Archive of Our Own

Manjoume couldn’t quite remember how the phone call went. His cowardly manager was stumbling over his words as he was telling him about some sort of last minute appearance Manjoume Thunder was meant to have on a talk show later that afternoon. Manjoume had only just woken up when he got the call, tiredly agreeing to drive down after breakfast to get things in order with him and hung up without another word.

It wasn’t until he opened his bedroom door and saw Keisuke walking towards the kitchen in his pajamas that Manjoume remembered he had a four and half year old son and no one to watch him for the day.

He swore instinctively before catching himself. Judai had gone off on one of his month-long trips with Johan three days ago, and it wasn’t like Manjoume was struggling to raise their kid alone, far from it. He was proud to say he was putting every effort to make sure Keisuke was well fed, went to bed on time, and gave the boy as much attention as they both were wanting to have. 

Forgetting he couldn’t simply bring Keisuke with him unmonitored to a television station was just a simple slip up. That was his reasoning and he was sticking with it.

Manjoume tried to think his options over. Obviously, he couldn’t rely on his husband for this. As much as he hated to rely on them, he also couldn’t reach out to ask the Phoenix family for assistance. He already knew they were overseas for their own vacation. Every other friend he could list off in his mind seemed to be either across the world or busy with their own lives and it just left him stuck.

“Bro, hey bro!” Ojama Green appeared to his right, pointing in the direction of the kitchen. “Lil guy’s probably waiting for breakfast. You should get going.”

“Yeah! We gotta get going if we want to have another fun day today!” Ojama Yellow chimed in, looking excited at the prospect. “I wonder if he’s going to ask me to model for his drawings again! I felt sooo special-!”

“Pipe down, I haven’t had any coffee yet.” Manjoume waved a hand, shaking his duel spirits away before making his way down the hallway of the house. By the time he reached the dining room area near the kitchen, he saw the kid sitting in his chair and idly kicking his feet in the air. “Morning, Keisuke.”

“Morning.” He greeted back in his quieter voice. Magenta eyes looked at his father expectantly. “Can we have pancakes today?”

“No. I have to go do work stuff later so we’re in a bit of a rush.” Seeing how Keisuke deflated a bit at that, Manjoume walked over and ruffled his hair. “Don’t pout. I’ll get you a bowl of that chocolate cereal you like instead, how about that?”

Keisuke perked up a bit. “But that’s papa’s cereal.”

“Yeah, well when papa’s off who knows where doing who knows what, we get to eat his cereal.” Manjoume declared, heading off to do just that. “Stay here, I’ll get you some juice too.”

“Okay.” Nodding again, Keisuke leaned forward and splayed his arms out on the table as he waited. “What’s work stuff?”

“Boring stuff.” He talked as he pulled out a plastic bowl and cup from Keisuke’s cupboard before taking a mug for himself and starting off his coffee maker. “Dad has to go talk to a bunch of boring people about boring policies before going on TV to talk about actually fun stuff.”

“You’re going to be on TV again?” He shot up in his seat, almost falling out of the chair entirely. “Can I come?”

“No. I won’t be able to keep an eye on you and the studio wouldn’t want a kid running around either.” Manjoume sighed, wishing he thought this through before he agreed to do the show. It would blemish his track record if he backed out immediately after accepting a job and his reputation was dicey enough as it was. “I’m going to find a babysitter for you. Just until evening.”

Pouting even more from the idea, Keisuke whined and slumped back into his seat. “That’s not gonna be any fun…can’t the Ojamas just watch me instead?”

“Yes!” The trio perked up at being recommended, only to fumble and shriek when Manjoume swatted them all down.

“I can’t trust these idiots to watch the stove, let alone you.” He learned that fact the hard way when trying to multitask dinner and cleaning. Honestly, how did his parents manage to do it? Ah right, they had servants to do everything-

The thought of his parents did give him a moment of pause. Sure, the last time he had spoken to them was at his wedding three years ago, but maybe the promise of meeting with their grandson could smooth everything over…

Carrying in the cereal and juice for Keisuke, Manjoume gave his hair another tousle. “I’m making a call. Make sure to eat every bite before I’m back.” 

“Okaaay.” Already taking a spoonful of the chocolatey cereal, Keisuke’s expression shifted to childish joy at the taste before going in for more. Might not have been pancakes, but he seemed to be happy with the compromise.

Heading back to his bedroom, Manjoume picked up his cellphone and went through his contact list. Seeing the number for his family’s home, he couldn’t help but hesitate over the dial button. This was going to be a whole thing , but it needed to happen. He swallowed down his nerves and pressed it, sitting down on the edge of his bed and impatiently bouncing his leg as he waited for it to go through.

“Manjoume residence, how may I help you?”

“Toshi!” Immediately he relaxed hearing the familiar voice of the butler. “Glad to hear you’re still  around, it’s Jun. Listen- I’m kinda in a hurry, do you think you could put me through to mom or dad?”

“Ah, young master Jun! It’s wonderful to hear your voice again.” The old man paused before clearing his throat. “Although I regret to say you have poor timing. Your parents are away for travel and won’t be returning for another week.”

