Love So Sweet
Author: evil_queen369
Genre: Fluff, Angst
Fandom: the GazettE
Pairings: Aoi/Uruha/Aoi, Reita/Ruki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None, yet
Chapter: 13/??
Synopsis: “Do you like bubbles, Toshi?” The little boy nodded and pulled his hands apart to clap, sending bubbles flying. “Maybe some day I’ll show you how to blow bubbles with your hands.” The blonde beamed and instructed Toshi to wash his hands off. Once done, Toshi was standing and Uruha was drying his hands with a towel. Motherly; that’s what Uruha was. It made so much sense! He was pretty and cute like a girl, and he was really nice. Uruha was like a mommy. He could be Toshi’s mommy, since he didn’t really have one.
Comment: Ruki gets to babysit Toshi. xD
“Just this once, pretty please?” Aoi batted his eyelashes at Ruki, but the little vocalist just shot an annoyed look at him from across the room. There was no way. No way in hell would he babysit that kid, that little demon child. There were no Shiroyama Toshi’s allowed in his house again; that kid had it out for him and he knew it. He shook his head and turned his attention to the coffee in his hand --the roach free coffee-- and acted as if the older man wasn’t even standing there. “Ruki, no one else can watch him today and I really need to get to court.”
Ruki looked up with a bored expression on his face. “Uruha can’t watch him like usual?” The last time he checked, the guitarist didn’t have anything planned for the day. Unlike Kai, he didn’t have a mass amount of work, or have an interview like Reita. Even Kai’s mother was busy, which kind of annoyed Ruki a bit. He didn’t want to watch Toshi; that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.
“He’s coming with me.” Aoi sighed and held onto Toshi’s hand. “You’ll only have to watch him for maybe four hours. It’s really not that long, and he’s really easy to occupy. Just sit him in front of the television with a juice box and he’ll be fine.”
“Sit him in front of your own television with a juice box then. The dog can watch him and I can sit in the comfort of my home with the satisfaction of knowing I don’t have to watch a monster.”
Toshi scrunched his face up at the vocalist and stomped his feet. “I’s no a mawa.” If anyone was a monster it was Ruki; he was stupid and short, and he had weird hair, and his face looked weird, and was an alien mutant troll from Uranus. Toshi still didn’t understand how Ruki got Reita. Maybe Reita was forced to date Ruki because why else would he be that dumb?
Ruki rolled his eyes as Aoi continued to beg him. Usually he would find some sort of amusement in the fact that one of his bandmates were begging him for something, but this time he found himself feeling annoyed. He just didn’t want to babysit, and it wasn’t because he didn’t like Toshi because he actually did; Toshi just didn’t like him. Other than the fact Toshi had a thing for Reita --something that was completely laughable-- Ruki couldn’t think of any other reason for the kid to hate him.
If he did decide to babysit, he knew Toshi would just make hell for him. Sure they were able to get along the last time Toshi was at his house, but Ruki was sure that was only because there was a puppy, and Toshi’s focus was more on his dog than his hatred toward him. This time there wouldn’t be a dog. It would just be Toshi and Ruki all alone.
“Ruki if you don’t do this for me, I swear to god I will-”
Ruki rolled his eyes again. “You got nothing on me, Shiroyama.”
Aoi made a noise of annoyance and desperation before bending down to his brother with a small smirk. He leaned down to his ear and spoke quietly. “I’m just going to leave you here with him. Ruki may act like he doesn’t care, but he actually does like you and wouldn’t leave you here all alone. I’ll put your car seat in his car before I leave. Be a good boy for him and don’t pick on him or be mean. If you’re good, Mommy and I will take you out for dinner wherever you want.” He smiled and brushed Toshi’s hair back.
Toshi smiled sweetly and nodded before taking a glance over at the vocalist. Ruki was playing with his phone and didn’t notice when Aoi kissed his brother’s forehead and walked out of the room. After five minutes of texting and sipping his coffee, he finally noticed that the room only occupied him and Toshi.
“…Where did Aoi go?” Ruki raised an eyebrow as Toshi giggled and covered his mouth. He watched as the little boy skipped over to him and placed his hands on his knees. Toshi tilted his head to the side and smiled like he always did.
“Oniisan lefted~” Toshi giggled loudly and covered his mouth.
Ruki groaned, letting his head rest on the back of the couch. He really should have known that Aoi would get his way regardless; Aoi always got what he wanted.
As much as he didn’t want to watch Toshi, he didn’t have a choice. If he left Toshi there he’d get his ass kicked by every member of his band plus the staff. As delightful as that sounded, he’d much rather suffer while listening to Toshi talk a mile a minute about candy canes and puppies… and whatever else Toshi liked to talk about.
With a slight growl, he stood up and lifted the little boy and settled him on his hip. He carried him outside and glared at his car when he spotted the car seat in his backseat. After putting Toshi in and making sure he was secure, he got in and started the car and headed toward his house.
“Just so you know,” He looked through the review mirror at the little boy, “I’m going to kill your brother when he comes to get you.”
Toshi giggled and shook his head. “Uh-uhs! You no nos hows to beaties Oniisan.” No one could beat up Aoi because he was strong and was like a superhero if superheros played guitar and liked pretty guys.
“He’s not as tough as you think he is.” Ruki snorted, but he knew he was the one who was wrong. He had watched Aoi get into a fight before, and it wasn’t pretty for the other guy. Aoi and Ruki would never actually fight anyways; they were too good of friends, and despite what others thought, the two of them were actually pretty close.
