Straight and Proper -- Oneshot
Title: Straight and Proper
Chapter: Oneshot
Author: invisiblehabits
Beta: musicalmimicry
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Minor disrespect of homosexuality
Pairings: Aki/Kenzo
Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t know. Won’t make money unless you feel like paying me to read.
Summary: “Why are you kissing Aki?” she yelled. “You’re not a girl!”
Comments: My Amakins, aka musicalmimicry, needed cheering up yesterday, and she's been begging me to write more about Naoto ever since the first story was posted. So here it is, more about Aki and Zo as parents! And do keep in mind they grow older as she grows older, so I may be taking a few liberties with their careers and future personalities every now and then... I hope it cheered you up Amakins! ♥
Naoto was almost nine years old the first time she walked in on them kissing. It was one of those things destined to happen, what with Kenzo’s constant invasion of personal space and need for affection combined with Aki’s inability to turn him down, but it was something neither of them really knew how to deal with. Yuki had been less than impressed when she first learned Aki was in a relationship with a man, something she’d realised rather quickly with the stories Naoto told after each time she’d visited Aki. But Aki held his ground even when Yuki threatened to not let Naoto come over anymore. Luckily he, in the end, escaped making the choice between his lover and his daughter a second time.
The moment he heard a surprised gasp echo through the darkened living room he almost wished he had though. Almost though never fully, but the knowledge he now had some serious explaining to do was not at all appealing at 10 p.m. when there were more...pressing issues at hand. Kenzo probably agreed, considering the state he was currently in and he was the one Naoto began hitting.
“Why are you kissing Aki?” she yelled. “You’re not a girl!”
Kenzo hissed and Aki didn’t miss the fact he bit down a curse, or a whole line of them if he knew the drummer correctly. The hardness digging into his thigh disappeared as the younger stepped back and Aki tried to calm the flush in his cheeks as he sat down on his heels in front of his daughter. There was about a thousand different circumstances under which he’d preferred to have this discussion, late evening with a semi hard on was as far from ideal as he could’ve ever imagined, yet it was his own fault for continuously pushing it to the future.
“Naoto, darling,” he said and gently turned his daughter’s angered attention from his lover and onto himself. “Why are you not in bed? It’s late, you should be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Naoto said simply, as if he clearly should’ve been able to figure such a thing out by himself. “Why was Zo kissing you?”
The drummer quietly slipped out the room and for once Aki would not chastise him for smoking when Naoto was in the house. When denied sex, Kenzo needed nicotine, plus it gave Aki the chance to try explaining things.
“You know Naoto, when two people really like each other they kiss, right?” It was a start, perhaps not a good one but taken by surprise Aki didn’t know how or where to begin. “Like your mother and father, or your aunt and her husband, they kiss, don’t they?”
Small brows furrowed and lips formed a pout Aki knew would break many hearts in a few years. “But they are boy and girl,” she said, smarts she’d most likely inherited from her mother shining through. “You and Zo are both boys, why are you kissing?”
She looked so puzzled, unable to break down and decipher the new information on a subject she was just beginning to consider yucky for real, cooties and all that stuff. Aki couldn’t help but smile as he stood up, praying the darkness would cover certain things that had yet to go away entirely, and beckoned her to join him on the sofa.
“Don’t you think boys can like each other the same way a boy and a girl can?” he asked softly, begging her to think it over. Perhaps it was too much to ask a child though.
“No!” Naoto sounded almost shocked at the suggestion, hopefully only because the idea had never crossed her mind. “It takes a boy and a girl to fall in love!”
“So you know what love is?” Aki hadn’t been entirely sure if Yuki had had that conversation with their daughter just yet, but whether Naoto had learnt it at home or in school didn’t really matter.
“I’m not a baby,” Naoto said matter of factly, pout worse than ever and clearly more than a little wronged. “Love is when two people like each other very very much and always want to be together.”
Aki hugged her sideways and smiled into her soft chocolatey hair. “Yes, it is. Do you think a boy could feel that way about another boy? Or a girl about another girl?”
Silence lingered for long moments when Naoto thought it over, clearly pondered the matter with all the brilliance of a nine year old. And Aki didn’t even mean it sarcastically, Naoto was intelligent in her own way and during the years she’d come to stay with him whenever it was possible he had realised that though they may not think the way adults did, children were brilliant in their own unique way.
“I guess...” she finally said and looked up at him, questions lingering in her eyes though she didn’t seem to know how to enunciate them. “Do you love Zo?”
Without looking Aki knew Kenzo was back from his smoke break, could feel black eyes lingering at the back of his neck, causing the hairs there to stand on end in no time. Listening. Few realised the small drummer was actually really good at listening when he wanted to. Like now.
“Yes I do,” Aki said honestly, never breaking the steady gaze Naoto had started, two sets of near identical eyes staring into each other. “I love Kenzo like you mother loves your father, does that make sense?”
It was a bit too easy to enjoy the warmth snuggling up to his side, trust remaining even when thoughts flew rampant. Naoto gnawed on her bottom lip in a way that reminded Aki of Kenzo, a form of social inheritance perhaps, and seemed to think hard. Did it make sense for two boys to love each other? She nodded, brown hair tickling Aki’s shoulder as she turned to look at him.
“I guess so, Zo is nice.”
“Why thank you baby,” Kenzo said from the doorway, causing the small body next to Aki to jump and look over his shoulder. She looked somewhat sceptical as he walked over and sat down on the other side of her on the sofa, leaving distance between them in case she still wanted to hit him.
“Do you love Aki?” Naoto asked just before the silence got awkward. Her brown eyes, warm just like her father’s were, bore into Kenzo as she demanded an answer.
Kenzo saw Aki freeze up ever so slightly, but it seemed Naoto didn’t notice. He didn’t blame the bassist though, they hardly ever spoke of love still. In fact, Kenzo wasn’t sure he’d said the words once since that morning in Aki’s kitchen when he forgave Aki for not telling him he had a daughter. It just wasn’t something he did. He didn’t speak about emotions but preferred showing how he felt, and he was particularly iffy about expressing love. Came with not having been very loved as a child, or so Aki had concluded.
“Yes,” he said finally, glanced up and met Aki’s almost disbelieving gaze for half a second, long enough between the two of them. If Naoto noticed his lack of attention she said nothing, because Kenzo looked at her again before fully answering her question. “Yes, I love Aki too.”
Her small face split in a sunshine grin that never failed to melt Kenzo’s heart. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the line he’d begun to love Naoto too. She was the child he had long ago accepted he would never have, because he’d known he was gay since he was about the same age Naoto was now. When the girl turned to look up at her father again Kenzo did the same, smiling softly at the pure adoration he found in Aki’s eyes.