“Of course they are.” Just his luck. Did everyone else have to have summer vacation plans? Still…maybe that was a blessing in its own right. “You’re still at the mansion, right? Do you think you and the others could watch my kid until I’m off work-?”

“Master Jun! You never mentioned you have a child!” Toshi exclaimed, clearly very stunned by the news. “O-Oh my…had I but known, I would have sent you and master Judai my congratulations.”

“It’s fine, Toshi, really.” Manjoume tried not to sigh too loudly. “Listen, I’m desperate here. Keisuke’s a sweet kid, just let him sit somewhere and he won’t be much trouble. I can pick him up again by five, so please-”

“Think nothing of it, master Jun. We’ve done our best to watch over you and your brothers as long as we did, and we will do it again for you now. Even if the child is a Yuki and not a Manjoume.”

Despite the subtle jab at his legal name change, Manjoume still relaxed hearing that. “Thank you…I’ll be over in an hour.”

“We shall make the appropriate arrangements. Until then, master Jun.”

He finished the call off and collapsed back onto the bed with another elongated sigh. Manjoume glanced over at the other side of the bed before bringing a fist down to its pillow. “Dumbass Judai…wouldn’t be in the mess if you were here…” He muttered to himself. It was his own way of dealing with his loneliness.

It would have to wait though, Manjoume still had to get a move on to get through this mess of a day. Willing himself to get back up again, he headed back to check on Keisuke and pick up his now finished cup of coffee. He couldn’t help but laugh when the kid noticed him and tried to hurriedly finish the last bites of his cereal.

“Finished!” Keisuke announced, slapping his hands down and causing some remains of milk to splash up on the table. 

“Good kid. You’re staying with my old butler for the day after I have my coffee and get dressed.” Manjoume declared, standing near the table and taking large gulps of the hot liquid despite the burning pain. Couldn’t dare look uncool in front of his son. 

“Dad had a butler?” The boy blinked up at him before looking around the room. It wasn’t…completely unkept, but the mess was sure present. “...why don’t we have a butler?”

“Because I married your papa instead.” He said with a tsk, finishing the rest of his coffee before leaving the mug on the table. “But we don’t have time for all that. Listen up; we gotta brush our teeth, get dressed, and get your stuff packed before we go. You got all that, little lightning?”

Hearing the sillier nickname got a big smile out of Keisuke who hopped down from his seat and counted on his fingers. “Brush teeth. Get dressed. Get stuff. Got it!” He nodded before running down the hall towards the bathroom, repeating the list over and over to keep it in his mind.

Manjoume couldn’t fight off the amused little smile he got from the sight of his antics. Even if they all had only been living together for half a year now, he could tell Keisuke picked up that little habit from Judai. It was cute.

He took his own initiative and headed over to the ensuite in his bedroom to get ready as well. He could eat something when he got there, it wouldn’t have been the first time he skipped breakfast for work. Besides, Manjoume didn’t want to keep Toshi waiting for him, and he needed to make sure he spoke with the butler before leaving Keisuke. 

Once he was dressed, Manjoume poked his head in Keisuke’s room, expecting to see him ready to go. “Alright, kid, you ready to-?” His smile dropped. “...what happened to ‘get dressed’ and ‘get packed’?”

Keisuke, who was only half dressed and sitting in the middle of the room with his toys, just looked up at him and blinked. “...I forgot.”

“You forgot.”

“It was a long list.”

“Get dressed, Keisuke. I’ll pack your backpack for you.” Manjoume instructed, already grabbing the kid’s coloring book and a pack of his crayons. Considering Keisuke went back to his box of toys and pulled out his other sock from it, it was no wonder he got distracted. Looking around the messy bedroom, Manjoume made a note about how they’d need to properly clean it when they got back.

Helping the toddler put on his shirt and repeatedly asking if he needed to go to the bathroom before they left, they got into the car and headed off. Manjoume felt the weight of everything hit him as he drove the route to his old home…it wasn’t like he was ever behind the wheel to do it, but it still felt like he was driving through the past when he passed by certain landmarks. Made him feel uneasy, like if he turned his head, one of his brothers would be next to him either ignoring him completely or commenting on his inadequacies-

“Dad, how come duel spirits don’t have to wear seatbelts but I have to?” Keisuke’s question interrupted his thoughts entirely. 

Manjoume blinked as he processed it. “...cause duel spirits don’t have physical forms and you do. So you have to wear a seatbelt no matter what. It’s a safety thing.”

“Is Winged Kuriboh not safe then?” He pointed at the creature in question who appeared beside him with a pleased cry at being addressed. If Manjoume wasn’t already used to that fluffball, it would’ve made driving much more complicated.

“Winged Kuriboh’s effect turns all battle damage to zero, doesn’t it?” Manjoume reasoned, nodding over in their direction. “So it’s safe and it’s looking out for you too. That’s why papa’s trusting you with it until he’s back to do that himself.”

Keisuke hummed at that and looked downwards, kicking his feet absently. “...what do the Ojamas do again?”

