[fic] Second Chance - Chapter 4 + Chapter 5
Title: Second Chance - Chapter 4 + Chapter 5
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Summary: sequel to the tragic sequel of Anything For You. Fifty years later, Kazuya and Jin are reincarnated in their namesakes: their friends' grandchildren. Can their second chance turn out for the better? Can they be happy and together this time?
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Sorry those who've friended this lj; you'll be subjected to mass posting of old fics at random times until I get all the old fics/fics I don't like transferred ^^;;; there isn't much left though...if that's any consolation =P
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Chapter 4:
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Tatsuya smiled at the full length mirror in his closet, looking down at the reflection of the little boy standing in front of him, carefully patting and pulling the cloth of the shirt into place so that it didn't look messy. Kazuya stared at his own reflection and then he beamed up at Tatsuya, “Tat-Tat! Kazu’s wearing un…i...form!” he pronounced proudly.
He looked up with large brown eyes after pronouncing the word at Tatsuya, tilting his head asking Tatsuya silently if he had said the word right.
Tatsuya chuckled and patted Kazuya on the head, “Perfect” he praised the two year old who beamed up at him, happy to get his grandfather’s approval.
Kazuya pulled at the school uniform he was wearing and turned around, looking at himself in the full length mirror, “Kazu look good?” he asked hopefully.
“The cutest thing ever” his grandfather responded right away, a smile on his face, “I bet you’ll be the cutest new student to walk through those doors”
And Kazuya did look irresistibly cute. Wearing the uniform of the preschool, he peeked out from under the hat Tatsuya had put on him, tugging on the child sized school bag that was threatening to fall off his shoulders.
“Tat-Tat!!” Kazuya complained, “Too big!” he pulled at the straps of his school bag, “Too big!!”
Tatsuya chuckled as Kazuya managed to get the school bag off and held it out to Tatsuya with a disgruntled look on his face, “No good Tat-Tat!”
The response the two year old got was a laugh as Tatsuya took the bag from Kazuya and quickly adjusted the straps on the bag, “Let’s try it now” he suggest as he waited for Kazuya to slip his arms through the bag straps again.
Kazuya quickly obliged and then beamed up at Tatsuya, “Just right, Tat-Tat!”
Tatsuya smiled as he picked up the two year old, “Then are you ready to go?” he asked with a grin, knowing just how excited Kazuya had been about today.
“Yes!! Tat-Tat!! Kazu ready!” Kazuya chirped brightly as Tatsuya carried him down the stairs and dug through the hall closet to find a jacket for Kazuya to wear.
“I still don’t know how you can be so hyper in the morning when you spent most of the night jumping up and down in your crib” his grandfather muttered under his breath, trying not to yawn. Kazuya had been so excited about today that he had only gotten three hours of sleep the previous night. Tatsuya had spent most of last night trying to calm Kazuya down enough so that they could both get some sleep.
Of course, Junno being Junno, had slept through it all.
“Kazu see JinJin!” Kazuya chirped brightly, “Kazu go to school with JinJin!”
Tatsuya smiled, “And you’re leaving your old grandfather behind” he said, making a pretend sad face at Kazuya, “You’re going to make Tat-Tat lonely!”
Kazuya paused, tilting his head and he jutted his lip out, “Tat-Tat no lonely” he said, reaching up and patting Tatsuya on the nose with his little hand. Tatsuya shifted Kazuya in his arms.
“And why not?” Tatsuya demanded, “You’re leaving me; of course I’ll be sad”
“Tat-Tat have Ju-Ju” Kazuya pronounced proudly, “Ju-Ju make Tat-Tat happy”
Tatsuya stared incredulously at his grandson.
Kazuya beamed, “Ju-Ju give Tat-Tat kissy!” he said, flailing his arms up wildly in his attempt to explain to his grandfather, “Kissy makes Tat-Tat happy!”
Tatsuya stared.
“JUNNO!” he yelled loudly, and Kazuya who seemed to have been expecting it, grinned with his hands clamped over his ears, “JUNNO GET OUT OF BED AND GET DOWN HERE NOW!”
“Ju-Ju in trouble~~” Kazuya sang as Junno came running down the stairs, stumbling as he reached the entrance hall.
“What? What??” Junno asked, looking around wildly, “What’s the matter?”
“You” Tatsuya pointed accusingly, “Have you been letting Ryo baby-sit without supervision again?!”
“Uh…” Junno stared in confusion, “Why?”
“Why else would Kazu start talk about kissing and kisses making people happy? He’s too young to even know stuff like that by himself!”
“Maybe the…TV?”
“…Junno, those shows make children believe that mommies and daddies hugging are what makes babies”
“Is that why…that time…when Jin…”
Kazuya, who had been looking back and forth between Tatsuya and Junno, giggled at that, “JinJin want baby brother! JinJIn made Pi-Pi and Ri-Ri hug! Hugs make babies!” he paused, “Tat-Tat, Kazu want baby too. Hug Ju-Ju?”
His large brown eyes widened suddenly in realization. Tatsuya figured it was that look that had been on the face of the first person who realized that the earth was round and not flat: a look that simply said ‘I’m so stupid; why didn’t I think of that before?’
Kazuya turned to Tatsuya with wide eyes, “Ri-Ri said kissy better than hug. Kissy make twin babies?”
Then again, Kazuya was still a baby.
A baby that was definitely around idiotic old men too much.
Profound realizations would have to wait a few more years.
Junno laughed, trying but failing to hide it.
Tatsuya glared, his eyes narrowing at the laughing Junno, “This is what you get for letting Ryo baby-sit my grandson without supervision!” he said, frowning. He glanced at the clock and then rolled his eyes, “I’m taking Kazu to school; you’d better have a good excuse for what you did!”
