Work Text:
After a long day, Kyo was on his way back home.
He was walking through the dark while unsuccessfully trying to stifle a yawn and a shiver. It had repeatedly gotten colder the last few weeks, and he needed to see if the winter gear needed some fixing up. He wouldn't want any of the others to catch a cold after all.
It was past ten in the evening when their headquarters finally came into view. A small smile tucked on his lips as he looked at his home in the reflective light of the Shangri-La Egg, which was glowing a soft orange in the distance. While the location on the old highway was nice for the view and the reclusiveness it offered, without a car it was still nearly a 30-minute walk from the city.
Luckily, Yosshi didn't mind taking them places, specifically Nirinso, but the old man wasn't in town right now and Kyo hadn't been visiting the shelter anyway.
He had manage to score himself a shift helping in a restaurant kitchen. After he had revealed to the rest of the team how he sometimes took on these borderline shady jobs to help support the team, he had unfortunately gotten a taste of his own medicine as the jobs now had to be vetted by the others before he was allowed to go. He had taken the restriction with grace. Especially since it had the benefit of Chiropmons vast database and hacking skills, giving him the opportunity to jobs he couldn’t get before.
It did not make it any less illegal, but the ministry was turning a blind eye to it and it hadn’t been an issue lately anyways. With Ultimates besides Murasamemon on the team, the jobs that they could take on had expanded considerably, and he was feeling secure in sending the others out even for higher level bounties. Nonetheless it was turning into winter. The utility bills were rising and foraging for food was becoming more difficult as well. So, with everyone’s reluctant blessing he had taken on a few more mundane jobs as well.
Sometimes he wondered who the biggest mother hen in their family was.
In the past, he hadn't bothered much about cooking. He was fine getting takeout or eating what he had bought at the supermarket, occasionally cooking a simple meal, but that had changed when he suddenly had more people to feed besides himself.
He had known that takeout wouldn't be feasible forever, especially because living so far outskirt, there weren’t many businesses delivering, not to mention the costs, so he took on the challenge and found out he quite liked to cook. Sometimes he wondered what his younger self would say when he could see him now, basically a single parent to a gaggle of teens. It was hard to imagine. Maybe he should ask Cougarmon later, but his partner would probably just tell him that he had always been like that and just hadn't been able to show it. Well, he did know him best after all.
Headquarters were a lot closer now, the tower of containers getting bigger in front of the starry night background.
Home.
He wondered when it had started to feel like that. It certainly hadn't been when he first moved into it, the space too big and empty.
Maybe it had started with Reina and her brazen nature. He remembered her demanding that she would be working hard to earn her keep, even though he reiterated that it wouldn't be necessary. It had been the start of Glowing Dawn, the first partner on his team, the first part of his family.
But maybe it was when he showed the place to Makoto, a tired and trembling child clutching his Digimon, whose eyes had sparkled the moment he had laid eyes on the TV, he had bought from a good bounty he had brought in. It had certainly been livelier after that, the emptiness disappearing between conversations, laughter and care.
But it still felt incredibly heavy. He had been keeping a lot of secrets from the two of them. Of course they had noticed but had never actually called him out on it.
That all changed, of course, when Tomoro came to live with them. He was readily admitting that he hadn't handled the situation well at the time.
Tomoro had just birthed a Digimon and lost his brother, his only relative, to Cold Heart on the same day. He had not considered how little Tomoro might know about the truth of their world, and that Asuka might not have told him anything.
So, it had taken quite a while, but all of them had grown to be a family. One, where the secrets that he kept weren't so heavy anymore. It still warmed his heart now, how readily those three had accepted his dream. Even before knowing about Nirinso, Reina and Makoto had never questioned their one rule of never deleting a Digimon. Now they were even more eager to help, even taking his place sometimes to give their e-pulse to the babies.
Of course he was still the main e-pulse giver, he would never let the others use too much of their energy. He still got exhausted glances from Cougarmon every time he declined the offer when they asked to go in his stead.
But in the end, keeping a four-head household plus Digimon plus shelter running, was still costing a lot of money, so he started taking on part-time jobs on the side.
That secret was now out as well, but it hadn't been a well-kept one since the beginning. It hadn't even been his intention to keep it in the first place. The money was for things he wanted after all. He was quite selfish in that regard. So much so, that he even kept the burden to himself because it was something that was clearly born from his own wishes.
Sometimes he wondered how he had ended up like this, responsible for a family. But he wouldn't change it for anything in the world now. He looked up at the building in front of him. This was his home now.
Arriving at his destination, he saw that the lights were still on. It wasn't too late yet, but he was still surprised to hear a loud argument coming from within. When he was only a dozen meters away, Cougarmon appeared in the doorway and greeted him, which stopped the voices abruptly and replaced them with footsteps.