“Nothing but being annoying.” He snickered when the trio popped out in offense, rushing over to Keisuke to try and persuade him otherwise. Well, at least that kept Keisuke’s attention occupied while he focused on the road.

Pulling up to the front gate, those nerves came back into full force. The grand sight of the impressive mansion was certainly astounding for Keisuke, but all Manjoume could see was the place he used to sit alone for days on end and try to avoid the expectations everyone seemed to have for him. It wasn’t all bad, hey, he was rich back then after all, but he wouldn’t go back to that life without everything he's gained since then.

“Name and purpose?” A voice on the intercom spoke, causing Manjoume to lean over through the window.

“Jun Yuki. I’m here to see Toshi.” He said firmly. That was his name now, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t be called it much around here.

It did the trick as a buzzer went off and the gateway opened for him to drive on through to the front entrance, turning around the fountain in front as he parked. Manjoume took a deep breath to collect himself, turning to look at Keisuke. He waved a hand near the kid to get his attention away from the windows.

“Hey, there’s nothing to be worried about, okay?” Manjoume began to say, both for himself and his son. “Toshi and the other staff here will do what they can to play with you and take care of you until I’m back. But you have to be a good boy for them and listen to what they tell you, alright?”

Keisuke nodded, hugging his backpack a little closer. “Will they let me play outside?”

“Probably. If you ask and use your please and thank yous.” He shifted more in his seat to face him. “You still know where my phone number is?”

“Front pocket.” He patted the front of his backpack where a card with all the contact information someone would need for him was. His big eyes blinked as he looked at his parent’s hesitant expression. “...dad, are you scared?”

“No.” Manjoume said quickly and firmly, turning back around. “No. I’m not scared, I’m just making sure you remember.” He exhaled briefly before getting out of the car, walking around to help Keisuke with his seatbelt before they started to make their way to the front door.

Keisuke’s eyes sparkled as he looked all of it over, especially at the big doorbell button at the front. Already anticipating the question, Manjoume lifted him up off the ground enough to let him be the one to push it, both of them hearing the loud chimes echo in the building. It made Keisuke laugh before he was put down again and went back to holding Manjoume’s hand.

Expecting Toshi to be the one to answer, Manjoume already began to greet him. “Hey, Toshi, thanks again for-”

“Jun! How come you didn’t tell us we were uncles now?!”

Immediately, two things occurred. One, Manjoume felt his heart sink entirely at the sound of his older brother’s voice. And two, he quickly moved Keisuke to stand behind him out of protective instincts. “Shoji…what are you doing here?”

“Chosaku and I have been staying to watch over the place while mom and dad are away. Not that you’d ever care to actually hear from the family unless it’s convenient for you.” Shoji scolded, their eldest brother appearing behind him. 

“So? Where is our nephew then?” Chosaku looked around from the doorway. “Did you leave your baby in the car, Jun?”

“Baby…?” 

“Yeah, the one you were asking Toshi to watch over today. What was the name…” He thought it over before snapping his fingers. “Keisuke.”

Manjoume’s expression dropped even more. This misunderstanding was going to be trouble for numerous reasons. “Keisuke isn’t-”

“I’m not a baby!” Said child proclaimed, moving from behind Manjoume and looking up at the opposing adults with a raised hand. “I’m four and a half years old! Not a baby!”

Chosaku and Shoji looked dumbfounded at the sight of him. Clearly, the toddler was not what they expected, and that thought made Manjoume want to grab his kid and run. Before he could, Shoji spoke up again. “Ah…didn’t think you’d adopt. I could have sworn you’d have a surrogate.”

“We didn’t want to raise a baby. We wanted to raise Keisuke. And we are.” Manjoume said firmly. 

“Then where’s Judai?”

“He’s-” He faltered slightly. “...not here at the moment. That doesn’t matter, what matters is that Toshi is looking after Keisuke today, not you two.”

“Calm down, Jun. Does it really matter at this point?” Chosaku gave him a look of authority and belittlement that Manjoume was all too familiar with. “Besides, aren’t you late for work?”

The reminder snapped Manjoume to attention and quickly checked his watch. “Shit-!”

Keisuke perked up. “Dollar for the swear jar.”

“Damnit-”

“ Two dollars.” Keisuke giggled. If the jar filled all the way, his parents said they’d take him to Kaibaland. In a way, he appreciated the fact Manjoume was still adjusting to not cursing around the house.

“Whatever!” Blushing from embarrassment, Manjoume reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper to give to Shoji. “Here! Just make sure Toshi gets this- it’s got Keisuke’s allergies and just things to look out for-”

“Yeah, alright, Jun.” Shoji snatched the paper out of his hand and rolled his eyes. “We run businesses and political groups- it’s not like we can’t handle a four year old.”

“You’re not- urgh! I’ll come get him by five!” Knowing better than to start an argument with him, he turned to leave before stopping. Manjoume turned and looked at Keisuke, still staring at him expectantly. “...I’ll be back to get you later. Call if there’s an emergency. And where is my phone number?”