“Or else what?” Junno challenged, pouting that he was getting blamed for this.
Tatsuya looked at Junno with a scary look, “Or else we won’t be…making twin babies for the next two months” he paused, “Or even making a baby for the next two months”
At those words, Kazuya perked up, “Ju-Ju and Tat-Tat making twin babies?” he asked excitedly, “Kazu get baby brothers?”
“No, sorry Kazu” Tatsuya said gently.
“…ask Jin to give you his baby brother” Junno patted the crestfallen Kazuya on the head, “Maybe Ri-Ri and Pi-Pi will kiss and make another one for him. Or you can ask Pi-Pi to make one for you”
“…Junno, you are so dead”
* * *
When they got to the school, something akin to a squeal of delight that greeted them. Tatsuya barely had time to close the car door before Kazuya was yanked out of his arms and being hugged by Yamapi.
“Kazu!! You’re so cute!!” Yamapi said happily, hugging the two year old, “So cute! All dressed up in the school uniform and…”
“Pi-Pi!!” Kazu squealed happily and wrapped his arms around Yamapi’s neck, “Kazu want baby!!” he announced, “Pi-Pi make baby for Kazu?”
Tatsuya felt like banging his head against the car door.
“Junno is so dead” he announced as he took Kazuya from Yamapi.
“Did he just say…”
“Blame Junno…and Ryo” Tatsuya retorted.
“He wants a baby”
“Twin babies!” Kazuya correct loudly.
Tatsuya plastered on a sweet smile as he and Yamapi walked into the school, and a teacher greeted them. Kazuya beamed, pointing across the room, “JinJin!”
The teacher smiled, “Let me guess. This is Kazu-chan”
"Kazu!” the baby agreed with a nod, “Kazu go to school too!”
The teacher smiled, “Why don’t you go play with Jin, until you have to go into your groups” she said and Tatsuya put Kazuya down to let him run over to Jin.
As they watched him, Tatsuya laughed softly, “I don’t think you’ll get him to separate from Jin that easily. He’s been excited to see Jin all morning”
Just as he said that, there was a happy squeal of, “KAZU-CHAN!!!!” from across the room. They all turned to see Kazuya being hugged by Jin, who had knocked over the blocks he had been playing with in favor of getting to Kazuya. Ryo, who had been sitting with Jin, looked annoyed as a block went flying at his head during this.
“Kazu Kazu Kazu Kazu!!!!” Jin said happily, lifting Kazuya up into a hug and swinging him around. Jin’s face grew delighted as Kazu’s squeals of laughter filled the air.
“JinJin!” Kazuya giggled happily, “Kazu know BIG secret!!”
Jin smiled at Kazuya and leaned in excitedly, “What? What?” he asked in a hushed whisper.
Kazuya paused for dramatic effect, “Kissy makes twin babies!”
Jin’s eyes grew wide at those words and then he whispered, “Really?”
Ryo had fallen to the ground, holding his stomach as he laughed at the two children.
“Then…if Ri-Ri and Pi-Pi kiss…there’s gonna be…twin Ri-Ri-Pi-Pi??” Jin asked excitedly.
Kazuya nodded as he giggled.
Jin joined him in giggling and then handed a block to Kazu, “Let’s play, Kazu-chan!”
“Okay” Kazuya agreed as he sat next to Jin and started to help build up the block tower again.
Ryo, in the meantime, had wandered over to Yamapi and Tatsuya. Tatsuya looked at him incredulously for a moment and then without warning, jabbed Ryo in the ribs hard. Ryo glared as he doubled over, holding his ribs, “What the hell?” he demanded, “What was that for?”
“For teaching Kazu things he shouldn’t know yet”
“Like WHAT?”
“…kissing…ooh, and letting him believe that hugging makes babies and not doing anything about it”
Ryo paused and laughed, “I can’t help it if Kazu believes everything Jin tells him!”
“Of course you can” Tatsuya said through gritted teeth as they left the room where the children were all playing. It was almost nine, and all of them knew that staying for Kazuya’s waterworks when he would get separated from Jin and into his own age group would only result in a happy Kazu, three glum men that wished they had enough willpower to stand up to Kazuya’s tears, and a couple of irritated teachers.
Once all the parents were gone and all the children had arrived, the teachers began to round up the children into different age groups. They had found that it was easier than keeping them all in the same room, especially since the different age groups were at different stages of development. Obviously, the two year olds could not do the same thing the five year olds could.
“Jin” one of the teachers called, “Let Kazuya go to his group”
Jin frowned, “Kazu-chan stays with me!”
“Jin, you know the rules”
“KAZU-CHAN STAYS!!” Jin said loudly, hugging Kazuya closer to him. Kazuya looked up at Jin and then nodding, hugged back, not letting go.
“No leave JinJin!” Kazuya whined tearfully, “Stay with JinJin!”
“Kazuya, you have to let go of Jin. Jin’s in the other group” the teacher tried to explain gently. She sighed; she expected the younger students to be clingy to their parents, but never had any of the students been clingy to each other.
“No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!”
“Kazuya”
“Kazu-chan STAYS!” Jin said, lip jutting out into a resolute pout.
“Kazuya needs to go with the other two year olds” the teacher said, gently trying to separate the two children, “How old are you Jin?”
“...three and a half” Jin said proudly and a bit rebelliously.
“And how old is Kazuya?”
“…two” he pouted, knowing where this was going.
“You’re too big to go with Kazuya, and Kazuya’s too little to go with you” the teacher explained, “Let Kazuya go, Jin; go play with Haruto”
Jin pouted, but his grip slowly relaxed at the mention of his preschool friend, “Kazu-chan” he said, hugging the confused baby, “See you at nap time!” he said as he walked off, shoulders slouched, looking behind him the whole time. He didn’t want to leave Kazu-chan. Jin pouted and sat against the wall and sulked as he watched Kazuya while sitting with his age group.