“Does that mean you’re getting married?” Naoto asked excitedly, looking up at Aki and then back at Zo before back to her father again. It looked like she’d give herself a whiplash injury within short. “That’s what people do when they love each other, they get married and live together forever!”
A shadow of something that might be hurt crossed Aki’s face. Kenzo knew it was because Aki cared more about marriage than he’d ever done. Not in the sense the older was religious, but more because he was bisexual and the knowledge he’d never bring home a bride and introduce her to his parents sometimes got to him. It was, again, not something Kenzo had ever imagined doing and he didn’t care enough about his parents opinion about him to let any disappointment they might feel get to him.
“No darling,” Aki said. “Two boys cannot get married.”
Small brows furrowed in confusion. “Why not?”
“Because people are idiots baby,” Kenzo said before Aki had a chance to even open his mouth. “They say two boys cannot love each other, that it takes a man and a woman to love, and that only a man and a woman can get married.”
Aki gave him a sharp look, thinking Kenzo was sharing more than needed be. Naoto was too young to be bothered with the political and social side of their situation. Before tonight she hadn’t even been familiar with the idea of homosexuality! But it was obvious Kenzo didn’t agree with the way he stared pointedly into Aki’s eyes over Naoto’s head.
“What?” he said, provoking as much as defending his statement. “If she is to know about us, that we are in love, then she should also know the world outside does not accept it.”
“You’re right,” Naoto said between them, making both of them look down at her. “People are stupid. I’m tired.”
With that, and a small yawn, she hopped down from the couch and crossed the living room, clearly on her way back to the bedroom. In the doorway she stopped however, and turned back to face them in their somewhat dumbstruck states.
“But you would get married,” she said and it didn’t sound like a question. “If people weren’t stupid you’d get married, because you love each other and want to be together forever.”
Then she was gone, leaving the two of them with perhaps the weirdest goodnight they’d ever been offered. Aki was the first one to move, turning from the doorway to face his lover. Kenzo could almost guess what was to come and he licked bitten lips nervously, fingers itching for the cigarette he knew he couldn’t have indoors anymore.
“Would you?” Aki asked, a whisper more than anything.
’Would you marry me? If the world wasn’t stupid, if we were allowed to? Would you?’ His eyes spoke volumes more than his words and Kenzo heard them all. They were things he’d never even considered, but Aki looked more sincere than Kenzo’s seen him in a long time.
“Yes,” he said, surprised at how easy it was in the end. “If I was to marry anyone, it’d be you.”
’But we can’t, cause the world is fucking stupid and we’re not even allowed to hold hands on the street, so don’t, just don’t.’ Aki read Kenzo’s black eyes just as easily, but the words didn’t even sting because he had his answer. He’d never even thought about it before, marrying Kenzo, being a family for real, but suddenly the idea was appealing. It was impossible, he knew that better than anyone. The world still didn’t even know he had a daughter, even less that he was bisexual and Kenzo gay. And they were still public figures, bigger than ever after so many years in the business.
A giggle alerted them to the fact a certain someone still wasn’t in bed half a second before Naoto’s chocolate coloured hair swung around the doorpost again.
“I knew it!” she said before sprinting off, feet thumbing over the floorboards and the door to her room slamming shut. Aki looked at his lover before releasing an almost identical giggle of his own and going after her, making sure she stayed in bed this time. He felt giddy, happy when he thought he’d be nervous. The conversation could probably have been pulled off differently, better, in more appropriate ways. But at least now Naoto knew, meaning he didn’t have to worry about kissing Kenzo when she was in the room. It was a better feeling than any he’d known in a long time, and Aki knew they could deal with any problems as they came along the way.
- - -
It only took two weeks for the first problem to arise. Aki had barely gotten home from a surprisingly short day in the studio, work cut short only due to Mao’s throat beginning to act up, when there was a knock on the door. He didn’t know who he expected it to be, but seeing Yuki through the spyhole was pretty far down on the list. She usually called if she wanted or needed anything, and Aki was certain she wouldn’t leave Naoto alone if something was wrong with their daughter.
“Yuki,” he said as he opened the door. “This is a surprise, come in.”
Stepping aside he caught the look in her eyes as Yuki glanced up ever so briefly, and it almost made him wish he’d asked her to come back another time. Yuki was still a timid woman, even if added age, marriage and two more children after Naoto had given her a bit more of a backbone. Aki knew part of her had never quite forgiven him for seducing her that night nine years ago, but he couldn’t for the life of him regret it. Not now when Naoto was a fix point in it.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked when Yuki didn’t seem to know quite what to do after she’d taken her coat and shoes off. “Tea?”
She agreed and Aki led them to the kitchen and got water boiling while he found cups and tea. Yuki waited, seated by the kitchen table until he poured water into her cup and asked her to select whichever flavour she preferred. Her lips were pursed tightly and her fingers shook ever so slightly as she got herself some flowery green tea Aki had no idea why he owned. She took a silent sip once it had steeped for a little bit and spilled a few drops putting the cup down again.
“Yuki,” Aki said and tried putting a hand on hers, only to have her yank it away almost as if he’d burnt her. “What’s wrong?”
The anger he thought he’d seen before was clearly visible in her eyes as she looked up from her cup of tea. Aki realised he’d probably never seen her angry before, and if Naoto had inherited any of the temperament he could see hidden beneath Yuki’s eyes just then he pitied anyone who angered his daughter once she got older.
“You told Naoto you’re...that you are...a homosexual!” She spat the word out like it was poison and her opinion about the matter at large could not be clearer. “Why would you do that? She’s just a child, she shouldn’t hear such things!”
Aki was stunned silent and it didn’t happen very often. Yuki had known about his relationship with Kenzo for years already, and though she’d objected at first he’d never gotten the impression she was offended by it. Disgusted even, if the look on her face was any hint at all. He swallowed nervously.
“She saw me an Kenzo in the living room,” he explained and raised his hand to stop the protests he could see coming. “It was ten o’clock in the evening, we’d put her to bed hours before and were certain she was asleep. We were kissing, that’s all.”
A minor stretch of the truth, but he wasn’t about to admit that and he was rather convinced Naoto wasn’t able to tell the difference to Yuki anyhow. There had been more to the moment than just kissing, and to what took place after Naoto went back to bed for that matter, but some thing were better left unsaid.
Yuki slammed her palm down on the table, shocking him even more. “She shouldn’t see such things! It’s wrong!”