“Front pocket…” Keisuke looked downwards, tugging his backpack straps. He looked like he wanted something but wasn’t sure how to ask. It made his father feel guilty.

Sighing quietly, Manjoume reached for his deck and pulled out three familiar cards from the top of it. “Keisuke, here- which one do you want to play with today?” He held out the Ojama trio, each spirit bouncing up and catching Keisuke’s interest again as they cheered.

“Ooo, ooo! Pick me! I can do tricks!”

“No, no- pick me! I’ve got tons of jokes!”

“You obviously wanna pick me- I’m the best of the best!”

Keisuke laughed at how the Ojamas squabbled over each other for his attention before reaching out and taking one. “I’ll take Ojama Black.” He decided, looking at the spirit and the card with a smile. “Let’s play nice today.”

“You got it, lil boss!” The spirit gave a toothy grin and a salute, very pleased from being picked over the others. It turned and gave another salute to Manjoume as well. “Don’t worry! I’ll keep an eye on Keisuke, promise!”

Manjoume had his doubts, but with his urgency to get going to work and the fact his brothers were giving him judgmental looks, he wasn’t in a position to argue. “See you later, Keisuke. Be good.” He willed himself to leave, walking briskly back to the car so he could get going.

Processing that he left, Keisuke tucked Ojama Black’s card away where he kept Winged Kuriboh and waved to him. “Bye dad! Have fun at work!” He called out as Manjoume drove away, unsure if he even heard him. It wasn’t the first time his father had to rush off for one reason or another…though usually Keisuke had Judai or Maddie around to distract him from that loneliness.

He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about the tall men next to him that were supposedly his uncles.

“Okay, come on in, Keisuke.” Chosaku reached down and put a hand on the kid’s shoulder, guiding him inside so they could shut the door behind him. “I’ll admit, we weren’t quite expecting to have you over today, but we can still make this work.”

“How come you thought I was a baby?” Keisuke bluntly asked them. He watched as the two exchanged a look with one another.

“Well. We thought Jun would continue the Manjoume bloodline. And that sort of thing would involve a baby.” Shoji said simply, watching Keisuke’s expression. “...but you don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

He shook his head. “What are we going to do today?” Keisuke gave his backpack a tug again as he followed them into the house more. “I have crayons…”

“Good for you.” Shoji rolled his eyes, not sounding impressed in the slightest. His brother, at least, nudged him with his elbow to get him to behave before addressing Keisuke himself.

“Shoji and I have work to do. We’ll take you somewhere nice and you can stay there and do whatever you want.” 

“Whatever I want?” The promise of getting full freedom was appealing, but it did send a wave of worry through him. “You’re not going to stay with me?”

“What part of ‘we’re working’ did you not hear?” Shoji muttered in annoyance, checking his phone instead. “Toshi and the others will be around to check on you. Just try not to be too loud.”

“But…” Keisuke was growing more distressed at the notion. He liked when he played alone at home because…it was home. He knew he could always go to one of his parents if he needed something. But that wasn’t the case in this far-too-large and far-too-scary mansion he’d never been to before. His lip trembled and his eyes started to water at the idea of being alone.

“Hey, hey! Don’t worry, lil guy!” A shrill voice coming from his side snapped him out of his thoughts. Followed by a familiar and comforting-

“Kuri, kuri!” Winged Kuriboh appeared beside him, waving its arms around to get his attention with Ojama Black next to it. “Kuriii!”

Keisuke couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the duel spirits, wiping at his eyes and nodding at them. “That’s true. As long as I have you guys, I’m not alone, am I?” He laughed a little. “Thank you, Winged Kuriboh. Ojama Black.”

As the child continued to smile at the happy spirits flying around him, Chosaku grimaced and looked over at his brother. “He’s doing that thing Jun used to do…”

“Guess bad habits can pass over even in adoption.” Straining a smile, Shoji put a hand on Keisuke’s head to get his attention. “Who are you talking to there, kid?”

“Huh?” Keisuke looked up at them. “Winged Kuriboh and Ojama Black. See?” Reaching into his hoodie, he pulled out the two cards and held them up for his uncles to see for themselves.

“Duel Monsters, huh? Yeah, the cards are cool, aren’t they?” That forced smile only continued as Shoji spoke to him. “But you know they’re just cards, right?”

“No they’re not.” He shook his head. “They’re real too. They’re spirits and they’re right here-”

“Kid, it’s not going to do you good in the long run to lie about that sort of thing.” Chosaku stepped in. His gaze didn’t hide his disdain towards the conversation. “There’s nothing there. You’re making things up.”

“No I’m not! You just can’t see them like I can!”

“Real convenient.” Shoji huffed a laugh, stopping in front of a door and pushing it open. “Here. This was Jun’s room, back when he lived here.”

Seeing Keisuke’s expression shift from frustration to confusion, Chosaku put a hand on his back and pushed him inside. “Your father’s old room. Go color and play with your imaginary friends all you like.”