“Jinjin!!” Kazuya wailed, trying to get to the older boy, “JinJin!! Kazu…Kazu want JinJIn!!” he cried, tears escaping those brown eyes, “JinJin!!” he cried, “JinJin!! JinJin!! JinJin!!!”
“Kazuya” the teacher tried to say it as gently as she could, “You can’t go with Jin. He’s older and he learns harder things. You can see him at snack time, and lunch time and nap time, okay?” she asked, “You’ll make friends with the others in your group” she said brightly as she lifted the crying toddler up and carried him across the hall to the two year olds' room, “See?” she pointed to four other two year olds sitting in the room, lying on their stomachs and looking through a large pop up book, “You’ll have fun” she said to the sniffling baby.
“JinJin” Kazu mumbled, crawling over to a corner of the room, hugging his knees, “JinJin”
And as the teacher started to read out loud (after deciding that the best way to deal with this was let Kazuya get used to not having Jin nearby and let him cry it out for now) and teach the two year old words that they didn’t know from the book, Kazuya stayed there, whimpering. He wanted JinJin!
Kazuya had been there long enough for five books to be read when he felt someone sit in front of him, and poke him. Kazuya looked up, tears in his eyes when he saw another little boy sitting next to him.
The little boy held out a worn out bunny to him, “This Shuji-kun” he said with a serious expression, “Hold him”
Kazuya looked in bewilderment at the boy and took the bunny, “Why?” he asked, confusion showing in his eyes.
“Helps stop crying” the boy said, with a pout as he sat next to Kazuya, “Shuji-kun helps stop crying. Make everything better!”
Kazuya looked at the bunny and hugged it tight, “Not…work” he said, bursting into tears as he thought about Jin again, “Want JinJin”
“JinJin is friend?” the boy asked.
“JinJin is best friend” Kazuya cried, “Kazu want JinJin”
The other boy patted Kazuya on the shoulder, “s’okay; you see JinJin at nap time”
“Kazu want JinJin now” Kazuya sniffled as he huffed the bunny tighter, “JInJin Kazu’s only friend. Kazu want JinJin. School no fun”
The other boy tilted his head, “I can be friend”
Kazuya looked at the boy for a moment, “But you not JinJin…” he said, looking lost that someone other than Jin wanted to be friends with him.
“No, Akira” the other boy with a little grin.
“KiraKira?” Kazuya tried out. He pointed to himself, "Kazu.”
The other boy bobbed his head as he pulled Kazuya up to his feet, “Go listen to story?” he pointed at the teacher. Kazuya looked at the teacher reluctantly.
“Kazu can hold Shuji-kun” Akira offered and Kazuya then let himself get pulled to the mini-circle that had formed around the teacher and sat down, hugging the bunny, and giggling and talking with Akira.
* * *
When naptime came, Kazuya wasted no time in taking his chance and toddling over to Jin, who was smiling as he sat on his blanket and waited for Kazuya.
“Kazu-chan!!” he said happily, “Did you miss me?"
Kazuya nodded as he launched himself as Jin, “Kazu miss JinJin lots!!”
Jin smiled brightly as he hugged Kazuya to him.
“Kazu can share blanket with JinJin” Jin offered, making space on his blanket for Kazuya, who nodded happily, “Okay!”
And thus, the two children fell asleep on the blanket, sharing it despite the fact that they were not supposed to. The teachers decided to ignore this little fact for now, just glad that Kazuya had finally stopped crying every five minutes about wanting to see Jin.
As they slept, Kazuya’s hands found Jin’s arm and hugged it tightly, “JinJin” he murmured in his sleep.
---END CHAPTER ---
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Chapter 5:
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Dragging his feet across the carpeted floor, Kazuya looked across the small room, past the other two year olds playing with the toys in the toddler room. It was free time before snack time and all the other children in his group were playing with the toys. Including his friend, Akira. A bright smile crossed his face as he saw his friend and deciding to skip rather than walk, he quickly made his way over to where Akira was sitting with a toy train in his lap. The older boy was biting his lip as he looked at the train and then at his stuffed bunny.
“What’s wrong?” Kazuya asked, lying down on his stomach and looking up at Akira.
Akira smiled at his friend and then looked back down at his little dilemma.
“…Shuji-kun don’t wanna ride the train” he said mournfully.
“Why?”
“Shuji-kun scared of the train” Akira said with a frown.
Kazuya tilted his head thoughtfully and then taking the stuffed bunny from Akira’s hand, plonked it on Akira’s head. He beamed and said brightly to Akira, “There! Shuji-kun have Kira-Kira; Shuji-kun not scared ‘nymore”
Akira tilted his head and beamed, “Kazu-chan smart!” he praised, causing Kazuya to smile happily back at his friend. Akira extended his hand, “Kazu-chan ride train with me?”
Kazuya shook his head and at seeing Akira’s downcast expression, he quickly smiled bright, “Kazu go on sea…see…secret mission!” he announced proudly and then clamped his hand over his mouth, “Oops” he said, guiltily, “s’pposed to be secret”
Akira smiled, “s’okay; kira-kira can keep Kazu-chan’s secrets” he reassured the younger boy, who beamed back.
“Kazu go on mission now” Kazuya announced as he got on all fours and with a surreptitious look at the door, began crawling toward it, careful to make sure that the teacher in charge was occupied with another child. Akira watched carefully and when Kazuya was almost at the door, he got up and started to run screaming in circles to distract the teacher.
The teacher ran over, panicked, not noticing that Kazuya had opened and made his way out the door of the toddler room.
