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It was entirely by chance that Mitsuya ran into Baji. This was something he ended up being grateful for.
It was a brisk, but lovely Saturday afternoon at the end of September. It was a rare day when Mitsuya was completely free to do as he pleased. As such, he was out buying fabric for a project. Unfortunately, he struck out at his shopping quest (the store was out of what he needed).
Since he was in no hurry to get home, Mitsuya decided to take the scenic route home. He wandered through the busy streets of Shibuya, soaking up the chaos and colors around him. He turned a corner and nearly ran into Baji.
The taller teen was leaving the corner store, bag in hand.
“Mitsuya!” Baji nodded.
Mitsuya nodded the greeting back.
“What brings you out here?” Baji cocked his head.
Mitsuya glanced around. Ah. Yeah. That was a fair question. He didn’t often wander this far into the shopping district any more. It was a ways away from home and he was usually needed right back after he was done with his errands.
“I was going to buy fabric, but they didn’t have what I needed,” Mitsuya shrugged, “Then I decided to take the long way home.”
“Tough luck on the fabric,” Baji huffed.
Mitsuya shrugged. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. He would stop by some other day. It was around this time that Mitsuya noticed something odd. Baji appeared to be wearing an oversized, red backpack.
“What’s up with the stupid backpack?” Mitsuya snorted, more than a little baffled.
Grinning proudly, Baji turned to reveal that it was one of those backpacks that you could carry a cat in, one with a clear plastic window. That wasn’t the part that just about stopped Mitsuya’s heart. What nearly stopped his heart was the little face peering out at him through the clear plastic.
“Why is there a child in your backpack?” Mitsuya screeched.
“Oh. Yeah. That’s Chifuyu, my little brother. You remember him, right?” Baji hummed happily.
That did not answer Mitsuya’s question. Of course he remembered Baji’s little brother. That didn’t answer why the child was happily seated in the animal backpack, chewing on a teething ring. Mitsuya needed answers and he needed them now.
“Why is he in your backpack?” Mitsuya hissed, lunging for the backpack.
“Why not?” Baji easily shifted out of Mitsuya’s way.
“Because children don’t belong in backpacks,” Mitsuya retorted scathingly.
“He seems just fine to me,” Baji seemed very confused by Mitsuya’s terror, “Besides, he fits and I use this backpack to carry our cat around all the time. It’s basically the same thing. This also makes it way easier to ride my motorcycle.”
Mitsuya couldn’t believe his ears.
“You are an irresponsible older brother,” he accused.
This earned him a scowl from Baji.
“Hah? You want to say that again? Chifuyu is my favorite person in the whole world. How does that make me irresponsible?” Baji growled.
“Then why are you keeping him in a backpack? What if you crashed your bike-”
“That would never happen,” Baji sniffed.
“But what if it did? Chifuyu would probably be really badly hurt or even killed,” Mitsuya pointed out.
That was the reason he never took his sisters for a ride even though they begged him. He was not willing to hurt them in any way if he could help it. Yes, he was a good rider and the odds of him crashing were low, but even still he refused.
Baji froze.
“I would never let that happen,” he said stiffly, like he was in denial.
Mitsuya rubbed his forehead.
“In one ear, out the other,” he groaned.
“What would you suggest then?” Baji growled.
Mitsuya observed the child in the backpack.
“What errands are you running today?” he asked.
“I had to get some more cat food and I figured since we were out I would take Chifuyu to the park. After we were done, I figured I would get the groceries for mom since she has to work a double shift today,” Baji grunted.
That was so incredibly domestic for a teen who still occasionally lit cars on fire for fun.
“I’ll watch Chifuyu, you go run your errands,” Mitsuya put his hands on his hips.
“Why?” Baji frowned.
“Because it is exceedingly dangerous for a variety of reason to ride around with him in a backpack. I’ll watch him. Once you’re done, come back to the park, without your motorcycle and then you can have him.”
“Why the fuck should I just turn him over to you?”
“I have two younger sisters. I’m good with kids,” Mitsuya argued.
Baji frowned.
“Listen, just…. just do it for Chifuyu, yeah?”
Baji still looked far convinced about Mitsuya’s logic, but he reluctantly handed over the backpack with Chifuyu in it.
“You had better not try to steal my kid brother,” Baji growled.
“Go,” Mitsuya flapped his hand in a shooing motion.
Baji reluctantly left them.
As soon as he was out of sight, Mitsuya’s first move was to free Chifuyu from the cat carrier backpack. The young child seemed content until he realized his brother was gone. The tears were inevitable, but Mitsuya was well versed in calming young children. He rocked and bounced Chifuyu until the child was calmer.
Mitsuya then set off for the park. Once they were there, he found a nice spot in the grass and set Chifuyu down. Chifuyu wobbled a few steps before landing on his butt. He stared at Mitsuya with large eyes as he continued to gnaw on the teething ring. Mitsuya decided right then and there that if Baji didn’t come back, he was keeping Chifuyu. The kid was too dang cute.
The time felt like it flew for Mitsuya. Chifuyu had eventually toddled around on very shaky legs. Mitsuya hovered just behind him just in case he were to get hurt or put anything in his mouth that he shouldn’t (this happened concerningly often; so far Mitsuya had rescued a variety of natural items from entering the small mouth).
Chifuyu eventually wore himself out. Mitsuya took his sweatshirt off and and let the toddler curl up for a nap.
It wasn’t too much later that Baji showed up. He looked sweaty and out of breath.
“Why do you look like you just ran here?” Mitsuya snorted.
“Cause I did.”
“What?”
“You said to leave my bike at home. I had to come on foot,” Baji grumbled, “It would take too long if I walked. Running was faster.”
Mitsuya was more than a little surprised that Baji had listened to him in this regard. Baji was, if nothing else, very stubborn and indifferent to bodily harm. Apparently the one thing that could break this was Chifuyu’s safety. Mitsuya made a mental note of potentially using Chifuyu as blackmail if Baji ever got out of hand.
Chifuyu woke from his nap, scrunching up his face as he woke. With surprising tenderness, Baji lifted his younger brother into his arms.
“Did ya have a good nap, gremlin?” he smiled.
Chifuyu sleepily buried his face in the crook of Baji’s neck. It didn’t take long for him to resume said nap his brother’s arms.
“He’s very adorable,” Mitsuya nodded, bursting off his sweatshirt before putting it back on.
“Of course he is. He’s my brother after all,” Baji snorted.
Mitsuya didn’t see how that was relevant.
Baji thrust the soda can into Mitsuya’s hands.
“That’s a thanks for watching this little gremlin,” Baji grunted.
Mitsuya nodded his acknowledgement.
“In all seriousness, when is the next time you are running errands?”
“Hell if I know. I just do it wherever-” Baji cut himself off, his eyes narrowing, “You’re just trying to find out so that you can watch Chifuyu again, aren’t you?”
“Perhaps,” Mitsuya had no refute.
Baji stomped away.
That was fine. Mitsuya knew where he lived, after all. He wondered if showing up while Ryoko was there would gain him easier access to babysitting rights.