“They aren’t-!” Keisuke turned around and saw the door close on him instead, leaving him alone. He stood there and listened at the sounds of sighs and footsteps walking away from him and felt his eyes well up with tears again. “I don’t get it…”

Winged Kuriboh and Ojama Black looked at Keisuke with concern. It was hard to be a spirit companion sometimes- like there wasn’t anything they could do to help directly. Even still, they nodded to each other, determined to at least do their part in protecting the child for his parents.

“Hey, don’t listen to those jerks! They don’t know what the heck they’re talking about!” Ojama Black tried to reassure, though its nerves about Keisuke crying were on clear display. “T-There’s lots we can do just the three of us! The day will whiz by before you know it!”

“Kuri, kuri!” Winged Kuriboh joined in, waving a hand near Keisuke’s face to catch his attention. Once it did, the spirit gestured towards the rest of the large room they were in. Keisuke didn’t get a chance to appreciate it when he was practically shoved inside.

The child’s eyes widened once he did, and cautiously started to look at it all closer. The bed was huge, even bigger than his parents’ one back home. And the shelves by the walls seemed to be filled with books and trophies alike, along with various framed photos on display. Keisuke stared at those most, seeing a small boy only a little older than him smiling with a trophy in hand for a duel competition. 

“Is that really dad?” He asked out loud, pointing at the photo. “He looks so different!”

“Awww, it’s lil bro!” Ojama Black couldn’t help but appreciate the sight as well. The Ojamas hadn’t gotten a chance to see photos like these, but it definitely planned on letting its brothers know all about this later. “Your dad was a real duel whiz you know! One of the top of his grade for a long time!”

“Was he?” Keisuke blinked, looking between the spirit and the photograph. “...What happened to him then?”

Ojama Black laughed and winced, rubbing the back of its neck. “H-How about we don’t ask your dad that question, okay?”

“Kuriiiiii.” Winged Kuriboh seemed to agree, floating along and looking at the photos for itself. It was just as strange for it to see the man its dueling partner loved so young. Almost nostalgic in a way.

Keisuke continued to explore, an easy distraction to his isolation and loneliness. There were a lot of books he couldn’t quite understand, but there were some he could recognize from home. He pulled the old children’s books from the shelves and carried them over to the large bed, making himself comfortable as he sat down to read some of them.

He could pretend Judai was next to him and reading the stories out loud. There was some comfort in that.

Manjoume felt restless the entire time he was working. From listening to his manager explain the day, to getting ready in makeup and preparing for the interviews, his irritation and subconscious worrying was getting the better of him. He couldn’t help it- knowing his son was left with his older brothers just set off so many warning flags in his mind.

This wasn’t the first time he felt so uncertain about doing the right thing as a parent, and he was positive it wouldn’t be the last. Judai…he always seemed so certain about things. That even though he could be clumsy and mess up at times, he would still pull through and be a great father for their son. Manjoume wanted the same, but a voice in his mind would always tell him otherwise.

Overthinking it too much usually led to far more trouble than it was worth. So he tried to at least focus on his work. The sooner it was done, the sooner he could get Keisuke far away from his uncles. 

The program itself was going fine enough- the basic sorts of questions Manjoume would be asked about as a pro duelist. “What keeps you going?” and “what would you say to any hopeful duelists watching?” sorts of things that became so ingrained into him after the many years in the industry. The host asking them was almost too bright and cheerful for him to handle in such a state, but he was a professional. He could handle this.

They went on break for commercials, giving him enough time to take a long drink of water for his parched throat and a minute to talk with his manager. “I didn’t get any calls while I was on the air, did I?”

He stammered for a moment and pulled Manjoume’s phone from his pocket to check. “N-No- nothing at all. Are you expecting a call, Thunder sir?”

“Dreading more like…” Manjoume tsked, crushing the empty water bottle in his hand. No news was good news right? “Just keep an eye on it for me, alright? If anything comes in, tell me immediately.”

“Of course, I-” He jumped slightly as one of the television crew came back around.

“You’re on again in two minutes.” 

“Got it.” Manjoume said with a sigh, tossing the bottle towards his manager to catch. “Let’s just get this over with…”

Returning back to the stage, he sighed and let the staff fuss over adjusting the mic pinned to his shirt and making sure everything was good to start again. The in studio audience’s murmurs were quieted down with their cue and soon enough they were back to their same pattern again. The interviewing host welcomed back the viewers before returning back to asking the same sorts of questions to Manjoume and getting the same sorts of replies.

After a while of this, out of the corner of his eye, Manjoume noticed his manager waving his arms around in a panic. The sight of him was concerning to say the least, but it wasn’t an unusual occurrence for the man. What, did Manjoume say something he shouldn’t have again? It wouldn’t have been the first time.

He tried to not draw much attention to it, instead refocusing on the host’s questions again and answering accordingly. Still, he could see his manager scramble to get his attention. Now Manjoume was concerned- he would’ve dropped it unless it was actually serious. 

His manager managed to find a large sheet to write on, likely something the television staff used to communicate to the hosts when broadcasting live like this. His desperation was showing which only made Manjoume all the more tense. Tension that reached its peak when he could read what was said.