Outside the toddler room, Kazuya looked around, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to remember where Jin’s classroom was. He wanted to find Jin; it took a lot of time, asking Ryo on how he should escape the toddler room and go visit Jin-Jin but Ryo had finally told Kazuya to just stick something in the door before it closed so that he could actually get out of the supposed-to-be-baby-proof room.
Kazuya looked up at the signs on the doors and recognizing the number on the door, Kazuya beamed and pushing a plastic chair over to the door, Kazuya climbed up and turned the door handle. He let out a yelp as the door opened and he was lifted off the chair. Holding onto the door tightly, a whimper on his lips, Kazuya shut his eyes and prepared to fall down onto the ground, which he knew was going to hurt. Looking down, Kazuya decided that he didn’t like being this high; it was going to hurt when he fell! Kazuya clenched his eyes shut.
He whimpered as he let go but to his surprise, it didn’t hurt. He looked down and saw an older boy holding him around his stomach to brace the fall. Kazuya rolled off the boy and sat up, blinking in surprise.
“You’re heavy” the boy said as soon as he sat up as well.
Kazuya blinked and then puffed his cheeks out, pouting, “Am not”
“Are too” the boy muttered, “But the idiot there was screaming that ‘kazu-chan’ was gonna get hurt from falling” he pointed and then he looked down embarrassed, “So I helped”
“Idiot?” Kazuya looked over at where the strange new boy was pointing, “JinJin!” he called out happily.
“Yeah, him”
“JinJin!”
Kazuya immediately got back on his feet and ran all the way over to where Jin was. Jin stood up, and ran toward Kazuya as well, and the toddler crashed face first into Jin, arms snapping around Jin tightly as he buried his face into Jin’s shirt, “JinJin!” came the muffled but very delighted squeal.
“Kazu-chan!” Jin said just as delighted as he hugged the toddler. After a moment, Kazuya looked up with a bright smile, “Kazu found way to see JinJin at school!” he announced proudly.
Jin nodded, but then tilted his head, “But Kazu will get in trouble” he said worriedly.
At those words, there was a silence and the next thing Jin knew, Kazuya was looking up at Jin with a quivering lip and watering eyes.
“Kazu?! What’s wrong? Kazu!”
“JinJin not want Kazu here” Kazuya cried softly, rubbing his eyes, “Kazu tried, but JinJin not want to see Kazu at school!” he wailed.
“No, no, no, no” Jin repeated and then he smiled brightly at Kazuya, “I want Kazu here; let’s play, Kazu!” he offered, hoping to distract the toddler from his crying.
Kazuya looked up with wet, accusing eyes, “Really?”
“Really” Jin smiled.
“Yay!” Kazuya squealed and pounced on Jin, hugging him with his arms around Jin’s neck.
The boy who had helped Kazuya rolled his eyes, “Both are idiots” he murmured to himself.
Jin, however, noticed this and smirked, “Haruto can play with us too”
Kazuya followed Jin’s gaze and nodded solemnly, “Hari-Hari play”
Haruto rolled his eyes and walked over to them but sat with his back to them, playing with his blocks.
“s’okay” Jin whispered loudly to Kazuya, “Haruto is like Ri-Ri; being nice makes him blush like when Pi-Pi tells Ri-Ri that Ri-Ri was being nice”
Kazuya nodded solemnly, “Ri-Ri hides face”
Jin grinned, “let’s play Kazu-chan” he said, offering Kazuya a toy truck.
Kazuya giggled and took the truck, running it over the carpet and making ‘vroom-vroom’ sounds as he lay on his stomach, giggling as Jin took a car out of the bin and then sent it flying in Kazuya’s direction. It hit Kazuya’s truck and Jin’s eyes widened and then he grinned widely, “BOOM!” he said loudly, “Kazu, our cars went boom!”
“…idiot” Haruto commented.
Jin stuck his tongue out at Haruto.
“Haruto just jealous” he declared.
“Of what?”
“Haruto jealous that Kazu-chan likes me more”
Haruto scowled at Jin, and Kazuya giggled, “Kazu like JinJin best!” he agreed.
Haruto proceeded to throw a block at Jin’s head.
Jin dodged it and stuck out his tongue again. He stood up and dragged Kazuya with him, “c’mon Kazu; let’s go colour”
“’kay!” Kazuya chirped, following Jin.
--
Jin smiled happily as he sat against one of the beanbag chairs, Kazuya digging around through the pile of stuffed toys next to him. He could heard giggles from the pile. He grinned and then jumped into the pile as well, hiding under the stuffed animals with Kazuya, who giggled and put a hand over his mouth to keep from giggling and then put one over Jin’s as well.
They were there whispering and giggling to each other when suddenly, there was a loud sound. Jin and Kazuya peeked through a hole in the pile to see Kazuya’s teacher running into the room.
“I have a child missing!” she cried out in panic, wringing her hands, “I don’t know where he is! I just did a head count and he wasn’t anywhere in the room”
Kazuya gulped, “Uh-oh…”
“Trouble” Jin agreed solemnly.
Kazuya’s eyes watered up.
“Don’t cry, Kazu!” Jin whispered, “Don’t cry; it’ll be okay!” he said optimistically.
Kazuya sniffled, burying his head into Jin’s shirt again, hugging Jin, “Kazu don’t wanna go back”
Outside, the teachers were beginning to hear very strange noises coming from the pile of stuffed animals, noises that sounded a lot like sniffling, whispering and strangely enough, giggling.
Suspicious, the two of them walked over and pulled out stuffed animal after stuffed animal and sighed in exasperation at the sight they found.
Kazuya and Jin were lying amongst the stuffed animals, wide, puppy eyes on Kazuya’s face along with an adorable little pout, and Jin had a resolute pout, lip jutting out in defiance at the teachers as he hugged Kazuya to him.
