shirafuji fake sobs “She technically swore at us earlier. You’re going to corrupt my child Nakayama-kun” before Nakayama leans on his shoulder, effectively shutting him up. He really was touch-starved wasn’t he?
He stays the night, letting himself drift off to sleep in his boyfriend’s arms
When Nakayama returns to work the next day he hangs up Shiori’s drawing next to his laptop. When his coworkers pass by and notice they ask him about it, he smiles saying “It was a gift”. He actually doesn’t mind people noticing… until Souiji sees the name on the picture and calls him ‘Naka-chan’. Nakayama immediately shuts that idea down.
When Souji asks him who calls him that he smirks “Oh I don’t know my boyfriend’s daughter maybe? Said boyfriend being this really pretty guy… you might know him he works downtown, his name is Shirafuji–”.
Souiji jaw drops to the floor “HIDAMARI-SAN IS DATING YOUR SORRY ASS?? HOW THE FUCK–”.
“Language Hino-san!” yells the supervisor.
The gossip in the office reaches an all-time high after that.
-----------------------------------------
Shirafuji truly believes his life became brighter when he welcomed Shiori into his life. He got his little girl when she was nearly 2 and he wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world.
At first he thought he was kind of pathetic going to an adoption center at age 23, but he’s always wanted a kid and he had long given up on dating since everyone outcasted him. He figured to himself “why wait? ”, he had a job, he planned ahead, all that was wrong was he had a few doubts.
What if his kid didn’t like him? What if he adopted and the kid ended up resenting him one day? Was he too young and rushing into this?
He scoffs to himself about the last part, he’s seen the posts on social media of his old classmates getting married at like 20 and already having children, and that was saying a lot since Shirafuji had been one of the youngest in his form.
He swears that everything changed when he saw her gray eyes for the first time, hearing the babbles of a baby as she clutched his finger in her tiny hand. She looked so small, so fragile.
She looked like everything Shirafuji had been dreaming about. All his fears disappeared in an instant.
Shiori, her name was Shiori.
She was way behind on speaking but had apparently been active way faster than children should be. The lady helping him listed a few other things before he stopped her to ask how long it would take for him to adopt her and what he needed to make that happen.
It took a month but he visited often to spend time with her at the center.
When Shirafuji went home for the first time cradling her in his arms he cried as his daughter, Hidamari Shiori, snuggled up against him. Since the store he worked at was going under renovations for two weeks he got everything stored out during the time, spending every waking hour with his little treasure.
He cried the day when he left her at daycare for the first time because he needed to get back to his job, it sucked that he was one of three employees his boss hired. He nearly cried again when he went to pick her up and she made grabby hands at him, calling him dad.
Nakayama and Yuriko have called him a crybaby before, he supposes they were both right.
Speaking of Nakayama they were still going strong. He cherished the moments that spent together, the drinks they shared together even if a lot of the time it ended with Shirafuji carrying him home on his back or having to deal with a very affectionate Nakayama attacking his face in kisses, completely out of character but still welcomed.
He was everything he could want in a partner, even if he was rough around the edges and could swear like a sailor.
But most importantly Shiori liked him too. Initially, she seemed protective over him and didn’t know what to make of his relationship with Nakayama but now she asks about him all the time, saying he smiles more when he is around. He supposes Nakayama has that charm to him, the same charm that dragged Shirafuji in.
He remembers a recent occurrence where he had to take Shiori with him to run errands, paying bills and buying groceries, when they ran into Nakayama in the store. Shiori had run up and hugged his leg as Nakayama happily sighed and rubbed her head. In her arms was the very plushie Nakayama gifted her, the plushie she rarely left house without now.
And Shirafuji knew that he must be tired from his recent workload increase thanks to his promotion yet his boyfriend still listened attentively to his daughter as she dragged him to the vegetable aisle. No doubt she was scheming against her own dad but Shirafuji didn’t care, he let out one of the most sincere smiles at the sight of Shiori showing Nakayama the cauliflower she was going to sneak in the cart, at the sight of Nakayama agreeing to help her.
Why on earth wouldn’t Shirafuji be happy his daughter and his boyfriend were getting along? Why wouldn’t he feel happy that they felt like a real family, something he had hoped to have when he was some random depressed teenager in middle school?
He sighs happily.
“If I knew Shiori was going to polish the parfait so fast I would have chosen someone else to taste test” Yuriko speaking is what brings him out of his thoughts “You sure raised a feisty one, Shirafuji. I don’t know yet if that’s good or bad”.