The drive to his house was short, and soon Toshi was bouncing around the house with a juice box in his hand. “Don’t get any juice on my carpet!” Ruki pointed a finger at the little boy who rolled his eyes and put his juice box on the coffee table before running and jumping on the couch.
“Don’t jump on the couch!”
Toshi stuck his tongue out and turned on the television as Ruki moved into the kitchen to make coffee. He hoped Toshi would stay quiet and be good because he really didn’t want to clean his house or get in trouble for punishing a kid, but most of all he didn’t want to get made fun of for not being able to handle Toshi.
Toshi sat on the couch much like he did while he was at Uruha’s house. Ruki’s house was a lot more boring. At least Mommy had toys he could play with. He didn’t even have Kai-chan with him because he and Aoi had been in a hurry for whatever Aoi had to do. He forgot his bear on his bed, and Aoi wouldn’t go back and get him because he was mean.
He looked around Ruki’s house and pouted. There was nothing for a kid to play with, and he knew for a fact he wasn’t allowed to play with the videogames because Ruki would get mad if he made too much noise.
But what did he care? He didn’t like Ruki anyways, and he really didn’t care if Aoi and Mommy took him out for dinner or not.
Toshi stood up on the couch and looked over the back of it at the vocalist who had his back turned to him. “RuRu, you’s housie’s borrrrriiinng~” He let his arms hang over the back of the couch in a bored fashion as he watched the older man shrug.
“My house isn’t a play place for kids.”
“You no has toys?”
Ruki snorted, “Why would I have toys?”
Toshi pouted when Ruki still didn’t turn around or give him anything to play with. If he was just meant to sit there and be bored, he was going to make some fun of his own. Truth be told, he didn’t care if he got yelled at or not. The only people he didn’t want to make mad were Mommy, Aoi, and Reita. Anyone else didn’t matter too much, except maybe Kai because Daddy always got really, really loud when he got mad.
He shrugged to himself and bounced slightly and held on to the back of the couch. Ruki still didn’t turn around so he bounced a little more. He giggled to himself; Ruki’s couch was kind of like a trampoline except it wasn’t outside. Toshi giggled more and jumped with all his might. He giggled and laughed as he jumped and his hair bounced around. Ruki said not to jump on the couch, but Ruki wasn’t his boss or his brother, so he didn’t have to listen. Ruki was just a troll.
“Shiroyama Toshi!“ Ruki turned around and yelled. Toshi was all-out jumping on his couch. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if Toshi hadn’t reached over for his juice box in the process. If a drop of red juice got on his white couch, he’d have to restrain himself from tying the kid to the tree in his backyard.
Toshi giggled and sipped his juice through the straw and smiled. “Yes~?” He may have been smiling sweetly, but Ruki knew just how much of a monster that kid really was. Toshi knew just how much Ruki hated for someone to mess up his house, and jumping on the couch and knocking the pillows off was a no-no.
“I said no jumping on the couch!”
“Not-uhs~” Toshi giggled and jumped off the couch when Ruki tried to grab him. He giggled more and ran through the room and around the couch twice as the vocalist chased after him. Ruki really wasn’t good with kids, so it was a good thing he didn’t have any kids of his own and probably never would. If Ruki did have kids, that would be scary.
The vocalist groaned as he chased after the little boy, but Toshi was really fast. Why couldn’t Toshi be more like Reita’s little sister when she was that age? Momo got along with him and liked him, and Toshi hated him and made him miserable for no reason whatsoever. While Momo sat with him quietly and listened to everything he said, Toshi would be loud and disobey because he could.
After twenty minutes, Ruki got tired of trying and sat on the couch and flipped through the channels. His house was slowly becoming a mess, and as much as he wanted to sit there and scream at the kid, he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. Toshi would only become more determined --and pissed-- and terrorize even more.
There was juice on his carpets and couch and the pillows he kept on his couch were on the floor. The house plants were knocked over and there was dirt on his white carpets, and there were even little footprints of dirt around his house from where Toshi was playing around the flowers.
Ruki’s eyebrows knitted in anger. He knew he couldn’t call Aoi and complain because he would be busy for four hours. If his house was this messy in twenty minutes, it’d be engulfed in flames after four hours.
He sank further in his seat and pouted. There was nothing he could really do. If he punished Toshi, the kid would only be more of a problem.
But he was the adult, and that meant he had the power to make the kid mind. He reached in his pocket and grabbed his phone. He couldn’t take care of a kid like Toshi on his own, and all of his bandmates were busy. There was only one person he could think of to help him, someone who was nice to him and actually like him and was good with kids.
His eyes watched Toshi as he dialed a number and held the phone up to his ear. Normally he would just be a jerk, but that was only when he was somewhere other than his own home.
“Moshi moshi~!”
Ruki get let out a sigh of relief as he held the phone. At least she answered, so now all he hoped was that she wasn’t busy. If she was, he was doomed. “Mrs. Suzuki~ Yuu-san left his evil little brother with me and he’s terrorizing my house~” He pouted as she laughed on the other end of the phone. Reita’s mom had only heard of Toshi, but she never actually met him even though she had moved to Tokyo to be closer to her son. She literally lived two streets away from Ruki and Reita, and even though she visited them often, she never visited them while the rest of the band was present --save for Kouyou who she thought of as her third son.
