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Taro
Ken grinned at his young son as he scooped up the toddler and held him in his arms. “My, my, you’re a big eater, aren’t you?” he murmured as Taro gurgled, feeling sated after consuming a good amount of light.
“I wonder where he could have gotten it from,” Marie commented teasingly as she settled next to her husband on the sofa, making herself comfortable and smiling when their child turned to her.
“Mama!” Taro said, reaching out to her with both arms.
Ken handed him over to his wife. Their son had started talking recently, and unsurprisingly, his first word was ‘mama’. His second word was ‘nii-ah’. Taro hasn’t been able to say anything else just yet. “Can you say ‘dada’?”
Taro stared at his father, and then his gaze shifted to his mother. “Mama.”
The couple laughed, amused by their son, but Ken was determined for Taro’s third word to be ‘dada’. “Yes, that’s mama, but what about me?” he asked, pointing a finger at himself. “I’m dada.”
There was that blank stare again, and Ken lowered his head in defeat playfully, trying to see how his son would react.
Marie rubbed Taro’s back, his tiny horns brushing against her cheek. “That’s your father, Taro,” she said. “He’s dada.”
The baby stared at his mother with uncertainty.
“Mama.”
Ken could only chuckle and pat Taro’s crest. “That’s right, you mama’s boy,” he murmured, staring lovingly at his son.
“Mum, Dad!” Ace called as he burst into the apartment. He was panting slightly as though he had been running. The young boy took a second to catch his breath and then waved at his baby brother. “Oh hey, Taro!”
“Nii-ah!”
Marie shifted Taro in her arms. “What’s wrong, Ace?”
“Zoffy nii-san and I were on our way home, and then that nee-san showed up out of nowhere, and she won’t let Zoffy nii-san leave.”
Ken blinked. “Who?”
Marie silently handed Taro to her husband. “A neighbour’s daughter who has a crush on him,” she explained.
He still had no idea which neighbour his wife was referring to, not that it mattered all that much. Taro began wriggling in his arms again, and he couldn’t help but laugh, reassuring him that his dear mama would be back in no time.
While Marie and Ace went downstairs to ‘rescue’ Zoffy, Ken took the opportunity to teach his son how to say that one word he’s been wanting him to say.
“Alright, Taro, it’s just you and me-”
“Dada.”
Ken paused, not quite believing his horns. It was such a simple word, and yet, the effect it had on him was profound. He had been called ‘dad’ and ‘father’ lots of times before, but to hear his youngest son say it for the first time, he was over the moon!
“Who’s dada?”
Taro looked at his father in the eyes. “Dada.”
Ken jumped to his feet. “That’s right! Your mother and brothers need to hear this!” he said, striding out of the apartment excitedly with his son against his shoulder.
“Marie! He said it! Taro finally said it!”
“Mama! Dada!”
--
Ace
Ken leaned against the glass wall as he carefully held Ace, the toddler’s big, bright eyes staring back at him. He had no idea why his son hadn’t fallen asleep yet. He wasn’t hungry, he wasn’t in a cranky mood, and he wasn’t sleepy.
Ace gurled, thrusting an arm forward as he tried to grab one of Ken’s horns.
“Shh, Zoffy nii-san is sleeping,” he whispered, his gaze moving to the sleeping figure just a few feet away from them.
The apartment which they had been assigned to was adequate for the three of them – it wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. The studio was good enough, as Ken didn’t want to take up a large space only for another family to be sent elsewhere.
There was barely any furniture aside from Ace’s crib.
Ace yawned, and Ken felt a sense of relief wash over him. It won’t be long now till he falls asleep. He’d finally be able to get some shut-eye after this. “Go to sleep, Ace,”
The baby grunted, and Ken offered his pinky finger for him to grip. He leaned his back against the wall and shut his eyes briefly. He’s only going to close his eyes for a few seconds.
“Dad is really tired…,” Ken murmured.
Just a few more seconds…
“Dada…”
The way Ace had said it was gentle and calming, almost lulling him back to sleep, but the excitement of hearing his son call him ‘dada’ instantly gave him a surge of energy. Ken snapped his eyes open and stared at the baby in disbelief.
Did he imagine it? It couldn’t have been. He needs to tell Marie about this!
“Ace…”
“Da…da…,” Ace repeated and then gurgled a bunch of gibberish.
“Ace!” Ken exclaimed, instantly waking Zoffy up.
The young Ultra was up on his feet, ready to fight any intruding kaiju that dared to harm his brother. “Sir, what’s going on?!”