That’s right, the two were currently in the Printemps café near closing time at Yuriko’s request. The café wanted to try out more menu items for kids with sweet teeth and she had requested if his daughter could be one of them, Shirafuji agreed because he thought she deserved a treat.
And boy was she happy to taste test.
Shiori takes the last spoonful before leaning back and patting her stomach “Phew! Yuriko-nee you have to add this, it’s so sweet!”. Shirafuji leaned over the table to clean the excess cream she had gotten on her face before helping her out of the chair, Yuriko would need to enact closing time soon anyway.
Yuriko smiles as he puts on Shiori’s scarf, trying to imitate the bow style “I am glad you think so, I’ll have to tell my boss about your feedback. I am happy you tested it out for me”.
For someone usually so stoic and prone to sarcasm, Yuriko is really caring at times. It’s like a switch she’ll be friendly to Shiori whenever they pass by the café but call Shirafuji a dumbass in the same breath. He wouldn’t trade their friendship though.
“Shio-chan remember to thank Yuriko” Shirafuji reminds her. “Thank you Yuriko-nee, does this mean I can have free parfaits in the future?” she hopefully asks. Yuriko laughs before leaning down and petting her head “If I did that I’d get fired Shio-chan but maybe for your birthday I can pay for one, it’s nearly the 18th right?”.
Shiori nods enthusiastically before pouting “Yes! But it’s in July! I am gonna have to wait months for my birthday, can't you give me one sooner?”. Shirafuji smiles at the two “Now now Shio-chan let’s not get ahead of ourselves. C’mon say goodbye to Yuriko”. She waves at the waitress before tugging his sleeve and pointing at the scarf around her neck.
Shirafuji actually has a lot on his mind, he has to talk about something with his daughter. He leans down to quickly fix the bow on Shiori’s scarf before they both leave the café.
He does tell Yuriko before he closes the door “By the way I’ll forward you the message Nakayama-kun sent me with the location of Chiyo-chan’s favorite taiyaki place! Be sure to tell me allll about your date later~”.
The last thing he sees is Yuriko’s face going up five shades of pink.
As the two begin to walk home Shirafuji has them make a pitstop in the park near a bench. He poses a question to his daughter “Shiori, how would you feel about having two dads?”. He chooses not to use her nickname in order to convey he wants to be serious.
“Who would be the other one?” Shiori asks him, Shirafuji just sends her a knowing smile before pulling out a box from his coat pocket. He crouches down to her level and she leans into his space as he pops it open.
Shirafuji was by no means a rich man but he made enough for them to be comfortable. He did have to save a bit for the ring even if it wasn’t extravagant, but he made sure to keep Nakayama’s preference in mind.
Shiori’s hand reaches out to touch the box, and by extension Shirafuji’s hands, before it clicks in her mind. She gasps excitingly “EH? NAKA-CHAN IS THE OTHER ONE?!”.
Shirafuji knows damn well that it has only been two years since they started dating but they’re both in their 30s now, why wait any longer?
She gazes at the ring with admiration and he has to remind her “I haven’t asked him yet so you have to keep it a secret for Dad okay? Can my little treasure do that for me?”.
Shiori nods so fast that she loses her balance and falls onto his side. He laughs before standing up, scooping her up in the process. She was getting a little heavy for him to pick her up like this but he won’t stop.
She laughs as she snuggles into his arms “Fufu Dad seems more happy thanks to Naka-chan even if he smells funny sometimes, I am glad”.
He can’t help but smile fondly at her “I’m glad too Shio-chan fufu, Nakayama-kun is the brightest star to me after all”.
He wanted his future to be shared with Shiori and Nakayama.
He hopes Nakayama shares this small dream of his, but if he doesn’t that’s okay and if he isn’t ready he’ll wait.
“Can you marry him on my birthday?” she asks and he feels his face heat up “No that’s your day, it’s too close and I need to prepare…”.
“Boooooo” Shiori sticks her tongue out “You need to tell me when you do then!”.
Shirafuji kisses her on her forehead, glass accidentally being pushed up in the process, “I will”.
Gosh, he hopes he can properly gather up the courage. Maybe he should ask him to move in first. Oh he was going to continue overthinking this wasn’t he?
“Does this mean that if you and Naka-chan get married, Yuriko-nee and Chiyo-chan will too?” she asks after a while and he genuinely doesn’t know how to respond “Shio-chan they just started dating…”.