“Oh Takanori, he’s three. How bad could he possibly be?”
“My house is a mess and he has dirt all over my carpet, and he’s running around and jumping on everything, and he won’t listen to me when I tell him to stop, and Akira isn’t home to help me, and you know how bad I am with kids, and he’s just being a brat, and my house is a mess, Mrs. Suzuki!”
“You just need some good old fashioned parenting skills to get him to listen to you.” She spoke with amusement.
Ruki looked over at Toshi who was now pouring sugar on the floor to cover the dirt. “Will you come over and help me?” Mrs. Suzuki would never be able to say no to him, especially not since he sounded so desperate.
“Just let me get Momo ready and I’ll be over in ten minutes.”
---
Ten minutes couldn’t come fast enough, at least not in Ruki’s opinion. If anyone saw just how desperate he was for someone’s help, no one would ever take him seriously again. At least he didn’t have to pretend to be a badass around Reita’s mother since she knew him as just Takanori --the nerdy kid who liked to get good grades and work on art-- and not Ruki. She knew just how bothered he became when his house was a mess and he couldn’t handle something.
Ruki sat on the couch next to Momo while Mrs. Suzuki took matters into her own hands. Momo giggled to herself because it wasn’t her that was getting in trouble. She hardly got in trouble anyways, and since she was now eight she really didn’t do anything that was considered bad. Growing up in her family, she knew how she could and could not act. She knew for a fact that if Toshi was her brother, her mom would have made him mind on a daily basis.
“Taka-chan, does he always act like that?” Momo tilted her head when her mother lifted Toshi up and sat him in the corner. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, deciding that he didn’t like ReiRei’s mommy because she was mean and not like Kai’s mommy. If he ever married ReiRei, his mommy wasn’t allowed at their wedding.
Ruki shrugged. “He doesn’t like me. He’s sweet when he’s around the other members, especially Akira. He’s, like, in love with Akira or something.” He snorted when Momo made a face and blinked.
Mrs. Suzuki stood in the corner with Toshi and lectured him much she like did when her own children would act up, and Ruki got up and began cleaning with the help of Momo. He laughed to himself knowing that Toshi would be more than mad when Mrs. Suzuki had to take Momo home again, but he could care less. No one ever disobeyed Mrs. Suzuki, not even the most ballsy of kids. Reita’s mom wasn’t a mean person, but she hated it when kids didn’t listen to her and always made them mind.
Ruki smiled as Momo helped him put the dirt back in the pots with the plants, well, the dirt that wasn‘t covered in sugar. He moved to get the vacuum out of the hall closet and swept, but he knew he’d have to shampoo the carpets and the furniture before he was satisfied with anything. There were juice stains everywhere, and even though he was completely pissed off, he didn’t let it show for Momo’s sake.
After the floor was swept and the house was put back together --something that took more than an hour-- Ruki went to the corner and lifted Toshi up and sat him on the couch with another juice box. He sat beside him and turned on the television and flipped the channels until he landed on some cartoon he knew Toshi liked.
“Momo ReiRei’s sisder?” Toshi looked up at Ruki with big eyes. Momo was pretty, in his opinion. She was kind of like Reita, except she didn’t try to cover her face with a sock, or whatever that thing was Reita wore while he was working. She was pretty and quiet, and she was nice. She even had the same button-nose as Reita.
Ruki nodded. “Yup. She’s eight.” He noticed how Toshi had a little smirk on his face while he drank his juice. If he could get Toshi to become overly obsessed with Momo instead of Reita, maybe the kid wouldn’t hate him as much. That would definitely be alright with him because then he wouldn’t have to have him terrorizing his home anymore. “She’s cute, huh?”
Toshi nodded. “She has ReiRei’s noseies!”
“Actually, they have their father’s nose.” Ruki chuckled softly. Now that Toshi was calm and clearly wanted to talk about Momo, the remainder of their time together should be easy. If he would have known Reita’s sister was the key to making Toshi act decent towards him, he would have introduced them a long time ago… well, he didn’t technically introduce them.
Toshi sat quietly until Reita returned home and sat down next them. He noticed the juice on the floor and couch but didn’t say anything since the two of them were being oddly nice to each other. Toshi was sipping his juice while watching television and Ruki looked bored when they looked at each other.
“How was your interview?” Ruki asked him when he sat down.
Reita shrugged. “Boring as always.” He smiled and pulled Toshi onto his lap. “I see you’re babysitting.” Ruki nodded but didn’t say anything about it. He really didn’t want to admit that he had to call his boyfriend’s mom to help him make a three-year-old stop being a brat.
“How did you end up with him?”
Ruki sighed. “Aoi and Uru went to court. You had an interview. Kai was working. Kai’s mom was busy. I was the only one available, and Aoi just left him with me so I had no choice.” He shifted in his seat and looked around at the stains around his house and knitted his eyebrows in frustration. Those were going to take him forever to get rid of. “But you know what? I think you should take Toshi out for lunch or something. Y’know, to one of those places where he can play and stuff? He hasn’t eaten since Aoi left him, so I think he’s hungry. And even if he’s not, take him to the zoo or something.” He motioned to the stains and gave the bassist a look that clearly stated he should leave so he could clean.
Reita grumbled and lifted Toshi up and helped him into his shoes and jacket before taking him outside. He took the car seat from Ruki’s car and put it in his own, and after Toshi was settled, they drove off in the direction of the restaurant Toshi told him he wanted to go to.