Cold fear ran down Aki’s spine as the idea Yuki might be here to take Naoto away popped into his head. It would be so easy for her to do it too, as Aki had no legal claims over his daughter whatsoever. Yes, he was the biological father, but Yuki was the one who had raised her single-handedly for the first five years of her life. Besides, unlike him, Yuki had steady home conditions to offer, not a life on the road with months and months spent away from home.
“Is it now?” someone drawled from the doorway. Aki looked up, shocked and disbelieving as his eyes landed on Kenzo who was not supposed to be there, and Yuki looked more surprised than anything as she spun around on her chair. “You must be Aoyama Yuki.”
“I am,” she confirmed and Aki shook his head softly behind her back, eyes trained on his lover. “And you are?”
Kenzo had many smiles and Aki knew them better than anyone. The one he graced Yuki with was pure malice in a polite disguise. “You can call me Kenzo, and I’m the only real homosexual in the room.”
When Yuki’s brows furrowed together in confusion Kenzo realised it looked a lot like Naoto. Hopefully the wrinkles would look more charming on the daughter than they did on the mother.
“There’s no point in lying to me,” Yuki said, lips tight even as she spoke. “I know about Akihito. And yourself.”
“So what is the problem then?” Kenzo asked and leaned against the doorpost, the very one Naoto had hidden behind last time she came to visit.
“Zo please,” Aki tried to placate his lover, but Yuki interrupted him.
“The problem is I don’t want my daughter to grow up seeing such things,” she said coldly. “It’s not alright to trick people like that!”
Something in the way she said it made Kenzo raise and eyebrow, not for real but metaphorically speaking. Even Aki reacted to it and Yuki seemed to realise her mistake, if it could be called such. The words themselves were nothing strange, during different circumstances they could’ve been interpreted as Naoto being tricked into thinking homosexuality was acceptable. No, it was the way they were being said, almost like it was a personal insult to Yuki more than Naoto.
“Yuki,” Aki dared to lean slightly across the table, close the distance between them somewhat as he drew the woman’s attention back to himself. “Do you feel like I tricked you? The night we met?”
She had the decency to blush, eyes lowered to the table for a moment as she fiddled with the cup of tea. Taking a quick sip she cleared her throat and looked back up at Aki, probably tried to conceal the hurt that still shone through in her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “But it wasn’t easy when you disappeared without a word. If it wasn’t for Mahiro, my husband, I don’t know what would’ve happened. My parents nearly disowned me when I ended up pregnant.”
It was something they’d never spoken of, mostly because they had hardly spoken at all for four years after the night they met. Then it was all about Naoto, whether or not Aki had a right to see her after so long, if Naoto wanted to see him, how much to tell her. Somehow Yuki was forgotten in the midst of it all and Aki hadn’t even realised until now.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly and contemplated taking her hand, but she had them so tightly clasped around the cup he chose not to. “I never meant to put you in such a spot. I wasn’t thinking back then, not about anyone else at least. If I could I’d change what happened back then, but...I don’t know, can I blame it on being young and stupid?”
Yuki actually laughed shortly at that. “I guess,” she said, but sobered up quickly. “I don’t know if I wrote it in the letter I sent you or not, but I nearly got an abortion before it was too late. There were many times later on I wished I’d gone through with it.”
“Don’t say that,” Kenzo bit out. He’d stayed quiet to allow the two of them to talk, knowing it wasn’t really his conversation to have. “You might as well say you regret having Naoto.”
Her brown eyes were cold as Yuki turned back to face Kenzo. “You don’t know what it was like! What it will be like for her if people find out she’s...”
“A bastard?” the drummer provided helpfully. “With gay parents none the less?”
Aki loved the way Kenzo didn’t beat around the bush, but the same quality also meant he often came off as too harsh, even cold sometimes. It was as far from the truth as one could come, but no matter how many times Aki had tried to explain the fact to his lover it was a habit he couldn’t break. Then again, sometimes it aided in moving a conversation forward.
“Yes, a child born outside of marriage,” Yuki agreed. “Whose father is a homosexual. How is she supposed to explain that to people if they find out?”
And so the topic was back where it began, perhaps where it belonged. Aki’s and Yuki’s history lay nine years back in time and there was nothing they could do about it now. They’d both moved on and the only thing remaining from then was Naoto, which for a moment Kenzo seemed to be the only one to remember.
“Kenzo is right about one thing though,” Aki said, offering an explanation to what he assumed was the question Yuki hadn’t voiced. “I’m not homosexual, I’m bisexual.”
“What difference does it make?” she asked.
“It means he didn’t trick you,” Kenzo said, still on the defensive side. “He likes both men and women, so unless you go about telling the entire story about how you fucked a rockstar her story isn’t so different from many others’.”
Aki bit back a groan at the choice of words, but he secretly agreed.
“Her biological father is still....in a relationship with another man,” Yuki said, not admitting defeat. Perhaps rightfully so.
“Does she even know I’m her biological father?” Aki asked. It was something he’d thought a lot about in the past year or so. Naoto always called him Aki, never dad or father or anything alike. On most days it didn’t bother him, but he didn’t even know how much she knew about him.
Eventually Yuki shook her head no. “But she’ll figure it out, she’s a smart girl.”
“She is,” Aki agreed. “And she sure didn’t get it from me. But it also means she would’ve figured out Kenzo and I are more than friends sooner or later anyway.”
Yuki smiled at the small joke, accepted the compliment hidden within, but she still looked troubled. Doubtful even, and Aki could still feel fear tingle along his spine.
“She’s also witty, proud, and confident,” Kenzo added. “When people question it, cause you’re right they will if they find out, Naoto will be able to answer for herself. At least if she knows what she’s talking about.”
He moved over to stand next to his lover, slightly behind Aki without touching him as he felt no need to provoke the woman anymore. “You forget one thing though,” he added. “We’re both celebrities or whatever, we have nothing to gain from making our relationship public.”
“More reasons for you not to have a child in your life,” Yuki said and Aki froze. “Children talk.”
“No, Yuki please don’t do this,” he begged, voice barely more than a whisper all of a sudden.
“You’re right,” Kenzo agreed and Aki whipped around to stare at him in disbelief, feeling more betrayed than he could ever remember. “But Naoto’s been in our life for four years. She’s Aki’s daughter and like a daughter to me, I love her. And I’m not about to let her go.”
The look in Aki’s eyes had gone from disbelieved betrayal to simply disbelief. He’d never once heard Kenzo talk about Naoto in such a way, but hearing it didn’t surprise him as much as he would’ve expected. Kenzo showed he loved people even when he didn’t say it, and it was obvious in everything he did around the girl he cared about her. Reaching out Aki took Kenzo’s hand in his before turning back to Yuki.