The moment he reached the door, his three charges had arrived as well, and Kyo's eyebrows rose as he saw the state they were in, as well as their clearly guilty faces.
Looking up inside the common area, he had to bite his tongue when he saw that the kitchen had seemingly exploded in food scraps, dirty dishes and batter and a faint smell of burned food hung in the air.
Before he could wonder what on earth they had been doing, he got a chorus of apologies and then some more of the argument that he had overheard just moments before.
“I'm sorry, Kyo-san. This is my fault. I should have paid more attention to the recipe.”
“Don't be silly, Makocchan. It's clearly Tomoro's fault. How inept can you be to fail at beating eggs?”
“Try doing it with a gluttonous gecko hanging off on you, and you are no better. How hard is it to watch the clock?”
Kyo looked from one to the other in confusion. Did they try to make dinner? He was sure he had made something and put it in the fridge earlier. Had they not found it? Had it not been enough?
“What have you been…” He started his question, but then his eyes finally focused on what was standing on the table in the middle of the room, and he froze.
Seeing his reaction, the three stopped bickering and took a step back, now clearly embarrassed, with Reina scuffing her foot, avoiding eye contact and Tomaro looking at the ceiling, hand in his hair. Makoto, as usual, was the most level-headed one.
“We're sorry, Kyo-san, but when Cougarmon mentioned that it is your birthday today, we thought we could try making a cake, and, well…” he trailed off with red cheeks.
Still speechless, Kyo glanced down at his partner, who was just scratching behind his ear, purposefully ignoring him. A bit dazed, he finally stepped into the house, to the cake on the table and took it all in.
The shape was mostly round, with a giant heap of cream on top, probably trying to cover the slightly burned cake that was underneath. It was uneven, and the texture wasn't quite right, but it was still a good attempt. On top there was a misshaped Happy Birthday, Kyo written next to a small but simple shape that was maybe trying to show Cougarmon? It definitely had the ears and the mane. The rest of the cake was decorated with a ring of Pocky, probably from the sweets he had bought everyone a few days ago. They must have thrown all their packs together to get to 23.
He pressed his lips tightly to hold himself together, his back turned to the group.
He had forgotten that it was his birthday. He hadn't really celebrated it in years. It never seemed important while doing his work as one of the Five Stars, and then between everything that was piling up while trying to keep his family and the shelter running…
When he finally felt like he got his grip back, he turned around to the others who had followed him to the cake, still splattered with batter and still looking guilty and embarrassed.
“Um, Happy Birthday Kyo!”, Reina said forcibly joyful but winced again when she saw the chaos in the kitchen behind him.
He wasn't angry. They could blow up the house, and he wouldn't mind if they were all safe and sound. He looked all of them over and stopped at Tomoro, who smiled at him embarrassed. He still remembered his words a few weeks ago, that they cared for him just as much as he cared for them.
He had already known that to be true. When they had fought against Klay, they had not just relied on him but actively had his back. They had trusted him to be strong enough to help Cougarmon evolve again and win, so they had protected him until then. They did not let him do this alone. He had never felt so warm before in his life.
Afterwards, when Klay managed to surprise him and he realized what was happening, he was terrified.
Not for himself, but what would happen to his family when he was taken out. He had taken these kids in and couldn't just leave them at Klay's mercy because there wouldn't be any found. The few seconds it had taken to steal his e-pulse had felt like an eternity.
That’s why, when he had woken up in that hospital bed to see all of them all right, that they were all there, he had never been more relieved.
And now they had made him a cake, a cake for a birthday he hadn't even remembered.
He just couldn't help himself. Biting his lip, he took a step forward and pulled them all into a hug. It was a tight fit, and Makoto said something about getting batter all over him, but he didn't mind. Tomorrow, he was going to do a wash anyway, and batter would wash out easily.
“Thank you”, he said, and couldn't help sounding a bit choked up.
The three troublemakers just grinned up to him and gave each other low fives without stepping out of the group hug. It was warm, so incredibly warm. He felt Cougarmon settle behind his legs, and even Pristimon, Chiropmon and Gekkoumon joined the hug, although the latter ended the moment early, when he tried to lick all the batter off his partner. Tomoro reacted to that with a surprised shudder and shout and started chasing his partner around who jumped across the kitchen area, throwing even more stuff to the ground. Reina joined Tomoro in his hunt immediately and Makoto tried to get them to calm down, but it was in vain.
While the chaos started to unfold, Kyo smiled at the scene. He was still tired from his long day, but his heart was fully content. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone baked him a birthday cake. There was one more person he had to show his gratitude to, the very first part of his family.
“Thank you, Cougarmon”, he said, glancing down at his partner, who gave him a smile as well.
“Happy Birthday, Kyo.”