Chapter Text
“Hurry up a bit, Shouyou. Daddy needs to be at work on time!”
“But-” the four-year old protested with a pout, “but I work there too, don’t I daddy?”
Akaashi Keiji smiled tiredly and ruffled his son’s fiery orange, untamable hair. Big, innocent brown eyes shot him a confused look, what kind of made Shouyou look like a lost puppy. But Keiji was strong. He’d known his son’s puppy eyes for more than three years already, there was no way he’d let himself fall for it.
“You do, Shou, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to hurry. Daddy can’t be late!”
“Me either!” Shouyou exclaimed with a proud flush on his chubby cheeks. He hopped off the kitchen chair and bolted past Keiji, into the hall.
“Quick, daddy! Help me tie my shoelaces!” Keiji rolled his eyes but followed the over-enthusiastic kid to the door.
“How do we ask things properly?” Keiji asked strictly.
“Please!” Shouyou yelled, not at all bothered by the scolding he’d received. Keiji sighed, but helped Shouyou put his coat and shoes on. Shouyou will probably give his teachers a hard time next year, when he’d go to elementary school, Keiji thought. He just knew Shouyou would constantly forget to speak politely just because he’d be too into a game or got too excited. He made a mental note to practice on that a bit this year. Then the two finally headed out.
Akaashi had a full-time job at a kids’ daycare he and his best friend Sugawara Koushi managed. He always brought Shouyou along with him. It was perfect actually; Keiji didn’t have to leave Shouyou with someone else and Shouyou got to play with other kids his age every day.
The daycare meant a lot to Keiji. Or more like Sugawara and the kids meant a lot to him. Keiji loved kids a lot and Suga had kind of been his savior a little more than four years ago. They’d been very close ever since. Akaashi could barely imagine what his life would look like if Suga hadn’t jumped in to help him. He’d most likely be dead already, very close to going insane or just an empty body. Suga hadn’t only saved his life, he had also given him a golden opportunity to start over. Whenever it got rough, Suga was always there.
So yeah, Akaashi really loved Suga with all his heart. Not romantically, though. More like family. A brother. One of the best of the world. Or a mother.
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When they arrived at the daycare, it took Akaashi a few minutes to get Shouyou to sit still so he could unbuckle his seatbelt. The second he heard the familiar ‘click’ Shouyou bolted past him towards the entrance, where he jumped on the back of a black-haired boy, Iwaizumi Tobio. Keiji looked around him. if Tobio was at the daycare…
“Ke-chan! You look terrible, didn’t get enough sleep?” a way too cheery voice called out.
Yep. If little Tobio was at the daycare, the other Iwaizumis couldn’t be too far away. They were Iwaizumi Hajime and Iwaizumi Tooru, his other two best friends. They’d gotten married just a few weeks after he’d met Suga. The two of them had also been of great help too Keiji.
They had also been the ones to reassure and show him being gay didn’t matter in their group and they were responsible for Akaashi meeting and adopting Shouyou not too long after that.
They’d only just adopted the then seven-month old black haired boy with the striking blue eyes, when they were asked to adopt Shouyou too. They wouldn’t have minded another kid, but they knew Keiji loved kids and sent Keiji to the orphanage to meet Shouyou. Akaashi wanted someone else in his life he could take care of, so he could take focus off himself.
Keiji had immediately fallen in love with Shouyou and after that it hadn’t taken very long until the boy was his. Now, he’d been for more than three years already. In those years, Keiji had gotten nearly as close with the Iwaizumis as he was with Suga. They were one hell of a group.
There were only a few small downsides; one being Tooru’s obnoxiousness and popularity. Tooru was very beautiful; it was a fact no one could deny. He even was a part-time model, taking minor jobs like small photoshoots. The bad thing about that was that Tooru himself also knew this very well and constantly pestered others about their looks.
“Maybe I indeed had a bad night,” Akaashi mumbled, shoving Tooru aside to open the building door.
“Leave him alone, Shittykawa,” Iwaizumi Hajime said, joining in on their conversation.