“Please Yuki,” he repeated. “I know it’s a weird situation, but she’s my daughter. I won’t ever try to take her away from you or teach her things you don’t agree to-”
“Aside from accepting homosexuality,” Kenzo interrupted.
“That’s up to Naoto, Zo,” Aki said, no less final than Kenzo’s words had been. “I want to teach her to be acceptant of people, but that’s pretty much the only condition I’ll ever put up. She can call me Aki and keep thinking your husband is her father, I don’t care, I just want to have her around.”
There was a minute or two of complete silence after his words. Yuki was clearly debating with herself and Kenzo could feel the sweat break out on Aki’s palm. They were both nervous, but he tried to stay strong for Aki’s sake.
“Okay,” Yuki finally said. “Okay. She likes you, likes coming here, just... Just don’t influence her with it, I don’t want her to grow up homosexual.”
Aki squeezed the fingers in his warningly. He knew what Kenzo wanted to say, but now was not the time nor place for such lectures. Instead he stood up and actually bowed deep to Yuki, the mother of his child. He couldn’t see it, but Kenzo saw the surprise written on her face.
- - -
Either a tornado had moved through the living room or there was a child in the apartment. It was the only conclusion Kenzo could draw as he hung his jacket inside the door and looked around the space. Giggles, near identical only one male and one female, could be heard from the kitchen and so he moved there. Aki and Naoto were at the stove, making pancakes by the look and smell of it. There was flour in Naoto’s dark hair and her fingers held the unmistakable purple colour of blueberries.
“I hope I’m not late for dinner,” he said with a grin and Naoto nearly fell off the stool she stood on as she whipped around. “Aki’s pancakes are the best.”
“Zo! You’re home!”
She threw herself at him and he only laughed at the white fingerprints on his expensive leather jacket. Hugging her small body close he felt a surge of relief they were still allowed to see her. “I am baby, and you’ve got me for the entire weekend.”
“Good!” she exclaimed and looked up at him, grinning wide and probably very aware of how her pointy chin was digging into his stomach. “Cause we are eating pancakes and then we’re playing the new game I got today.”
Aki looked at the two of them together and smiled. They were a family, perhaps not an ordinary one and definitely not one society at large would agree to. Sooner or later it would get out, he was rather certain of it, if nothing else then when Naoto got a little older and got interested in music for real. It was like Yuki had pointed out, children talked. He had no idea what his fans would say to the fact he had a daughter, even less about his boyfriend, but they were bridges he was willing to cross once he got to them.
“Come on you two,” he said softly and moved the last pancake from the pan to the heated plate he’d kept in the oven. “Dinner, if it’s allowed to be called that, is served.”
Kenzo brought Naoto to the sink to wash the flour off her fingers and then they all helped themselves to their sugar sweet dinner. It was all play and fun and a perfect Friday night. Naoto kept nagging about playing the game, a board game to Kenzo’s great horror, and Aki kept telling her to finish her pancakes first. Eventually they were all gone though, and he pretended he hadn’t seen the last pieces she smuggled onto Kenzo’s plate.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “Finish your milk, it’s good for you, then go get the game. We’ll set it up in here, the table’s bigger.”
She nearly choked on the drink as she tried to cry out in glee while drinking and Kenzo laughed at her as he licked the last syrup from his fingers, forever the one to eat with his hands. Standing up he brought the plates to the sink and left them, figuring the dishes could wait till after Naoto went to bed.
“Thanks for dinner babe,” he said as he met Aki in the middle of the floor, milk and syrup tucked away by the bassist.
“You’re welcome,” the older said and stepped into the offered embrace. “And welcome home.”
It wasn’t Kenzo’s official home, he still had his small overcrowded house for show, but he spent most of his time off the road in Aki’s apartment. Their kiss, something they were still hesitant to share in front of Naoto but no longer openly refrained from doing, was interrupted by a childish outburst.
“Eeeeew, cooties!” Naoto had her entire face screwed up even as she giggled and the game was held out towards them. “No more kissing! Let’s play!”
“Fine, brat!” Kenzo said and picked the game from her hands, threw one look at it and passed it on to Aki when he didn’t immediately get how to put the game plan together. “But you can’t really say that, can you? Me and Aki have the same cooties, we can’t infect each other cause we’re both boys.”
The puzzled look on her face was absolutely adorable and Kenzo grinned as he beckoned her closer to the table, had to lift her into her chair as she was clearly still pondering the matter. Aki gave him a warning look but was thoroughly ignored by both of them.
“You’re right,” she finally concluded, sunshine grin back in place. “You’re smart to be gay cause cooties are yucky!”
Kenzo burst out laughing while Aki nearly choked on air. “Naoto! Where did you even learn to call it that?!”
“Gay?” she questioned. “Zo says it all the time, that he’s gay and you’re just a wannabe.”
“Okay, seriously, no more sugar for you,” Aki said while Kenzo howled with laughter, nearly falling out of his chair in the process and pulling Naoto with him into hysterical giggles. “For either of you! Are we playing or not?”
Together they set up the game, read the rules, and had a game night like a proper family. But every time Kenzo and Naoto looked at each other they broke down laughing again, and there was nothing Aki could do or say to stop it.
It took hours to get them to calm down, meaning Naoto was up way past her bedtime. But eventually she fell asleep on the couch watching an anime, head in Aki’s lap and legs thrown across Kenzo’s. Aki carried her to bed and somehow wrestled her out of her clothes without her waking up too much while Kenzo watched from the doorway. They’d set up a room of her own for her, and it was as tomboyish as she’d always been. Nothing pink or frilly to be seen, but Kenzo was slowly getting her hooked on sparkly things at least.
“Be careful with what you tell her babe, please?” Aki whispered as he joined his partner by the door, wrapped his arms around the smaller body and hugged him close as they watched Naoto sleep. “Yuki will accuse you of trying to influence her or something.”
“I’m not,” the drummer defended himself. “I’m teaching her acceptation, just like you wanted.”
Aki was silent for a beat, then shook his head in defeat and leaned down to place a soft kiss on bitten lips. “Damn you for always winning.”
Kenzo felt the smile against his lip and he smiled back into the kiss. “Come on, before she wakes up and starts mumbling about cooties again.”
“No cooties,” was mumbled from beneath the blankets and Aki had to place a hand over Kenzo’s lips to keep him from waking Naoto up as they backed out of the room.