“…I give up” Kazuya’s teacher threw up her hands, “All day, it’s ‘JinJin this’ or ‘JinJin that’ or screaming for Jin, or crying for Jin. The only time he’s not doing that is when he’s with Akira, which totally disrupts any lessons he has to listen to”
Jin’s teacher laughed, “It’s kind of sweet” she said, regarding Jin and Kazuya with a look in her eyes that the two children had recognized quickly as the look adults got when they wanted to pinch their cheeks. Kazuya puffed out his cheeks and then as though taunting her, shoved his face into Jin’s side, hiding his face.
Jin pouted, “No fair, Kazu!”
There was a muffled retort of “Yes fair!” as the teachers gave up and decided to let Kazuya stay here for the rest of today. They knew very well that if they tried to separate the two now, Kazuya would throw a fit and Jin would start sulking and throwing things. They would talk to their grandparents later today to see what could be done.
--
“They want to what?” Tatsuya asked incredulously as he lifted Kazuya from Ryo's arms and looked incredulously at Yamapi.
Yamapi coughed nervously, “They want to put Kazuya in Jin’s class for any time not for lessons so that they’ll stop sneaking into each other’s rooms and causing mass panic. They’re also hoping that with Jin there in the room constantly, Kazuya will concentrate less on getting to where Jin is, and concentrate more on making friends since his mind won’t be solely occupied on finding Jin”
“…what did they do for the teachers to arrange something like this?”
“…well, yesterday, Kazuya snuck into Jin’s classroom”
Tatsuya shot his grandson and accusing look, which was met with an innocent and adorable one in return. Kazuya stuck his thumb in his mouth and pouted, “Kazu miss JinJin”
“And today, they tried it out; it kind of worked”
“Kind of?”
“Kazuya felt that he shouldn’t leave his friend Akira alone and he, Jin and this other kid named Haruto snuck into the toddler room and snuck Akira out into Jin and Haruto’s classroom…”
“…you’re a troublemaker aren’t you?” Junno laughed as he tickled the toddler, “Underneath that innocent look”
Kazuya smiled toothily, “Love Ju-Ju~” he turned to Tatsuya, “Love Tat-Tat!!!” he squealed and hugged Tatsuya around the neck and put a messy kiss on Tatsuya’s cheek.
Any reprimand Tatsuya had for Kazuya melted into pink, sticky goo at that.
“I believe that those puppy eyes are his fault” Tatsuya pointed to the fifth adult in the room, who looked back with a look just as innocent as Kazuya’s.
“What?” he asked, with an innocent smile, “It’s not like I’m purposely teaching him the art of puppy eyes”
“Aren’t you?” Ryo muttered.
“No!” was the reply, “You’re mean Ryo-chan!”
“Meanie Ri-Ri” Kazuya agreed with a giggle.
As Ryo pouted, Tegoshi smiled sweetly at Kazuya, “Let’s leave the mean Ryo-chan here and go find Jin, okay, Kazu-chan?” he suggested, holding his hands out.
Kazuya immediately began wiggling out of Tatsuya’s arms and was stretching to try to get to Tegoshi, “’eshi-‘eshi!” he giggled as Tegoshi beamed down at the adorable toddler.
“I still don’t get why Kazu-chan can say ‘Eshi’, obviously an attempt to say Tesshi, but still can’t pronounce my name properly!” Ryo pouted, crossing his arms and looking accusingly at the toddler.
Said toddler blew a raspberry at him, and then turned to Tegoshi, “JinJin! ‘eshi-‘eshi! JinJin!” he pointed down the hall, toward the kitchen where he could hear the sounds of Jin laughing with another adult.
“Yes, let’s see how much food Massu has let Jin pig out on” Tegoshi said with a bright grin.
Kazuya giggled, “JinJin and Da-Da!”
All the other adults except Tegoshi froze at that nickname.
“Exactly”
“…Tegoshi…why exactly is Kazuya calling Massu ‘Da-Da’?” Tatsuya asked, taking a deep breath.
Ryo was looking wide-eyed at Tatsuya and then started shaking Junno, “This is why Kazuya can pronounce Tego-chan’s name properly isn’t it?! He’s secretly his and Massu’s lovechild and you kidnapped him and oh my god, you stole their baby”
“Yamapi, better get him checked out” Tatsuya said, rolling his eyes as he hit Ryo on the head, “I think he’s getting senile”
Tegoshi cleared his throat, “It’s probably from hearing Ryo-chan call Massu ‘Masuda’ all the time when Ryo-chan is angry and yelling at Massu for eating his food”
Ryo glared and sat down with a scowl.
Kazuya giggled, “JinJin right. Ri-Ri is like Hari-Hari”
Ryo twitched.
Tegoshi laughed as he swept Kazuya out of the room before Ryo exploded in anger.
“I AM NOT LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD”
Sitting Kazuya in the highchair next to where Jin was sitting in his booster seat, Tegoshi took the seat on the other side of the toddler, watching the almost four year old and the two year old talking animatedly to each other.
“JinJin~”
“Kazu” Jin grinned with a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, “Ri-Ri go boom?” he asked.
“Ri-Ri go boom” Kazu repeated solemnly.
And Jin proceeded to make sound effects of an explosion.
Kazuya giggled as he reached for Jin.
Seeing that, Jin stood up on his booster seat, much to Tegoshi’s alarm, and Kazuya hugged Jin.
And Tegoshi melted at that sight.
Kazuya suddenly wrinkled his nose, "JinJin sticky" he complained, holding up grape jelly covered arms, "Sticky"
"Sorry" Jin offered half of his sandwich, "Peanut butter and jelly?" he asked.
Kazuya took it and began eating, "Kazu forgive JinJin for being sticky"
"Good" Jin smiled happily.