On the way Toshi talked about how stupid Ruki was and how he was a baby and couldn’t take care of him by himself. He rolled his eyes and talked about how he didn’t like ReiRei’s mommy because she was too mean, but he liked Momo because she was quiet and nice; her only flaw was she was nice to RuRu too, and that was never good. Toshi spoke so much that Reita had a hard time keeping up with him.
“So…” Reita blinked and parked the car before getting out and helping Toshi out of his car seat. “You met my mom and sister because Ruki couldn’t handle you?”
Toshi nodded and held onto Reita’s hand while they walked toward the restaurant.
“And you don’t like my mom because you think she’s mean? But you like my sister because she’s quiet and nice?” He raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what had happened to make Ruki call his mother, but he also wasn’t going to ask. It was just easier to not know because chances were Toshi did something and Ruki didn’t know what to do and needed someone who knew how to take care of a child. That could also explain all the stains in the house.
Ruki wasn’t the type of person to take care of a child. He had no experience at all, not even when he used to help watch Momo when she was a baby. At least he always tried, and since Momo liked him and was a calm child anyways, it was never difficult. Toshi was definitely not Momo, and it didn’t help that he had it out for Ruki anyways, so he could only imagine the hell the vocalist had gone through.
“My mom isn’t mean, y’know.” He looked down at Toshi and opened the door to the restaurant. “She doesn’t like when children misbehave, and knowing you like I do, you probably did something to deserve her being called.”
Toshi pouted and hopped up into the booth. “Uh-uhs. RuRu’s a big meanie.” It wasn’t his fault he was bad and tore up their house.
The older man sat down and put his hands on the table. “No he’s not. He’s not good with certain kids, especially you. For some reason the two of you can’t get along. You know how to push his buttons and he knows how to push yours. I get that you don’t like each other much. Actually, you don’t like him because believe it or not, he actually does like you. Ruki’s always liked to be bratty to kids who pick on him, so that’s why he picks on you and argues with him you.”
“RuRu calleded me’s a mawa.”
“I have no idea what that means, but he was only picking on you.” Reita chuckled and opened the menu so they could both look at it. Toshi climbed on his lap and pretended as if he could read it and pointed a little finger at what he wanted. “Can you at least try to get along with him? I know you supposedly love me and hate him because he’s with me, or whatever, but just get along with him. It’d make it a lot easier on everyone including yourself.”
Toshi scrunched up his face slightly. He didn’t want to get along with Ruki because Ruki didn’t get along with him. “I’s no likies you’s no mores.” He shook his head and looked up at him. “I’s marries Momo now.” Momo was pretty and she wore cute dresses with her hair up in pigtails. She was like all those girls that sing on television except cuter. It wasn’t only that, but even he knew he wouldn’t be able to marry Reita in the first place.
Reita blinked. “Really? So you‘re going to stop liking me just like that? All I had to do was let you see my sister?” If he would have known it was that easy, he would have brought Momo to work with him like she always asked him to.
---
“See,” Uruha looked over at the older man and smiled, “it wasn’t that bad.” Aoi smiled softly as he looked at the road ahead of him. The court case had gone surprisingly well, although part of him wasn’t surprised. From the way his mother was, there was no way she could have won.
“She was doing well in the beginning, which was why I was worried. She made it seem like I was the bad guy, but today she showed who she really is.” Aoi parked the car outside of Ruki’s house and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Kaeda completely screwed herself over in court. In a sense she was a bit like her son when it came to her temper --or should it be said he was like her-- so when she lost her temper and raised her voice and caused a scene, the judge could see she wasn’t fit to have her son back.
They got out of the car and walked up to the house, knocking on the door. The past four hours had been stressful even though Aoi won the case, and he hoped for his own sake that Toshi had been a good boy like he was asked. Of course it wouldn’t have surprised him if Toshi didn’t listen to him because he was left with Ruki, his arch nemesis.
Reita answered the door and smiled while Toshi clung to his leg. “Come in. Taka’s on a cleaning spree, so it may be smart to stay away from him and not touch anything.” He shot a look down at the little boy and suppressed a smirk when Toshi giggled.
“We won’t stay then.” Uruha smiled and held his hands out for Toshi. The little boy moved away from Reita’s leg and grabbed the blonde’s hand, smiling when he was lifted and settled on Uruha’s hip.
Aoi smiled and ruffled his brother’s hair. “Was he good?”
“Oh, yeah.” Reita smirked and patted Toshi’s head with a small wink. Even though he had torn apart their house and had Ruki running around like he was insane with a shampooer, he wasn’t going to tell on him. Aoi had been stressed enough since the whole Kaeda case started, and Reita wasn’t one to add to the guitarist’s problems; he also wouldn’t rat Toshi out.
After yelling a thanks to Ruki --one Aoi doubted was even heard over the sound of the shampooer-- the guitarists made their way back to the car. Aoi took the car seat out of Reita’s car and put it back in his own before putting the boy in the car, and soon they were headed off in the direction of the restaurant Toshi demanded they went to.
A/N Momo was introduced into the story! Those of you who read Seventeen will remember her. She was two in that story, but now she's eight (seeing as Reita was seventeen in the oneshot, and this takes place in 2004 when he was 23). Now that Toshi is done trying to marry Reita and has his focus shifted toward Momo, we'll see what happens. I promise you his little antics aren't going to stop. xD
Genre: Fluff, Angst
Fandom: the GazettE
Pairings: Aoi/Uruha/Aoi, Reita/Ruki
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None, yet
Chapter: 13/??