Chapter: Oneshot
Author: invisiblehabits
Beta: musicalmimicry
Genre: Romance/Drama
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Minor disrespect of homosexuality
Pairings: Aki/Kenzo
Disclaimer: Don’t own, don’t know. Won’t make money unless you feel like paying me to read.
Summary: “Why are you kissing Aki?” she yelled. “You’re not a girl!”
Comments: My Amakins, aka musicalmimicry, needed cheering up yesterday, and she's been begging me to write more about Naoto ever since the first story was posted. So here it is, more about Aki and Zo as parents! And do keep in mind they grow older as she grows older, so I may be taking a few liberties with their careers and future personalities every now and then... I hope it cheered you up Amakins! ♥
Naoto was almost nine years old the first time she walked in on them kissing. It was one of those things destined to happen, what with Kenzo’s constant invasion of personal space and need for affection combined with Aki’s inability to turn him down, but it was something neither of them really knew how to deal with. Yuki had been less than impressed when she first learned Aki was in a relationship with a man, something she’d realised rather quickly with the stories Naoto told after each time she’d visited Aki. But Aki held his ground even when Yuki threatened to not let Naoto come over anymore. Luckily he, in the end, escaped making the choice between his lover and his daughter a second time.
The moment he heard a surprised gasp echo through the darkened living room he almost wished he had though. Almost though never fully, but the knowledge he now had some serious explaining to do was not at all appealing at 10 p.m. when there were more...pressing issues at hand. Kenzo probably agreed, considering the state he was currently in and he was the one Naoto began hitting.
“Why are you kissing Aki?” she yelled. “You’re not a girl!”
Kenzo hissed and Aki didn’t miss the fact he bit down a curse, or a whole line of them if he knew the drummer correctly. The hardness digging into his thigh disappeared as the younger stepped back and Aki tried to calm the flush in his cheeks as he sat down on his heels in front of his daughter. There was about a thousand different circumstances under which he’d preferred to have this discussion, late evening with a semi hard on was as far from ideal as he could’ve ever imagined, yet it was his own fault for continuously pushing it to the future.
“Naoto, darling,” he said and gently turned his daughter’s angered attention from his lover and onto himself. “Why are you not in bed? It’s late, you should be sleeping.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Naoto said simply, as if he clearly should’ve been able to figure such a thing out by himself. “Why was Zo kissing you?”
The drummer quietly slipped out the room and for once Aki would not chastise him for smoking when Naoto was in the house. When denied sex, Kenzo needed nicotine, plus it gave Aki the chance to try explaining things.
“You know Naoto, when two people really like each other they kiss, right?” It was a start, perhaps not a good one but taken by surprise Aki didn’t know how or where to begin. “Like your mother and father, or your aunt and her husband, they kiss, don’t they?”
Small brows furrowed and lips formed a pout Aki knew would break many hearts in a few years. “But they are boy and girl,” she said, smarts she’d most likely inherited from her mother shining through. “You and Zo are both boys, why are you kissing?”
She looked so puzzled, unable to break down and decipher the new information on a subject she was just beginning to consider yucky for real, cooties and all that stuff. Aki couldn’t help but smile as he stood up, praying the darkness would cover certain things that had yet to go away entirely, and beckoned her to join him on the sofa.
“Don’t you think boys can like each other the same way a boy and a girl can?” he asked softly, begging her to think it over. Perhaps it was too much to ask a child though.
“No!” Naoto sounded almost shocked at the suggestion, hopefully only because the idea had never crossed her mind. “It takes a boy and a girl to fall in love!”
“So you know what love is?” Aki hadn’t been entirely sure if Yuki had had that conversation with their daughter just yet, but whether Naoto had learnt it at home or in school didn’t really matter.
“I’m not a baby,” Naoto said matter of factly, pout worse than ever and clearly more than a little wronged. “Love is when two people like each other very very much and always want to be together.”
Aki hugged her sideways and smiled into her soft chocolatey hair. “Yes, it is. Do you think a boy could feel that way about another boy? Or a girl about another girl?”
Silence lingered for long moments when Naoto thought it over, clearly pondered the matter with all the brilliance of a nine year old. And Aki didn’t even mean it sarcastically, Naoto was intelligent in her own way and during the years she’d come to stay with him whenever it was possible he had realised that though they may not think the way adults did, children were brilliant in their own unique way.
“I guess...” she finally said and looked up at him, questions lingering in her eyes though she didn’t seem to know how to enunciate them. “Do you love Zo?”
Without looking Aki knew Kenzo was back from his smoke break, could feel black eyes lingering at the back of his neck, causing the hairs there to stand on end in no time. Listening. Few realised the small drummer was actually really good at listening when he wanted to. Like now.
“Yes I do,” Aki said honestly, never breaking the steady gaze Naoto had started, two sets of near identical eyes staring into each other. “I love Kenzo like you mother loves your father, does that make sense?”
It was a bit too easy to enjoy the warmth snuggling up to his side, trust remaining even when thoughts flew rampant. Naoto gnawed on her bottom lip in a way that reminded Aki of Kenzo, a form of social inheritance perhaps, and seemed to think hard. Did it make sense for two boys to love each other? She nodded, brown hair tickling Aki’s shoulder as she turned to look at him.
“I guess so, Zo is nice.”
“Why thank you baby,” Kenzo said from the doorway, causing the small body next to Aki to jump and look over his shoulder. She looked somewhat sceptical as he walked over and sat down on the other side of her on the sofa, leaving distance between them in case she still wanted to hit him.
“Do you love Aki?” Naoto asked just before the silence got awkward. Her brown eyes, warm just like her father’s were, bore into Kenzo as she demanded an answer.
Kenzo saw Aki freeze up ever so slightly, but it seemed Naoto didn’t notice. He didn’t blame the bassist though, they hardly ever spoke of love still. In fact, Kenzo wasn’t sure he’d said the words once since that morning in Aki’s kitchen when he forgave Aki for not telling him he had a daughter. It just wasn’t something he did. He didn’t speak about emotions but preferred showing how he felt, and he was particularly iffy about expressing love. Came with not having been very loved as a child, or so Aki had concluded.
“Yes,” he said finally, glanced up and met Aki’s almost disbelieving gaze for half a second, long enough between the two of them. If Naoto noticed his lack of attention she said nothing, because Kenzo looked at her again before fully answering her question. “Yes, I love Aki too.”
Her small face split in a sunshine grin that never failed to melt Kenzo’s heart. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere along the line he’d begun to love Naoto too. She was the child he had long ago accepted he would never have, because he’d known he was gay since he was about the same age Naoto was now. When the girl turned to look up at her father again Kenzo did the same, smiling softly at the pure adoration he found in Aki’s eyes.