The two men had been married for four years, but Hajime still called Tooru 'Shittykawa' or 'Trashkawa', just like Tooru couldn’t let go of the nickname 'Iwa-chan'. Suga once told him they’d been friends since they were five years old and had been inseparable ever since. They’d always called each other that, even though Tooru was now also Iwa-chan. It was just how things were with them.
“Mean, Iwa-chan,” Tooru chirped. “I was just looking out for Ke-chan!”
“It’s okay, Hajime,” Akaashi said, sending him a small, tired smile. “He’s right, I didn’t get many hours of sleep last night. Shou had a really bad nightmare, he was really shaken up. He couldn’t get back to sleep, so I let him sleep with me for once. Wasn’t a very good idea.”
Hajime chuckled. “I’m not even gonna ask,” he said. Akaashi smiled again, looking at his son who was excitedly pulling Tobio towards the classroom. There wasn’t any sign that he could be tired, while he’d also been up almost all night.
First he had the nightmare, and when Keiji let him into his bed he was so excited he couldn’t stay still for more than five seconds. He couldn’t stop rolling around and shifting. He constantly kept poking Keiji in the back, asking if ‘daddy was still awake’. No, Keiji hadn’t gotten many hours of (much-needed) sleep. Meanwhile, Shouyou was as energetic as ever.
Akaashi followed the kids inside the classroom and was immediately greeted by Yaku and Suga.
“Keiji!” Suga called out cheerfully. “Good morning! Guess what, I met someone really nice on my way here this morning. I accidentally bumped into him and I dropped my coffee, then he bought me a new one!”
“That’s nice, Suga-san, tell me more about that later.” Akaashi replied. He didn’t understand how Sugawara could be so- so happy in the morning.
Suga noticed his usual grumpy face and chuckled. “Shou kept you up again?”
“Nightmares,” Akaashi muttered, looking at the computer. “Let’s see who’s here today,” he murmured mostly to himself. “Hitoka, Ryuu, Yuu, Shouyou, Tobio and Tetsurou.”
“Mrs. Kozume called in, Kenma didn’t feel too well so he’s staying home today,” Suga informed him. "And stop calling me Suga-san"
“Okay, Suga-san,” Akaashi said, “we have an even number today. Maybe we could do a game in pairs.”
One by one, the other parents arrived to drop their kids off. Tooru and Hajime also came in quickly to say goodbye to Tobio, before they were off to their jobs. Tooru worked as reporter for a sports magazine, Hajime was one of the photographers of said magazine. They worked together pretty often. They’d also managed to get the same schedule. They both worked from 9 to 5, three days a week. They managed to balance everything perfectly; they were home together with Tobio most of the week, they had a pretty decent income because they both worked long days and they were practically the best at their department. Basically, they did everything together.
Akaashi sometimes envied their relationship a little bit. They’d been through a few rough patches together and of course they fought sometimes, but it never got worse than their usual bickering. It was never serious. They’d been inseparable for twenty years and their relationship was so full of love but so natural that Akaashi sometimes felt a bit jealous.
He’d been through some bad times with equally as bad people. He now had pretty bad trust and commitment issues, the thought of liking someone himself really scared him. The only people he trusted with all his heart were his friends and Shouyou. Not even his biological family, since they’d kicked him out in the first place. His parents hated him.
The only sibling he had was eight years younger than him and barely got to see him after he came out to his parents when he was twelve. They’d first told him he was just imagining it, since he was still so young, but still kept his then four-year old sister away from him. When they realized that his view on boys hadn’t changed a year later, they got serious and told his sister Keiji wasn’t her brother. They didn’t let him see her even once for two years. At age fifteen, they finally kicked him out. Keiji yhought his little sister, Kamiko, must’ve been sixteen by now.
Keiji often wondered how she was doing, if she was happy, how his parents treated her, what she looked like, if she had a boyfriend, how she was doing in school, if she played any sports, if she remembered him…
But he would probably never find out. His parents had cut all ties with him and for some reason, his aunt and uncle had too a few years ago. Maybe to prevent him from reaching out to Kamiko. Keiji didn’t know, but it didn’t matter now. He was okay now. A bit lonely sometimes, but okay.