Synopsis: “Do you like bubbles, Toshi?” The little boy nodded and pulled his hands apart to clap, sending bubbles flying. “Maybe some day I’ll show you how to blow bubbles with your hands.” The blonde beamed and instructed Toshi to wash his hands off. Once done, Toshi was standing and Uruha was drying his hands with a towel. Motherly; that’s what Uruha was. It made so much sense! He was pretty and cute like a girl, and he was really nice. Uruha was like a mommy. He could be Toshi’s mommy, since he didn’t really have one.
Comment: Ruki gets to babysit Toshi. xD
“Just this once, pretty please?” Aoi batted his eyelashes at Ruki, but the little vocalist just shot an annoyed look at him from across the room. There was no way. No way in hell would he babysit that kid, that little demon child. There were no Shiroyama Toshi’s allowed in his house again; that kid had it out for him and he knew it. He shook his head and turned his attention to the coffee in his hand --the roach free coffee-- and acted as if the older man wasn’t even standing there. “Ruki, no one else can watch him today and I really need to get to court.”
Ruki looked up with a bored expression on his face. “Uruha can’t watch him like usual?” The last time he checked, the guitarist didn’t have anything planned for the day. Unlike Kai, he didn’t have a mass amount of work, or have an interview like Reita. Even Kai’s mother was busy, which kind of annoyed Ruki a bit. He didn’t want to watch Toshi; that was the last thing he ever wanted to do.
“He’s coming with me.” Aoi sighed and held onto Toshi’s hand. “You’ll only have to watch him for maybe four hours. It’s really not that long, and he’s really easy to occupy. Just sit him in front of the television with a juice box and he’ll be fine.”
“Sit him in front of your own television with a juice box then. The dog can watch him and I can sit in the comfort of my home with the satisfaction of knowing I don’t have to watch a monster.”
Toshi scrunched his face up at the vocalist and stomped his feet. “I’s no a mawa.” If anyone was a monster it was Ruki; he was stupid and short, and he had weird hair, and his face looked weird, and was an alien mutant troll from Uranus. Toshi still didn’t understand how Ruki got Reita. Maybe Reita was forced to date Ruki because why else would he be that dumb?
Ruki rolled his eyes as Aoi continued to beg him. Usually he would find some sort of amusement in the fact that one of his bandmates were begging him for something, but this time he found himself feeling annoyed. He just didn’t want to babysit, and it wasn’t because he didn’t like Toshi because he actually did; Toshi just didn’t like him. Other than the fact Toshi had a thing for Reita --something that was completely laughable-- Ruki couldn’t think of any other reason for the kid to hate him.
If he did decide to babysit, he knew Toshi would just make hell for him. Sure they were able to get along the last time Toshi was at his house, but Ruki was sure that was only because there was a puppy, and Toshi’s focus was more on his dog than his hatred toward him. This time there wouldn’t be a dog. It would just be Toshi and Ruki all alone.
“Ruki if you don’t do this for me, I swear to god I will-”
Ruki rolled his eyes again. “You got nothing on me, Shiroyama.”
Aoi made a noise of annoyance and desperation before bending down to his brother with a small smirk. He leaned down to his ear and spoke quietly. “I’m just going to leave you here with him. Ruki may act like he doesn’t care, but he actually does like you and wouldn’t leave you here all alone. I’ll put your car seat in his car before I leave. Be a good boy for him and don’t pick on him or be mean. If you’re good, Mommy and I will take you out for dinner wherever you want.” He smiled and brushed Toshi’s hair back.
Toshi smiled sweetly and nodded before taking a glance over at the vocalist. Ruki was playing with his phone and didn’t notice when Aoi kissed his brother’s forehead and walked out of the room. After five minutes of texting and sipping his coffee, he finally noticed that the room only occupied him and Toshi.
“…Where did Aoi go?” Ruki raised an eyebrow as Toshi giggled and covered his mouth. He watched as the little boy skipped over to him and placed his hands on his knees. Toshi tilted his head to the side and smiled like he always did.
“Oniisan lefted~” Toshi giggled loudly and covered his mouth.
Ruki groaned, letting his head rest on the back of the couch. He really should have known that Aoi would get his way regardless; Aoi always got what he wanted.
As much as he didn’t want to watch Toshi, he didn’t have a choice. If he left Toshi there he’d get his ass kicked by every member of his band plus the staff. As delightful as that sounded, he’d much rather suffer while listening to Toshi talk a mile a minute about candy canes and puppies… and whatever else Toshi liked to talk about.
With a slight growl, he stood up and lifted the little boy and settled him on his hip. He carried him outside and glared at his car when he spotted the car seat in his backseat. After putting Toshi in and making sure he was secure, he got in and started the car and headed toward his house.
“Just so you know,” He looked through the review mirror at the little boy, “I’m going to kill your brother when he comes to get you.”
Toshi giggled and shook his head. “Uh-uhs! You no nos hows to beaties Oniisan.” No one could beat up Aoi because he was strong and was like a superhero if superheros played guitar and liked pretty guys.
“He’s not as tough as you think he is.” Ruki snorted, but he knew he was the one who was wrong. He had watched Aoi get into a fight before, and it wasn’t pretty for the other guy. Aoi and Ruki would never actually fight anyways; they were too good of friends, and despite what others thought, the two of them were actually pretty close.