“Does that mean you’re getting married?” Naoto asked excitedly, looking up at Aki and then back at Zo before back to her father again. It looked like she’d give herself a whiplash injury within short. “That’s what people do when they love each other, they get married and live together forever!”
A shadow of something that might be hurt crossed Aki’s face. Kenzo knew it was because Aki cared more about marriage than he’d ever done. Not in the sense the older was religious, but more because he was bisexual and the knowledge he’d never bring home a bride and introduce her to his parents sometimes got to him. It was, again, not something Kenzo had ever imagined doing and he didn’t care enough about his parents opinion about him to let any disappointment they might feel get to him.
“No darling,” Aki said. “Two boys cannot get married.”
Small brows furrowed in confusion. “Why not?”
“Because people are idiots baby,” Kenzo said before Aki had a chance to even open his mouth. “They say two boys cannot love each other, that it takes a man and a woman to love, and that only a man and a woman can get married.”
Aki gave him a sharp look, thinking Kenzo was sharing more than needed be. Naoto was too young to be bothered with the political and social side of their situation. Before tonight she hadn’t even been familiar with the idea of homosexuality! But it was obvious Kenzo didn’t agree with the way he stared pointedly into Aki’s eyes over Naoto’s head.
“What?” he said, provoking as much as defending his statement. “If she is to know about us, that we are in love, then she should also know the world outside does not accept it.”
“You’re right,” Naoto said between them, making both of them look down at her. “People are stupid. I’m tired.”
With that, and a small yawn, she hopped down from the couch and crossed the living room, clearly on her way back to the bedroom. In the doorway she stopped however, and turned back to face them in their somewhat dumbstruck states.
“But you would get married,” she said and it didn’t sound like a question. “If people weren’t stupid you’d get married, because you love each other and want to be together forever.”
Then she was gone, leaving the two of them with perhaps the weirdest goodnight they’d ever been offered. Aki was the first one to move, turning from the doorway to face his lover. Kenzo could almost guess what was to come and he licked bitten lips nervously, fingers itching for the cigarette he knew he couldn’t have indoors anymore.
“Would you?” Aki asked, a whisper more than anything.
’Would you marry me? If the world wasn’t stupid, if we were allowed to? Would you?’ His eyes spoke volumes more than his words and Kenzo heard them all. They were things he’d never even considered, but Aki looked more sincere than Kenzo’s seen him in a long time.
“Yes,” he said, surprised at how easy it was in the end. “If I was to marry anyone, it’d be you.”
’But we can’t, cause the world is fucking stupid and we’re not even allowed to hold hands on the street, so don’t, just don’t.’ Aki read Kenzo’s black eyes just as easily, but the words didn’t even sting because he had his answer. He’d never even thought about it before, marrying Kenzo, being a family for real, but suddenly the idea was appealing. It was impossible, he knew that better than anyone. The world still didn’t even know he had a daughter, even less that he was bisexual and Kenzo gay. And they were still public figures, bigger than ever after so many years in the business.
A giggle alerted them to the fact a certain someone still wasn’t in bed half a second before Naoto’s chocolate coloured hair swung around the doorpost again.
“I knew it!” she said before sprinting off, feet thumbing over the floorboards and the door to her room slamming shut. Aki looked at his lover before releasing an almost identical giggle of his own and going after her, making sure she stayed in bed this time. He felt giddy, happy when he thought he’d be nervous. The conversation could probably have been pulled off differently, better, in more appropriate ways. But at least now Naoto knew, meaning he didn’t have to worry about kissing Kenzo when she was in the room. It was a better feeling than any he’d known in a long time, and Aki knew they could deal with any problems as they came along the way.
- - -
It only took two weeks for the first problem to arise. Aki had barely gotten home from a surprisingly short day in the studio, work cut short only due to Mao’s throat beginning to act up, when there was a knock on the door. He didn’t know who he expected it to be, but seeing Yuki through the spyhole was pretty far down on the list. She usually called if she wanted or needed anything, and Aki was certain she wouldn’t leave Naoto alone if something was wrong with their daughter.
“Yuki,” he said as he opened the door. “This is a surprise, come in.”
Stepping aside he caught the look in her eyes as Yuki glanced up ever so briefly, and it almost made him wish he’d asked her to come back another time. Yuki was still a timid woman, even if added age, marriage and two more children after Naoto had given her a bit more of a backbone. Aki knew part of her had never quite forgiven him for seducing her that night nine years ago, but he couldn’t for the life of him regret it. Not now when Naoto was a fix point in it.
“Can I get you anything?” he asked when Yuki didn’t seem to know quite what to do after she’d taken her coat and shoes off. “Tea?”
She agreed and Aki led them to the kitchen and got water boiling while he found cups and tea. Yuki waited, seated by the kitchen table until he poured water into her cup and asked her to select whichever flavour she preferred. Her lips were pursed tightly and her fingers shook ever so slightly as she got herself some flowery green tea Aki had no idea why he owned. She took a silent sip once it had steeped for a little bit and spilled a few drops putting the cup down again.
“Yuki,” Aki said and tried putting a hand on hers, only to have her yank it away almost as if he’d burnt her. “What’s wrong?”
The anger he thought he’d seen before was clearly visible in her eyes as she looked up from her cup of tea. Aki realised he’d probably never seen her angry before, and if Naoto had inherited any of the temperament he could see hidden beneath Yuki’s eyes just then he pitied anyone who angered his daughter once she got older.
“You told Naoto you’re...that you are...a homosexual!” She spat the word out like it was poison and her opinion about the matter at large could not be clearer. “Why would you do that? She’s just a child, she shouldn’t hear such things!”
Aki was stunned silent and it didn’t happen very often. Yuki had known about his relationship with Kenzo for years already, and though she’d objected at first he’d never gotten the impression she was offended by it. Disgusted even, if the look on her face was any hint at all. He swallowed nervously.
“She saw me an Kenzo in the living room,” he explained and raised his hand to stop the protests he could see coming. “It was ten o’clock in the evening, we’d put her to bed hours before and were certain she was asleep. We were kissing, that’s all.”
A minor stretch of the truth, but he wasn’t about to admit that and he was rather convinced Naoto wasn’t able to tell the difference to Yuki anyhow. There had been more to the moment than just kissing, and to what took place after Naoto went back to bed for that matter, but some thing were better left unsaid.
Yuki slammed her palm down on the table, shocking him even more. “She shouldn’t see such things! It’s wrong!”