--- END CHAPTER ---
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13
Summary: sequel to the tragic sequel of Anything For You. Fifty years later, Kazuya and Jin are reincarnated in their namesakes: their friends' grandchildren. Can their second chance turn out for the better? Can they be happy and together this time?
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Sorry those who've friended this lj; you'll be subjected to mass posting of old fics at random times until I get all the old fics/fics I don't like transferred ^^;;; there isn't much left though...if that's any consolation =P
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Chapter 4:
--
Tatsuya smiled at the full length mirror in his closet, looking down at the reflection of the little boy standing in front of him, carefully patting and pulling the cloth of the shirt into place so that it didn't look messy. Kazuya stared at his own reflection and then he beamed up at Tatsuya, “Tat-Tat! Kazu’s wearing un…i...form!” he pronounced proudly.
He looked up with large brown eyes after pronouncing the word at Tatsuya, tilting his head asking Tatsuya silently if he had said the word right.
Tatsuya chuckled and patted Kazuya on the head, “Perfect” he praised the two year old who beamed up at him, happy to get his grandfather’s approval.
Kazuya pulled at the school uniform he was wearing and turned around, looking at himself in the full length mirror, “Kazu look good?” he asked hopefully.
“The cutest thing ever” his grandfather responded right away, a smile on his face, “I bet you’ll be the cutest new student to walk through those doors”
And Kazuya did look irresistibly cute. Wearing the uniform of the preschool, he peeked out from under the hat Tatsuya had put on him, tugging on the child sized school bag that was threatening to fall off his shoulders.
“Tat-Tat!!” Kazuya complained, “Too big!” he pulled at the straps of his school bag, “Too big!!”
Tatsuya chuckled as Kazuya managed to get the school bag off and held it out to Tatsuya with a disgruntled look on his face, “No good Tat-Tat!”
The response the two year old got was a laugh as Tatsuya took the bag from Kazuya and quickly adjusted the straps on the bag, “Let’s try it now” he suggest as he waited for Kazuya to slip his arms through the bag straps again.
Kazuya quickly obliged and then beamed up at Tatsuya, “Just right, Tat-Tat!”
Tatsuya smiled as he picked up the two year old, “Then are you ready to go?” he asked with a grin, knowing just how excited Kazuya had been about today.
“Yes!! Tat-Tat!! Kazu ready!” Kazuya chirped brightly as Tatsuya carried him down the stairs and dug through the hall closet to find a jacket for Kazuya to wear.
“I still don’t know how you can be so hyper in the morning when you spent most of the night jumping up and down in your crib” his grandfather muttered under his breath, trying not to yawn. Kazuya had been so excited about today that he had only gotten three hours of sleep the previous night. Tatsuya had spent most of last night trying to calm Kazuya down enough so that they could both get some sleep.
Of course, Junno being Junno, had slept through it all.
“Kazu see JinJin!” Kazuya chirped brightly, “Kazu go to school with JinJin!”
Tatsuya smiled, “And you’re leaving your old grandfather behind” he said, making a pretend sad face at Kazuya, “You’re going to make Tat-Tat lonely!”
Kazuya paused, tilting his head and he jutted his lip out, “Tat-Tat no lonely” he said, reaching up and patting Tatsuya on the nose with his little hand. Tatsuya shifted Kazuya in his arms.
“And why not?” Tatsuya demanded, “You’re leaving me; of course I’ll be sad”
“Tat-Tat have Ju-Ju” Kazuya pronounced proudly, “Ju-Ju make Tat-Tat happy”
Tatsuya stared incredulously at his grandson.
Kazuya beamed, “Ju-Ju give Tat-Tat kissy!” he said, flailing his arms up wildly in his attempt to explain to his grandfather, “Kissy makes Tat-Tat happy!”
Tatsuya stared.
“JUNNO!” he yelled loudly, and Kazuya who seemed to have been expecting it, grinned with his hands clamped over his ears, “JUNNO GET OUT OF BED AND GET DOWN HERE NOW!”
“Ju-Ju in trouble~~” Kazuya sang as Junno came running down the stairs, stumbling as he reached the entrance hall.
“What? What??” Junno asked, looking around wildly, “What’s the matter?”
“You” Tatsuya pointed accusingly, “Have you been letting Ryo baby-sit without supervision again?!”
“Uh…” Junno stared in confusion, “Why?”
“Why else would Kazu start talk about kissing and kisses making people happy? He’s too young to even know stuff like that by himself!”
“Maybe the…TV?”
“…Junno, those shows make children believe that mommies and daddies hugging are what makes babies”
“Is that why…that time…when Jin…”
Kazuya, who had been looking back and forth between Tatsuya and Junno, giggled at that, “JinJin want baby brother! JinJIn made Pi-Pi and Ri-Ri hug! Hugs make babies!” he paused, “Tat-Tat, Kazu want baby too. Hug Ju-Ju?”
His large brown eyes widened suddenly in realization. Tatsuya figured it was that look that had been on the face of the first person who realized that the earth was round and not flat: a look that simply said ‘I’m so stupid; why didn’t I think of that before?’
Kazuya turned to Tatsuya with wide eyes, “Ri-Ri said kissy better than hug. Kissy make twin babies?”
Then again, Kazuya was still a baby.
A baby that was definitely around idiotic old men too much.
Profound realizations would have to wait a few more years.
Junno laughed, trying but failing to hide it.
Tatsuya glared, his eyes narrowing at the laughing Junno, “This is what you get for letting Ryo baby-sit my grandson without supervision!” he said, frowning. He glanced at the clock and then rolled his eyes, “I’m taking Kazu to school; you’d better have a good excuse for what you did!”