The drive to his house was short, and soon Toshi was bouncing around the house with a juice box in his hand. “Don’t get any juice on my carpet!” Ruki pointed a finger at the little boy who rolled his eyes and put his juice box on the coffee table before running and jumping on the couch.
“Don’t jump on the couch!”
Toshi stuck his tongue out and turned on the television as Ruki moved into the kitchen to make coffee. He hoped Toshi would stay quiet and be good because he really didn’t want to clean his house or get in trouble for punishing a kid, but most of all he didn’t want to get made fun of for not being able to handle Toshi.
Toshi sat on the couch much like he did while he was at Uruha’s house. Ruki’s house was a lot more boring. At least Mommy had toys he could play with. He didn’t even have Kai-chan with him because he and Aoi had been in a hurry for whatever Aoi had to do. He forgot his bear on his bed, and Aoi wouldn’t go back and get him because he was mean.
He looked around Ruki’s house and pouted. There was nothing for a kid to play with, and he knew for a fact he wasn’t allowed to play with the videogames because Ruki would get mad if he made too much noise.
But what did he care? He didn’t like Ruki anyways, and he really didn’t care if Aoi and Mommy took him out for dinner or not.
Toshi stood up on the couch and looked over the back of it at the vocalist who had his back turned to him. “RuRu, you’s housie’s borrrrriiinng~” He let his arms hang over the back of the couch in a bored fashion as he watched the older man shrug.
“My house isn’t a play place for kids.”
“You no has toys?”
Ruki snorted, “Why would I have toys?”
Toshi pouted when Ruki still didn’t turn around or give him anything to play with. If he was just meant to sit there and be bored, he was going to make some fun of his own. Truth be told, he didn’t care if he got yelled at or not. The only people he didn’t want to make mad were Mommy, Aoi, and Reita. Anyone else didn’t matter too much, except maybe Kai because Daddy always got really, really loud when he got mad.
He shrugged to himself and bounced slightly and held on to the back of the couch. Ruki still didn’t turn around so he bounced a little more. He giggled to himself; Ruki’s couch was kind of like a trampoline except it wasn’t outside. Toshi giggled more and jumped with all his might. He giggled and laughed as he jumped and his hair bounced around. Ruki said not to jump on the couch, but Ruki wasn’t his boss or his brother, so he didn’t have to listen. Ruki was just a troll.
“Shiroyama Toshi!“ Ruki turned around and yelled. Toshi was all-out jumping on his couch. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if Toshi hadn’t reached over for his juice box in the process. If a drop of red juice got on his white couch, he’d have to restrain himself from tying the kid to the tree in his backyard.
Toshi giggled and sipped his juice through the straw and smiled. “Yes~?” He may have been smiling sweetly, but Ruki knew just how much of a monster that kid really was. Toshi knew just how much Ruki hated for someone to mess up his house, and jumping on the couch and knocking the pillows off was a no-no.
“I said no jumping on the couch!”
“Not-uhs~” Toshi giggled and jumped off the couch when Ruki tried to grab him. He giggled more and ran through the room and around the couch twice as the vocalist chased after him. Ruki really wasn’t good with kids, so it was a good thing he didn’t have any kids of his own and probably never would. If Ruki did have kids, that would be scary.
The vocalist groaned as he chased after the little boy, but Toshi was really fast. Why couldn’t Toshi be more like Reita’s little sister when she was that age? Momo got along with him and liked him, and Toshi hated him and made him miserable for no reason whatsoever. While Momo sat with him quietly and listened to everything he said, Toshi would be loud and disobey because he could.
After twenty minutes, Ruki got tired of trying and sat on the couch and flipped through the channels. His house was slowly becoming a mess, and as much as he wanted to sit there and scream at the kid, he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. Toshi would only become more determined --and pissed-- and terrorize even more.
There was juice on his carpets and couch and the pillows he kept on his couch were on the floor. The house plants were knocked over and there was dirt on his white carpets, and there were even little footprints of dirt around his house from where Toshi was playing around the flowers.
Ruki’s eyebrows knitted in anger. He knew he couldn’t call Aoi and complain because he would be busy for four hours. If his house was this messy in twenty minutes, it’d be engulfed in flames after four hours.
He sank further in his seat and pouted. There was nothing he could really do. If he punished Toshi, the kid would only be more of a problem.
But he was the adult, and that meant he had the power to make the kid mind. He reached in his pocket and grabbed his phone. He couldn’t take care of a kid like Toshi on his own, and all of his bandmates were busy. There was only one person he could think of to help him, someone who was nice to him and actually like him and was good with kids.
His eyes watched Toshi as he dialed a number and held the phone up to his ear. Normally he would just be a jerk, but that was only when he was somewhere other than his own home.
“Moshi moshi~!”
Ruki get let out a sigh of relief as he held the phone. At least she answered, so now all he hoped was that she wasn’t busy. If she was, he was doomed. “Mrs. Suzuki~ Yuu-san left his evil little brother with me and he’s terrorizing my house~” He pouted as she laughed on the other end of the phone. Reita’s mom had only heard of Toshi, but she never actually met him even though she had moved to Tokyo to be closer to her son. She literally lived two streets away from Ruki and Reita, and even though she visited them often, she never visited them while the rest of the band was present --save for Kouyou who she thought of as her third son.