Cold fear ran down Aki’s spine as the idea Yuki might be here to take Naoto away popped into his head. It would be so easy for her to do it too, as Aki had no legal claims over his daughter whatsoever. Yes, he was the biological father, but Yuki was the one who had raised her single-handedly for the first five years of her life. Besides, unlike him, Yuki had steady home conditions to offer, not a life on the road with months and months spent away from home.
“Is it now?” someone drawled from the doorway. Aki looked up, shocked and disbelieving as his eyes landed on Kenzo who was not supposed to be there, and Yuki looked more surprised than anything as she spun around on her chair. “You must be Aoyama Yuki.”
“I am,” she confirmed and Aki shook his head softly behind her back, eyes trained on his lover. “And you are?”
Kenzo had many smiles and Aki knew them better than anyone. The one he graced Yuki with was pure malice in a polite disguise. “You can call me Kenzo, and I’m the only real homosexual in the room.”
When Yuki’s brows furrowed together in confusion Kenzo realised it looked a lot like Naoto. Hopefully the wrinkles would look more charming on the daughter than they did on the mother.
“There’s no point in lying to me,” Yuki said, lips tight even as she spoke. “I know about Akihito. And yourself.”
“So what is the problem then?” Kenzo asked and leaned against the doorpost, the very one Naoto had hidden behind last time she came to visit.
“Zo please,” Aki tried to placate his lover, but Yuki interrupted him.
“The problem is I don’t want my daughter to grow up seeing such things,” she said coldly. “It’s not alright to trick people like that!”
Something in the way she said it made Kenzo raise and eyebrow, not for real but metaphorically speaking. Even Aki reacted to it and Yuki seemed to realise her mistake, if it could be called such. The words themselves were nothing strange, during different circumstances they could’ve been interpreted as Naoto being tricked into thinking homosexuality was acceptable. No, it was the way they were being said, almost like it was a personal insult to Yuki more than Naoto.
“Yuki,” Aki dared to lean slightly across the table, close the distance between them somewhat as he drew the woman’s attention back to himself. “Do you feel like I tricked you? The night we met?”
She had the decency to blush, eyes lowered to the table for a moment as she fiddled with the cup of tea. Taking a quick sip she cleared her throat and looked back up at Aki, probably tried to conceal the hurt that still shone through in her eyes.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “But it wasn’t easy when you disappeared without a word. If it wasn’t for Mahiro, my husband, I don’t know what would’ve happened. My parents nearly disowned me when I ended up pregnant.”
It was something they’d never spoken of, mostly because they had hardly spoken at all for four years after the night they met. Then it was all about Naoto, whether or not Aki had a right to see her after so long, if Naoto wanted to see him, how much to tell her. Somehow Yuki was forgotten in the midst of it all and Aki hadn’t even realised until now.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly and contemplated taking her hand, but she had them so tightly clasped around the cup he chose not to. “I never meant to put you in such a spot. I wasn’t thinking back then, not about anyone else at least. If I could I’d change what happened back then, but...I don’t know, can I blame it on being young and stupid?”
Yuki actually laughed shortly at that. “I guess,” she said, but sobered up quickly. “I don’t know if I wrote it in the letter I sent you or not, but I nearly got an abortion before it was too late. There were many times later on I wished I’d gone through with it.”
“Don’t say that,” Kenzo bit out. He’d stayed quiet to allow the two of them to talk, knowing it wasn’t really his conversation to have. “You might as well say you regret having Naoto.”
Her brown eyes were cold as Yuki turned back to face Kenzo. “You don’t know what it was like! What it will be like for her if people find out she’s...”
“A bastard?” the drummer provided helpfully. “With gay parents none the less?”
Aki loved the way Kenzo didn’t beat around the bush, but the same quality also meant he often came off as too harsh, even cold sometimes. It was as far from the truth as one could come, but no matter how many times Aki had tried to explain the fact to his lover it was a habit he couldn’t break. Then again, sometimes it aided in moving a conversation forward.
“Yes, a child born outside of marriage,” Yuki agreed. “Whose father is a homosexual. How is she supposed to explain that to people if they find out?”
And so the topic was back where it began, perhaps where it belonged. Aki’s and Yuki’s history lay nine years back in time and there was nothing they could do about it now. They’d both moved on and the only thing remaining from then was Naoto, which for a moment Kenzo seemed to be the only one to remember.
“Kenzo is right about one thing though,” Aki said, offering an explanation to what he assumed was the question Yuki hadn’t voiced. “I’m not homosexual, I’m bisexual.”
“What difference does it make?” she asked.
“It means he didn’t trick you,” Kenzo said, still on the defensive side. “He likes both men and women, so unless you go about telling the entire story about how you fucked a rockstar her story isn’t so different from many others’.”
Aki bit back a groan at the choice of words, but he secretly agreed.
“Her biological father is still....in a relationship with another man,” Yuki said, not admitting defeat. Perhaps rightfully so.
“Does she even know I’m her biological father?” Aki asked. It was something he’d thought a lot about in the past year or so. Naoto always called him Aki, never dad or father or anything alike. On most days it didn’t bother him, but he didn’t even know how much she knew about him.
Eventually Yuki shook her head no. “But she’ll figure it out, she’s a smart girl.”
“She is,” Aki agreed. “And she sure didn’t get it from me. But it also means she would’ve figured out Kenzo and I are more than friends sooner or later anyway.”
Yuki smiled at the small joke, accepted the compliment hidden within, but she still looked troubled. Doubtful even, and Aki could still feel fear tingle along his spine.
“She’s also witty, proud, and confident,” Kenzo added. “When people question it, cause you’re right they will if they find out, Naoto will be able to answer for herself. At least if she knows what she’s talking about.”
He moved over to stand next to his lover, slightly behind Aki without touching him as he felt no need to provoke the woman anymore. “You forget one thing though,” he added. “We’re both celebrities or whatever, we have nothing to gain from making our relationship public.”
“More reasons for you not to have a child in your life,” Yuki said and Aki froze. “Children talk.”
“No, Yuki please don’t do this,” he begged, voice barely more than a whisper all of a sudden.
“You’re right,” Kenzo agreed and Aki whipped around to stare at him in disbelief, feeling more betrayed than he could ever remember. “But Naoto’s been in our life for four years. She’s Aki’s daughter and like a daughter to me, I love her. And I’m not about to let her go.”
The look in Aki’s eyes had gone from disbelieved betrayal to simply disbelief. He’d never once heard Kenzo talk about Naoto in such a way, but hearing it didn’t surprise him as much as he would’ve expected. Kenzo showed he loved people even when he didn’t say it, and it was obvious in everything he did around the girl he cared about her. Reaching out Aki took Kenzo’s hand in his before turning back to Yuki.