“Or else what?” Junno challenged, pouting that he was getting blamed for this.
Tatsuya looked at Junno with a scary look, “Or else we won’t be…making twin babies for the next two months” he paused, “Or even making a baby for the next two months”
At those words, Kazuya perked up, “Ju-Ju and Tat-Tat making twin babies?” he asked excitedly, “Kazu get baby brothers?”
“No, sorry Kazu” Tatsuya said gently.
“…ask Jin to give you his baby brother” Junno patted the crestfallen Kazuya on the head, “Maybe Ri-Ri and Pi-Pi will kiss and make another one for him. Or you can ask Pi-Pi to make one for you”
“…Junno, you are so dead”
* * *
When they got to the school, something akin to a squeal of delight that greeted them. Tatsuya barely had time to close the car door before Kazuya was yanked out of his arms and being hugged by Yamapi.
“Kazu!! You’re so cute!!” Yamapi said happily, hugging the two year old, “So cute! All dressed up in the school uniform and…”
“Pi-Pi!!” Kazu squealed happily and wrapped his arms around Yamapi’s neck, “Kazu want baby!!” he announced, “Pi-Pi make baby for Kazu?”
Tatsuya felt like banging his head against the car door.
“Junno is so dead” he announced as he took Kazuya from Yamapi.
“Did he just say…”
“Blame Junno…and Ryo” Tatsuya retorted.
“He wants a baby”
“Twin babies!” Kazuya correct loudly.
Tatsuya plastered on a sweet smile as he and Yamapi walked into the school, and a teacher greeted them. Kazuya beamed, pointing across the room, “JinJin!”
The teacher smiled, “Let me guess. This is Kazu-chan”
"Kazu!” the baby agreed with a nod, “Kazu go to school too!”
The teacher smiled, “Why don’t you go play with Jin, until you have to go into your groups” she said and Tatsuya put Kazuya down to let him run over to Jin.
As they watched him, Tatsuya laughed softly, “I don’t think you’ll get him to separate from Jin that easily. He’s been excited to see Jin all morning”
Just as he said that, there was a happy squeal of, “KAZU-CHAN!!!!” from across the room. They all turned to see Kazuya being hugged by Jin, who had knocked over the blocks he had been playing with in favor of getting to Kazuya. Ryo, who had been sitting with Jin, looked annoyed as a block went flying at his head during this.
“Kazu Kazu Kazu Kazu!!!!” Jin said happily, lifting Kazuya up into a hug and swinging him around. Jin’s face grew delighted as Kazu’s squeals of laughter filled the air.
“JinJin!” Kazuya giggled happily, “Kazu know BIG secret!!”
Jin smiled at Kazuya and leaned in excitedly, “What? What?” he asked in a hushed whisper.
Kazuya paused for dramatic effect, “Kissy makes twin babies!”
Jin’s eyes grew wide at those words and then he whispered, “Really?”
Ryo had fallen to the ground, holding his stomach as he laughed at the two children.
“Then…if Ri-Ri and Pi-Pi kiss…there’s gonna be…twin Ri-Ri-Pi-Pi??” Jin asked excitedly.
Kazuya nodded as he giggled.
Jin joined him in giggling and then handed a block to Kazu, “Let’s play, Kazu-chan!”
“Okay” Kazuya agreed as he sat next to Jin and started to help build up the block tower again.
Ryo, in the meantime, had wandered over to Yamapi and Tatsuya. Tatsuya looked at him incredulously for a moment and then without warning, jabbed Ryo in the ribs hard. Ryo glared as he doubled over, holding his ribs, “What the hell?” he demanded, “What was that for?”
“For teaching Kazu things he shouldn’t know yet”
“Like WHAT?”
“…kissing…ooh, and letting him believe that hugging makes babies and not doing anything about it”
Ryo paused and laughed, “I can’t help it if Kazu believes everything Jin tells him!”
“Of course you can” Tatsuya said through gritted teeth as they left the room where the children were all playing. It was almost nine, and all of them knew that staying for Kazuya’s waterworks when he would get separated from Jin and into his own age group would only result in a happy Kazu, three glum men that wished they had enough willpower to stand up to Kazuya’s tears, and a couple of irritated teachers.
Once all the parents were gone and all the children had arrived, the teachers began to round up the children into different age groups. They had found that it was easier than keeping them all in the same room, especially since the different age groups were at different stages of development. Obviously, the two year olds could not do the same thing the five year olds could.
“Jin” one of the teachers called, “Let Kazuya go to his group”
Jin frowned, “Kazu-chan stays with me!”
“Jin, you know the rules”
“KAZU-CHAN STAYS!!” Jin said loudly, hugging Kazuya closer to him. Kazuya looked up at Jin and then nodding, hugged back, not letting go.
“No leave JinJin!” Kazuya whined tearfully, “Stay with JinJin!”
“Kazuya, you have to let go of Jin. Jin’s in the other group” the teacher tried to explain gently. She sighed; she expected the younger students to be clingy to their parents, but never had any of the students been clingy to each other.
“No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!!”
“Kazuya”
“Kazu-chan STAYS!” Jin said, lip jutting out into a resolute pout.
“Kazuya needs to go with the other two year olds” the teacher said, gently trying to separate the two children, “How old are you Jin?”
“...three and a half” Jin said proudly and a bit rebelliously.
“And how old is Kazuya?”
“…two” he pouted, knowing where this was going.
“You’re too big to go with Kazuya, and Kazuya’s too little to go with you” the teacher explained, “Let Kazuya go, Jin; go play with Haruto”
Jin pouted, but his grip slowly relaxed at the mention of his preschool friend, “Kazu-chan” he said, hugging the confused baby, “See you at nap time!” he said as he walked off, shoulders slouched, looking behind him the whole time. He didn’t want to leave Kazu-chan. Jin pouted and sat against the wall and sulked as he watched Kazuya while sitting with his age group.