“Oh Takanori, he’s three. How bad could he possibly be?”
“My house is a mess and he has dirt all over my carpet, and he’s running around and jumping on everything, and he won’t listen to me when I tell him to stop, and Akira isn’t home to help me, and you know how bad I am with kids, and he’s just being a brat, and my house is a mess, Mrs. Suzuki!”
“You just need some good old fashioned parenting skills to get him to listen to you.” She spoke with amusement.
Ruki looked over at Toshi who was now pouring sugar on the floor to cover the dirt. “Will you come over and help me?” Mrs. Suzuki would never be able to say no to him, especially not since he sounded so desperate.
“Just let me get Momo ready and I’ll be over in ten minutes.”
---
Ten minutes couldn’t come fast enough, at least not in Ruki’s opinion. If anyone saw just how desperate he was for someone’s help, no one would ever take him seriously again. At least he didn’t have to pretend to be a badass around Reita’s mother since she knew him as just Takanori --the nerdy kid who liked to get good grades and work on art-- and not Ruki. She knew just how bothered he became when his house was a mess and he couldn’t handle something.
Ruki sat on the couch next to Momo while Mrs. Suzuki took matters into her own hands. Momo giggled to herself because it wasn’t her that was getting in trouble. She hardly got in trouble anyways, and since she was now eight she really didn’t do anything that was considered bad. Growing up in her family, she knew how she could and could not act. She knew for a fact that if Toshi was her brother, her mom would have made him mind on a daily basis.
“Taka-chan, does he always act like that?” Momo tilted her head when her mother lifted Toshi up and sat him in the corner. He pouted and crossed his arms over his chest, deciding that he didn’t like ReiRei’s mommy because she was mean and not like Kai’s mommy. If he ever married ReiRei, his mommy wasn’t allowed at their wedding.
Ruki shrugged. “He doesn’t like me. He’s sweet when he’s around the other members, especially Akira. He’s, like, in love with Akira or something.” He snorted when Momo made a face and blinked.
Mrs. Suzuki stood in the corner with Toshi and lectured him much she like did when her own children would act up, and Ruki got up and began cleaning with the help of Momo. He laughed to himself knowing that Toshi would be more than mad when Mrs. Suzuki had to take Momo home again, but he could care less. No one ever disobeyed Mrs. Suzuki, not even the most ballsy of kids. Reita’s mom wasn’t a mean person, but she hated it when kids didn’t listen to her and always made them mind.
Ruki smiled as Momo helped him put the dirt back in the pots with the plants, well, the dirt that wasn‘t covered in sugar. He moved to get the vacuum out of the hall closet and swept, but he knew he’d have to shampoo the carpets and the furniture before he was satisfied with anything. There were juice stains everywhere, and even though he was completely pissed off, he didn’t let it show for Momo’s sake.
After the floor was swept and the house was put back together --something that took more than an hour-- Ruki went to the corner and lifted Toshi up and sat him on the couch with another juice box. He sat beside him and turned on the television and flipped the channels until he landed on some cartoon he knew Toshi liked.
“Momo ReiRei’s sisder?” Toshi looked up at Ruki with big eyes. Momo was pretty, in his opinion. She was kind of like Reita, except she didn’t try to cover her face with a sock, or whatever that thing was Reita wore while he was working. She was pretty and quiet, and she was nice. She even had the same button-nose as Reita.
Ruki nodded. “Yup. She’s eight.” He noticed how Toshi had a little smirk on his face while he drank his juice. If he could get Toshi to become overly obsessed with Momo instead of Reita, maybe the kid wouldn’t hate him as much. That would definitely be alright with him because then he wouldn’t have to have him terrorizing his home anymore. “She’s cute, huh?”
Toshi nodded. “She has ReiRei’s noseies!”
“Actually, they have their father’s nose.” Ruki chuckled softly. Now that Toshi was calm and clearly wanted to talk about Momo, the remainder of their time together should be easy. If he would have known Reita’s sister was the key to making Toshi act decent towards him, he would have introduced them a long time ago… well, he didn’t technically introduce them.
Toshi sat quietly until Reita returned home and sat down next them. He noticed the juice on the floor and couch but didn’t say anything since the two of them were being oddly nice to each other. Toshi was sipping his juice while watching television and Ruki looked bored when they looked at each other.
“How was your interview?” Ruki asked him when he sat down.
Reita shrugged. “Boring as always.” He smiled and pulled Toshi onto his lap. “I see you’re babysitting.” Ruki nodded but didn’t say anything about it. He really didn’t want to admit that he had to call his boyfriend’s mom to help him make a three-year-old stop being a brat.
“How did you end up with him?”
Ruki sighed. “Aoi and Uru went to court. You had an interview. Kai was working. Kai’s mom was busy. I was the only one available, and Aoi just left him with me so I had no choice.” He shifted in his seat and looked around at the stains around his house and knitted his eyebrows in frustration. Those were going to take him forever to get rid of. “But you know what? I think you should take Toshi out for lunch or something. Y’know, to one of those places where he can play and stuff? He hasn’t eaten since Aoi left him, so I think he’s hungry. And even if he’s not, take him to the zoo or something.” He motioned to the stains and gave the bassist a look that clearly stated he should leave so he could clean.
Reita grumbled and lifted Toshi up and helped him into his shoes and jacket before taking him outside. He took the car seat from Ruki’s car and put it in his own, and after Toshi was settled, they drove off in the direction of the restaurant Toshi told him he wanted to go to.