Ken winced, feeling guilty for his outburst. “Sorry – I didn’t mean to scare you, but your brother has just said his first word!”
Upon hearing the explanation, Zoffy relaxed, his gaze softening as he looked at his baby brother. He sat down next to Ken. “What was his first word?”
As if on cue, Ace instantly repeated his new favourite word. “Dada.”
That simple, innocent murmur of a form of address, though babytalk, was enough to assure Ken and Zoffy that, despite the difficulties of life post-war, everything would be alright.
--
Zoffy
Taro frowned as he checked the contents of the file uploaded via the cloud and then the checklist. “Seems like this instructor didn’t upload all the lecture notes,” he muttered, pulling up the details of the teacher.
“Contact the instructor and tell them to go through the checklist again,” Zoffy ordered, all while he audited another course.
It was the end of the semester at the Academy, and that meant that the course would have to be audited. It was to ensure that the knowledge the cadets were learning was up to date and of a standard.
“On it,” Taro murmured before glancing at the empty seat next to him. Seems like Ace nii-san would be a bit late.
The three of them had agreed to audit the courses they were assigned to in Zoffy nii-san’s office so that they could all get it done all in one go and at the same time.
They were halfway through the auditing when Ace finally showed up, casually entering his big brother’s office and taking a seat in the empty chair next to Taro. He apologised for being late, explaining that Z’s training had lasted longer than he anticipated.
Ace pulled a stack of datapad closer to him, ready to get to work, but the smirk on his lips vanished when he saw the first course. “Zoffy nii-san, this is your course,” he stated, almost complained.
“Well, you got here last, big bro.”
Advanced Military Tactics, one of the most difficult courses, if not the most difficult, in the academy taught by none other than the Commander himself. It was notorious for having a small cohort of students, and by the end of the semester, it ended up being smaller. 70% smaller.
“It shouldn’t be difficult for you to understand the material, Ace,” Zoffy murmured as he finished auditing a course and signing the document.
Ace opened the course materials and almost winced upon seeing the first topic. “I’m more of a fighter than a strategist, and this reminds me of Military Tactics II, which is as far as I got, and even that traumatised me,” he remarked before getting down to business.
“To be honest, even Dad said AMT was difficult,” Taro added, now thinking about his son. Taiga had registered for this course next semester, and he couldn’t imagine the suffering his son would experience.
“Yeah, even Dad wouldn’t take this course,” Ace teased his big brother.
Despite Zoffy’s stoic demeanour, both his brothers knew he was enjoying the joke.
“Ah, so this is where my sons are!” Ken said as he appeared by the door. He had wondered why the hallway suddenly felt a bit quieter than usual.
“Hey, Dad,” Taro greeted. “Just auditing some courses before the new semester starts.”
“And Taro and I were just telling Zoffy nii-san that his AMT course is too difficult for everyone except him.”
Zoffy lowered the datapad. “It’s meant to be difficult – the simulations have to be as accurate as in the real world.”
“See, Dad,” Ace said, grinning.
Ken nodded, despite agreeing with Ace and Taro. “Your brother knows what’s best for the students, and I have faith in his ability to deliver a challenging yet rewarding course for the cadets – if that wasn’t the case, his students wouldn’t have gone on to become officers.”
At least Father understood. Zoffy carefully placed the datapad on a different stack. Just three more left. “Thank you, Dad,” he said nonchalantly.
Silence fell into the room. It was so silent that they could hear the coffee machine in the corner of the office buzzing, and it was barely audible!
Taro broke the silence by snickering and then covered his mouth with a hand.
Ace’s lips were twitching.
Ken stared at Zoffy in shock.
Zoffy looked up and wondered what the fuss was about. “What is it?”
“You called Dad ‘Dad’!”
Did he actually say ‘dad’ instead of ‘father’? No. He said ‘father’, right? Even if he did say ‘dad’, it shouldn’t have been that big of a deal. Ken is as much of a father to him as he is to Ace and Taro. “Both terms are acceptable forms of address.”
“You always call Dad ‘Father’ like the good son you are,” Taro teased, earning a glare that he was now so used to that it barely had an effect on him.
“Just start using ‘Dad’ from now on, big bro,” Ace added.
“I wouldn’t mind you calling me either one!” Ken said, beaming before a thought hit him. He turned around and exited the office in search of his wife. “Marie! You wouldn’t believe this!” he said excitedly. “Zoffy called me ‘Dad’!”