“ Keisuke is in hospital ”

“I have to go.” Manjoume said without hesitation, standing up and taking off his microphone with fumbling fingers.

“Oh my!” The host's eyes looked briefly at the sign before it was lowered again, taking a few guesses of what it could be about. “We still have another-”

“Whatever it is, I can't do it. My son needs me and-” He froze, realizing what he said as the audience all gasped. The host looked like an animal about to feast on such an interesting story, but he had no time to give it. “Whatever!” Manjoume shouted before storming off the stage.

Despite the efforts to get any further information out of him, he was firm on the matter and grabbed his manager by the arm as he passed. “S-Someone called from the Manjoume manor. A butler, I think?” He tried to explain while stammering. “Said something about an allergic reaction, and that he’s alright, but at the hospital and-”

“Clean up the mess here, and don’t bother calling me with anything the rest of today. No, the rest of the week .” Manjoume decided, hastily gathering his things and fumbling his deck in the process. The sight of the scattered cards aggravated him to no end, kneeling on the floor to pick them up one by one. When his vision was starting to get blurry from all his sudden emotions, he cursed at himself. “Damnit…! I shouldn’t have left him…! Idiot!”

As he roughly wiped at his eyes, he heard the sound of someone moving in front of him. He opened his eyes and saw his manager helping with his cards. Something Manjoume would yell at him for if he wasn’t in fact grateful for the assistance. “You’re…not in a state to drive. I’ll drive you there, I insist.”

Manjoume said nothing for a while, refocusing on getting his deck back in order. Once he took the rest from his manager, Ojama Yellow’s card stared back up at him. It made him feel…foolish. But in a familiar way.

“Be quick about it…” He murmured, standing up and passing his manager his keys. When he wasn’t looking, Manjoume pressed his deck to his chest and sighed. “Sorry.”

“This is part of my job, sir.”

He wasn’t who Manjoume was apologizing to. But at that point, there wasn’t a need to correct him either.

The drive wasn’t too long, but it might as well have been a millennia. Manjoume’s leg bounced constantly during the drive over, despite his efforts to still it- a habit of his youth that his family once tried to drill out of him. Such memories only became more vivid when remembering it was his bio family’s own fault that Keisuke was even in this situation. 

Keisuke’s peanut allergy wasn’t life threatening, at least for small amounts, but it was severe enough to give him rashes on his body and in need of an epipen. Things which were packed in his bag and listed on the paper he gave to his brother. But of course he didn’t actually read it- of course. 

Manjoume wanted to punch himself the most; he should have been better. He should have refused to leave until he explained those things in full to his brothers. Maybe it still would’ve been ignored, but at this point he was just so fixated on blaming himself for every failure. For being a poor parent.

His manager continued to take the lead for him. It seemed as though the minute his client was falling to pieces, that’s when the meek man was willing to be professional and adapt at his job. It made sense in a way, why else would Manjoume have kept him around this long. Still, he spoke with the front desk about the situation and the receptionist informed them of the room down the hall where Keisuke was waiting.

Manjoume only took a few steps into the hallway before he heard the sound of his son’s cries more clearly through an open door.

“Papa!” He cried out between his sobs and wails. “I want my papa! I want dad to come back- I wanna go home!”

There were other voices speaking over the child, adults trying to calm him down, but Manjoume could still hear those words. Papa was…Judai. Keisuke wanted Judai in his time of need. He may have been mentioned afterwards, but that was all Manjoume was focused on hearing. 

Swallowing hard, he pushed down those insecurities in favor of running the rest of the way down the hall and seeing his son through the doorway. “Keisuke!”

The boy was sitting on a hospital bed with a bandage on his leg and a messy red face. That was likely just due to all his crying, and the bandage from his epipen’s prick. Even still, it didn’t change the fact that the sight of his parent just sent Keisuke into another wave of tears. “Daaad!”

Manjoume sat on the edge of the bed and held his arms out, letting Keisuke dive into them as he held him. Manjoume wasn’t a very huggy person in general, but he was willing to do it for his child’s comfort. Especially in such a stressful situation. “It’s okay, little lightning. Dad’s got you now. It’s okay.” He tried to reassure quietly, nodding at the staff in the room in greeting.

“Y-You weren’t there, and-! And I was alone with my friends a-and-!” Keisuke was hardly making much sense as he tried to explain himself, instead just clinging to Manjoume’s shirt and crying into it.

“Ohhh, bro, it’s not the lil guy’s fault!” Ojama Black’s voice rang out, its spirit appearing and joining his own brothers again as they watched the scene with worry. “He was locked up in your old room all day, and then your brothers sent someone in to give him a snack. A whole bunch of little cakes, Keisuke didn’t know one had nuts in it until he started itching after!”

He tried to keep his anger at a minimum, there wasn’t any point in it when the people he was upset with weren't even here to get yelled at. Instead, Manjoume turned to one of the hospital staff. “Is everything alright now? His reaction, is there anything I should know about?”