On the way Toshi talked about how stupid Ruki was and how he was a baby and couldn’t take care of him by himself. He rolled his eyes and talked about how he didn’t like ReiRei’s mommy because she was too mean, but he liked Momo because she was quiet and nice; her only flaw was she was nice to RuRu too, and that was never good. Toshi spoke so much that Reita had a hard time keeping up with him.
“So…” Reita blinked and parked the car before getting out and helping Toshi out of his car seat. “You met my mom and sister because Ruki couldn’t handle you?”
Toshi nodded and held onto Reita’s hand while they walked toward the restaurant.
“And you don’t like my mom because you think she’s mean? But you like my sister because she’s quiet and nice?” He raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what had happened to make Ruki call his mother, but he also wasn’t going to ask. It was just easier to not know because chances were Toshi did something and Ruki didn’t know what to do and needed someone who knew how to take care of a child. That could also explain all the stains in the house.
Ruki wasn’t the type of person to take care of a child. He had no experience at all, not even when he used to help watch Momo when she was a baby. At least he always tried, and since Momo liked him and was a calm child anyways, it was never difficult. Toshi was definitely not Momo, and it didn’t help that he had it out for Ruki anyways, so he could only imagine the hell the vocalist had gone through.
“My mom isn’t mean, y’know.” He looked down at Toshi and opened the door to the restaurant. “She doesn’t like when children misbehave, and knowing you like I do, you probably did something to deserve her being called.”
Toshi pouted and hopped up into the booth. “Uh-uhs. RuRu’s a big meanie.” It wasn’t his fault he was bad and tore up their house.
The older man sat down and put his hands on the table. “No he’s not. He’s not good with certain kids, especially you. For some reason the two of you can’t get along. You know how to push his buttons and he knows how to push yours. I get that you don’t like each other much. Actually, you don’t like him because believe it or not, he actually does like you. Ruki’s always liked to be bratty to kids who pick on him, so that’s why he picks on you and argues with him you.”
“RuRu calleded me’s a mawa.”
“I have no idea what that means, but he was only picking on you.” Reita chuckled and opened the menu so they could both look at it. Toshi climbed on his lap and pretended as if he could read it and pointed a little finger at what he wanted. “Can you at least try to get along with him? I know you supposedly love me and hate him because he’s with me, or whatever, but just get along with him. It’d make it a lot easier on everyone including yourself.”
Toshi scrunched up his face slightly. He didn’t want to get along with Ruki because Ruki didn’t get along with him. “I’s no likies you’s no mores.” He shook his head and looked up at him. “I’s marries Momo now.” Momo was pretty and she wore cute dresses with her hair up in pigtails. She was like all those girls that sing on television except cuter. It wasn’t only that, but even he knew he wouldn’t be able to marry Reita in the first place.
Reita blinked. “Really? So you‘re going to stop liking me just like that? All I had to do was let you see my sister?” If he would have known it was that easy, he would have brought Momo to work with him like she always asked him to.
---
“See,” Uruha looked over at the older man and smiled, “it wasn’t that bad.” Aoi smiled softly as he looked at the road ahead of him. The court case had gone surprisingly well, although part of him wasn’t surprised. From the way his mother was, there was no way she could have won.
“She was doing well in the beginning, which was why I was worried. She made it seem like I was the bad guy, but today she showed who she really is.” Aoi parked the car outside of Ruki’s house and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Kaeda completely screwed herself over in court. In a sense she was a bit like her son when it came to her temper --or should it be said he was like her-- so when she lost her temper and raised her voice and caused a scene, the judge could see she wasn’t fit to have her son back.
They got out of the car and walked up to the house, knocking on the door. The past four hours had been stressful even though Aoi won the case, and he hoped for his own sake that Toshi had been a good boy like he was asked. Of course it wouldn’t have surprised him if Toshi didn’t listen to him because he was left with Ruki, his arch nemesis.
Reita answered the door and smiled while Toshi clung to his leg. “Come in. Taka’s on a cleaning spree, so it may be smart to stay away from him and not touch anything.” He shot a look down at the little boy and suppressed a smirk when Toshi giggled.
“We won’t stay then.” Uruha smiled and held his hands out for Toshi. The little boy moved away from Reita’s leg and grabbed the blonde’s hand, smiling when he was lifted and settled on Uruha’s hip.
Aoi smiled and ruffled his brother’s hair. “Was he good?”
“Oh, yeah.” Reita smirked and patted Toshi’s head with a small wink. Even though he had torn apart their house and had Ruki running around like he was insane with a shampooer, he wasn’t going to tell on him. Aoi had been stressed enough since the whole Kaeda case started, and Reita wasn’t one to add to the guitarist’s problems; he also wouldn’t rat Toshi out.
After yelling a thanks to Ruki --one Aoi doubted was even heard over the sound of the shampooer-- the guitarists made their way back to the car. Aoi took the car seat out of Reita’s car and put it back in his own before putting the boy in the car, and soon they were headed off in the direction of the restaurant Toshi demanded they went to.
A/N Momo was introduced into the story! Those of you who read Seventeen will remember her. She was two in that story, but now she's eight (seeing as Reita was seventeen in the oneshot, and this takes place in 2004 when he was 23). Now that Toshi is done trying to marry Reita and has his focus shifted toward Momo, we'll see what happens. I promise you his little antics aren't going to stop. xD