“Please Yuki,” he repeated. “I know it’s a weird situation, but she’s my daughter. I won’t ever try to take her away from you or teach her things you don’t agree to-”
“Aside from accepting homosexuality,” Kenzo interrupted.
“That’s up to Naoto, Zo,” Aki said, no less final than Kenzo’s words had been. “I want to teach her to be acceptant of people, but that’s pretty much the only condition I’ll ever put up. She can call me Aki and keep thinking your husband is her father, I don’t care, I just want to have her around.”
There was a minute or two of complete silence after his words. Yuki was clearly debating with herself and Kenzo could feel the sweat break out on Aki’s palm. They were both nervous, but he tried to stay strong for Aki’s sake.
“Okay,” Yuki finally said. “Okay. She likes you, likes coming here, just... Just don’t influence her with it, I don’t want her to grow up homosexual.”
Aki squeezed the fingers in his warningly. He knew what Kenzo wanted to say, but now was not the time nor place for such lectures. Instead he stood up and actually bowed deep to Yuki, the mother of his child. He couldn’t see it, but Kenzo saw the surprise written on her face.
- - -
Either a tornado had moved through the living room or there was a child in the apartment. It was the only conclusion Kenzo could draw as he hung his jacket inside the door and looked around the space. Giggles, near identical only one male and one female, could be heard from the kitchen and so he moved there. Aki and Naoto were at the stove, making pancakes by the look and smell of it. There was flour in Naoto’s dark hair and her fingers held the unmistakable purple colour of blueberries.
“I hope I’m not late for dinner,” he said with a grin and Naoto nearly fell off the stool she stood on as she whipped around. “Aki’s pancakes are the best.”
“Zo! You’re home!”
She threw herself at him and he only laughed at the white fingerprints on his expensive leather jacket. Hugging her small body close he felt a surge of relief they were still allowed to see her. “I am baby, and you’ve got me for the entire weekend.”
“Good!” she exclaimed and looked up at him, grinning wide and probably very aware of how her pointy chin was digging into his stomach. “Cause we are eating pancakes and then we’re playing the new game I got today.”
Aki looked at the two of them together and smiled. They were a family, perhaps not an ordinary one and definitely not one society at large would agree to. Sooner or later it would get out, he was rather certain of it, if nothing else then when Naoto got a little older and got interested in music for real. It was like Yuki had pointed out, children talked. He had no idea what his fans would say to the fact he had a daughter, even less about his boyfriend, but they were bridges he was willing to cross once he got to them.
“Come on you two,” he said softly and moved the last pancake from the pan to the heated plate he’d kept in the oven. “Dinner, if it’s allowed to be called that, is served.”
Kenzo brought Naoto to the sink to wash the flour off her fingers and then they all helped themselves to their sugar sweet dinner. It was all play and fun and a perfect Friday night. Naoto kept nagging about playing the game, a board game to Kenzo’s great horror, and Aki kept telling her to finish her pancakes first. Eventually they were all gone though, and he pretended he hadn’t seen the last pieces she smuggled onto Kenzo’s plate.
“Fine, fine,” he said. “Finish your milk, it’s good for you, then go get the game. We’ll set it up in here, the table’s bigger.”
She nearly choked on the drink as she tried to cry out in glee while drinking and Kenzo laughed at her as he licked the last syrup from his fingers, forever the one to eat with his hands. Standing up he brought the plates to the sink and left them, figuring the dishes could wait till after Naoto went to bed.
“Thanks for dinner babe,” he said as he met Aki in the middle of the floor, milk and syrup tucked away by the bassist.
“You’re welcome,” the older said and stepped into the offered embrace. “And welcome home.”
It wasn’t Kenzo’s official home, he still had his small overcrowded house for show, but he spent most of his time off the road in Aki’s apartment. Their kiss, something they were still hesitant to share in front of Naoto but no longer openly refrained from doing, was interrupted by a childish outburst.
“Eeeeew, cooties!” Naoto had her entire face screwed up even as she giggled and the game was held out towards them. “No more kissing! Let’s play!”
“Fine, brat!” Kenzo said and picked the game from her hands, threw one look at it and passed it on to Aki when he didn’t immediately get how to put the game plan together. “But you can’t really say that, can you? Me and Aki have the same cooties, we can’t infect each other cause we’re both boys.”
The puzzled look on her face was absolutely adorable and Kenzo grinned as he beckoned her closer to the table, had to lift her into her chair as she was clearly still pondering the matter. Aki gave him a warning look but was thoroughly ignored by both of them.
“You’re right,” she finally concluded, sunshine grin back in place. “You’re smart to be gay cause cooties are yucky!”
Kenzo burst out laughing while Aki nearly choked on air. “Naoto! Where did you even learn to call it that?!”
“Gay?” she questioned. “Zo says it all the time, that he’s gay and you’re just a wannabe.”
“Okay, seriously, no more sugar for you,” Aki said while Kenzo howled with laughter, nearly falling out of his chair in the process and pulling Naoto with him into hysterical giggles. “For either of you! Are we playing or not?”
Together they set up the game, read the rules, and had a game night like a proper family. But every time Kenzo and Naoto looked at each other they broke down laughing again, and there was nothing Aki could do or say to stop it.
It took hours to get them to calm down, meaning Naoto was up way past her bedtime. But eventually she fell asleep on the couch watching an anime, head in Aki’s lap and legs thrown across Kenzo’s. Aki carried her to bed and somehow wrestled her out of her clothes without her waking up too much while Kenzo watched from the doorway. They’d set up a room of her own for her, and it was as tomboyish as she’d always been. Nothing pink or frilly to be seen, but Kenzo was slowly getting her hooked on sparkly things at least.
“Be careful with what you tell her babe, please?” Aki whispered as he joined his partner by the door, wrapped his arms around the smaller body and hugged him close as they watched Naoto sleep. “Yuki will accuse you of trying to influence her or something.”
“I’m not,” the drummer defended himself. “I’m teaching her acceptation, just like you wanted.”
Aki was silent for a beat, then shook his head in defeat and leaned down to place a soft kiss on bitten lips. “Damn you for always winning.”
Kenzo felt the smile against his lip and he smiled back into the kiss. “Come on, before she wakes up and starts mumbling about cooties again.”
“No cooties,” was mumbled from beneath the blankets and Aki had to place a hand over Kenzo’s lips to keep him from waking Naoto up as they backed out of the room.