“Thankfully it was caught quickly enough by one of the staff of the house. Keisuke’s recovering quickly, he’s just a little shaken from the experience. That man was the one who was able to administer the epipen and call for the ambulance.” The nurse gestured to a man on the other side of the room. 

Manjoume turned to look at him, realizing in his state he didn’t even notice his presence. “Toshi…”

“Young master Jun…” The old man bowed low towards him, shaking slightly. “Forgive me for allowing this all to happen. Had I but known…”

“Shoji never gave you Keisuke’s notes.” The confirmation left a bitter taste in his mouth. “...Do those two even know he’s here?”

“Yes…they just…” Toshi stood upright again and sighed quietly before adjusting his glasses. “Had work to do.”

Manjoume held Keisuke tighter at that. Of course they did. They always worked- always kept that their priority over family. It burdened him to realize that everything that happened today was the result of him doing the same.

“I am never letting them near Keisuke again. Not ever.” He promised, stroking the back of his son’s head as his sobs seemed to quiet down more. Manjoume looked at Toshi with tired eyes and bowed how he could in his position. “Thank you, for saving my kid.”

“Think nothing of it. He was very brave.” Toshi explained. “The young master shouted for help the moment he knew something was wrong. We were as quick as we were because of it.”

“That right?” Manjoume managed a smile, pulling Keisuke back enough to look at him directly. “Look at you, being a little hero.”

Keisuke sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. “W-Winged Kuriboh…pointed out my itchy…a-and Ojama Black told me to yell real loud…”

“It’s true- I did!” Ojama Black spoke up with pride, shrinking back when Manjoume glared at him.

“Would’ve been nice if they noticed the nuts before you ate them.” He snapped, seeing the Ojamas hold each other in fear before Manjoume sighed again. “But I’m glad that you weren’t completely alone. I’m sorry this all happened, Keisuke.”

The child didn’t say anything else, just looked away. “...I wanna go home now…”

“Yeah. Me too.” Reaching over, Manjoume took a handkerchief that Toshi was offering and used it to clean some of Keisuke’s face. “We’ll make sure everything’s okay now and head straight home. And you know what, you can have whatever you want for dinner tonight as well. Your choice.”

That promise caught Keisuke’s attention after he blew his nose. Sniffling a bit more, he looked a bit hopeful. “Can we have pancakes for dinner…?”

The simple request managed to get a small laugh from him. “Yeah. We can have pancakes now. I promise.”

The rest of the evening was manageable, even if Manjoume felt a heavy sense of guilt the whole time. After the warnings from the doctors, a rather loud call to his brothers outside of Keisuke’s earshot, and returning home to give his son the pancakes he wanted, Manjoume’s exhaustion was at its limits. Keisuke had been tucked into bed with the promise that tomorrow would be better, tomorrow the two of them would go and play together, leaving Manjoume to stand on the balcony attached to his bedroom with his cellphone in hand.

The phone felt heavy as he debated the call. But with everything that happened today, he knew he needed to make it. With that in mind, Manjoume dialed a familiar number and waited for it to go through, once it got past the initial warning of overseas expenses.

He heard the click and a voice that sounded like sunshine. “Jun! Hi, honeybun; you don’t usually call this late!”

Manjoume wanted to smack the sunshine out of him, but still felt his shoulders relax all at once hearing him like this. “Judai. I can call you whenever I damn well please.”

“Woah hey, swear jar- wait, is Keisuke already in bed?” Judai seemed to count under his breath. “It’s six hours difference…ah, whatever. Still nice to hear from you.”

“Yeah…” He trailed off, finding it hard to think of how to bring everything up. So instead, he just let it all out. “I screwed up, Judai. I…I really screwed up today.”

He didn’t need to see his husband to know his expression changed after hearing Manjoume’s voice change to something so vulnerable. That happy sound shifted to something more serious; steady. “Jun, what happened?”

It almost took Manjoume’s breath away, how put together Judai could be at times. He took a shaky breath before letting his thoughts get back in order. “I had to go to work, and I needed someone to watch over Keisuke. And I thought I could just leave him with my family’s old staff for the day, but…my brothers-”

“Fuck, not them-” Judai interrupted without another thought. A sound of realization coming afterwards. “Sorry. Sorry- keep talking.”

“No, that was the correct response.” Manjoume weakly laughed. If anyone was even close to knowing how awful his brothers were, it was Judai. “They were there when I arrived and did what they did best. Claim they knew what they were doing and acted like I was incompetent. I didn’t have much of a choice, I really just thought Keisuke would be fine having a day there.”

“But…?”

This was the hard part. “But I guess I’m just a goddamn idiot for thinking that, huh? A father’s supposed to protect their kid, but I just- just left Keisuke there with some of the worst people I knew, thinking maybe this time it’d be better? Cause they’re still family? What kind of bullshit logic is that?” Manjoume began to berate himself as he spoke. “They just locked him up in my bedroom all day and barely even knew he was there. Then they sent some snacks and of course they sent something with nuts and-”

“Oh, fuck- his allergy.” Judai sounded panicked. “Did he have his epipen with him? Did they take him to ER?”

“Keisuke’s alright.” He clarified, understanding the reaction completely. “He’s alright, the staff got him to hospital fast and he’s recovered quickly. We’re all home and safe now…”

Except for you , was the quiet thought that went unsaid.

Judai exhaled in relief. “Well, that’s good at least…”

“...I can’t do this, Judai.” Manjoume said brokenly. “I’m just as shitty as the rest of my family, I- I shouldn’t be raising a kid on my own. I know why you had to leave, I know you and Johan have to do shit with the spirit world but it doesn’t change the fact you’re not here. You’re not here, and I’m not good enough on my own.”

“Jun, you don’t mean that. You’re just getting lost in your head.” He tried to reason, familiar to Manjoume’s anxieties. They helped each other through them plenty over the years. “You’re a better parent than yours ever were. Keisuke adores you-”

“He called for you. In the hospital.” Manjoume interrupted, hearing that slight hitch in Judai’s voice on the other end from hearing that. “Keisuke wanted you , Judai, and you weren’t there.”

“I…” Now it was Judai’s turn to sound vulnerable. “I’m sorry. I want to be there with you both, I really do, but-”

“But that doesn’t change reality. And the reality is that I have to work and you have to go save the world or whatever.” He ran a hand through his hair, clinging to it. “Are we just bad at this?”

“I think that’s something every parent asks, really. Every good parent anyway, heh.” He weakly laughed, though the silence afterwards was telling. “I wish I knew what to say to make it all better, to fix everything. But…well. It’s all just messy. And we’re just doing the best we can for him, aren’t we?”

“I don’t know…I hope we are.” Manjoume let go of his hair and looked back into their messy house. Thinking about all the situations that let it reach this point… “He’s a good kid, Judai.”

“I know that. We adopted him together after all.” That little bit of sunshine was coming back to his voice at the thought. “Our little hero.”

“Little lightning.” Manjoume smiled to himself. “He’s still taking good care of Winged Kuriboh. And Winged Kuriboh’s taking good care of him.”

“That’s my son. And my partner.” Judai said proudly. “And you’re my husband keeping it all together.”

“I’m not-”

“Yes, you are. I don’t even need to be there to know it.” He was quick to stop Manjoume from spiralling again. “You’re only going through all this worrying because you care so much about him. And I know that when you care about someone, you care a lot. You’re spending time with Keisuke, right?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Needing to step away for work for a day is not the end of the world. He knows this as well as I do- he understands.” Judai continued. “You’re not shutting him out and ignoring him, you’re giving him attention. That’s what he wants most. And that’s what makes you so much better than your shitty brothers.”

“Judai…” It was all things he heard before, reassurement he wouldn’t become what they were, and yet, Manjoume still needed to hear it every so often. “It…it still doesn’t change what happened.”

“No. But you changed from it. And you know how to avoid it next time; you’re learning from your mistakes. That’s something you do very well, my thunder.” There’s that pride in his voice again. “Jun. You’re not a failure. I believe in you completely.”

Manjoume let those words linger for a while longer, letting it sink in more. He felt like that gnawing weight on him lessened just a little bit more and nodded instinctually. “I know you do.” He said quietly, just enough for Judai to hear. 

“I love you, Jun.”

“I know that too.” A pause. “It doesn’t change the fact I’m still mad at you for being gone.”

“I knooow, you don’t have to keep guilt tripping me here!” Judai sounded childish about it. A welcomed change of pace for their conversation. “I’m not even gone a week and you’re making me feel like a bad guy.”

“Keisuke’s going to eat all your cereal.” Manjoume couldn’t help but grin when he heard the gasp of offense. “And those snacks you keep hidden on top of the fridge. We’re going to leave you with nothing but stale bread by the time you’re home while we feast like kings.”

“Cruel! My own husband and son- betraying me!” While he couldn’t hear the words, Manjoume could tell Johan was saying something in the background of the phone call. “Wha-? Hey! Don’t encourage them!”

“See, even Johan knows you deserve it.” He snickered. Teasing Judai did make him feel better, even if he still wished he was right there in front of him. Made things nicer when he could just give him an apology kiss afterwards. “...I guess I should go. We’re already using up a lot of minutes like this.”

“Guess so.” Judai sighed. “Still good to do a video call on the weekend?” 

“Course. Have to make sure Keisuke knows he’s still got two dads after all.” Walking back into the house again, Manjoume locked the balcony door behind him. “Good luck saving the world, Judai.”

“Good luck being a parent. I think you have the harder job between the two of us.”

“Don’t I always?” Manjoume paused, knowing Judai wasn’t about to hang up unless he said it first. “...I miss you. Stay safe out there.”

“Love you too, honeybun.” Judai’s grin could be felt in his voice. “Good night and talk soon.”

With that reassurance, Manjoume heard the call end, leaving him alone in their bedroom once more. He tossed the phone to the bed first, thought about it all more, and allowed himself to collapse on the mattress once again.

This was all a challenge to be sure…but he could handle it. He could get back up again in no time.