“Jinjin!!” Kazuya wailed, trying to get to the older boy, “JinJin!! Kazu…Kazu want JinJIn!!” he cried, tears escaping those brown eyes, “JinJin!!” he cried, “JinJin!! JinJin!! JinJin!!!”
“Kazuya” the teacher tried to say it as gently as she could, “You can’t go with Jin. He’s older and he learns harder things. You can see him at snack time, and lunch time and nap time, okay?” she asked, “You’ll make friends with the others in your group” she said brightly as she lifted the crying toddler up and carried him across the hall to the two year olds' room, “See?” she pointed to four other two year olds sitting in the room, lying on their stomachs and looking through a large pop up book, “You’ll have fun” she said to the sniffling baby.
“JinJin” Kazu mumbled, crawling over to a corner of the room, hugging his knees, “JinJin”
And as the teacher started to read out loud (after deciding that the best way to deal with this was let Kazuya get used to not having Jin nearby and let him cry it out for now) and teach the two year old words that they didn’t know from the book, Kazuya stayed there, whimpering. He wanted JinJin!
Kazuya had been there long enough for five books to be read when he felt someone sit in front of him, and poke him. Kazuya looked up, tears in his eyes when he saw another little boy sitting next to him.
The little boy held out a worn out bunny to him, “This Shuji-kun” he said with a serious expression, “Hold him”
Kazuya looked in bewilderment at the boy and took the bunny, “Why?” he asked, confusion showing in his eyes.
“Helps stop crying” the boy said, with a pout as he sat next to Kazuya, “Shuji-kun helps stop crying. Make everything better!”
Kazuya looked at the bunny and hugged it tight, “Not…work” he said, bursting into tears as he thought about Jin again, “Want JinJin”
“JinJin is friend?” the boy asked.
“JinJin is best friend” Kazuya cried, “Kazu want JinJin”
The other boy patted Kazuya on the shoulder, “s’okay; you see JinJin at nap time”
“Kazu want JinJin now” Kazuya sniffled as he huffed the bunny tighter, “JInJin Kazu’s only friend. Kazu want JinJin. School no fun”
The other boy tilted his head, “I can be friend”
Kazuya looked at the boy for a moment, “But you not JinJin…” he said, looking lost that someone other than Jin wanted to be friends with him.
“No, Akira” the other boy with a little grin.
“KiraKira?” Kazuya tried out. He pointed to himself, "Kazu.”
The other boy bobbed his head as he pulled Kazuya up to his feet, “Go listen to story?” he pointed at the teacher. Kazuya looked at the teacher reluctantly.
“Kazu can hold Shuji-kun” Akira offered and Kazuya then let himself get pulled to the mini-circle that had formed around the teacher and sat down, hugging the bunny, and giggling and talking with Akira.
* * *
When naptime came, Kazuya wasted no time in taking his chance and toddling over to Jin, who was smiling as he sat on his blanket and waited for Kazuya.
“Kazu-chan!!” he said happily, “Did you miss me?"
Kazuya nodded as he launched himself as Jin, “Kazu miss JinJin lots!!”
Jin smiled brightly as he hugged Kazuya to him.
“Kazu can share blanket with JinJin” Jin offered, making space on his blanket for Kazuya, who nodded happily, “Okay!”
And thus, the two children fell asleep on the blanket, sharing it despite the fact that they were not supposed to. The teachers decided to ignore this little fact for now, just glad that Kazuya had finally stopped crying every five minutes about wanting to see Jin.
As they slept, Kazuya’s hands found Jin’s arm and hugged it tightly, “JinJin” he murmured in his sleep.
---END CHAPTER ---
--
Chapter 5:
--
Dragging his feet across the carpeted floor, Kazuya looked across the small room, past the other two year olds playing with the toys in the toddler room. It was free time before snack time and all the other children in his group were playing with the toys. Including his friend, Akira. A bright smile crossed his face as he saw his friend and deciding to skip rather than walk, he quickly made his way over to where Akira was sitting with a toy train in his lap. The older boy was biting his lip as he looked at the train and then at his stuffed bunny.
“What’s wrong?” Kazuya asked, lying down on his stomach and looking up at Akira.
Akira smiled at his friend and then looked back down at his little dilemma.
“…Shuji-kun don’t wanna ride the train” he said mournfully.
“Why?”
“Shuji-kun scared of the train” Akira said with a frown.
Kazuya tilted his head thoughtfully and then taking the stuffed bunny from Akira’s hand, plonked it on Akira’s head. He beamed and said brightly to Akira, “There! Shuji-kun have Kira-Kira; Shuji-kun not scared ‘nymore”
Akira tilted his head and beamed, “Kazu-chan smart!” he praised, causing Kazuya to smile happily back at his friend. Akira extended his hand, “Kazu-chan ride train with me?”
Kazuya shook his head and at seeing Akira’s downcast expression, he quickly smiled bright, “Kazu go on sea…see…secret mission!” he announced proudly and then clamped his hand over his mouth, “Oops” he said, guiltily, “s’pposed to be secret”
Akira smiled, “s’okay; kira-kira can keep Kazu-chan’s secrets” he reassured the younger boy, who beamed back.
“Kazu go on mission now” Kazuya announced as he got on all fours and with a surreptitious look at the door, began crawling toward it, careful to make sure that the teacher in charge was occupied with another child. Akira watched carefully and when Kazuya was almost at the door, he got up and started to run screaming in circles to distract the teacher.
The teacher ran over, panicked, not noticing that Kazuya had opened and made his way out the door of the toddler room.
Outside the toddler room, Kazuya looked around, eyebrows furrowing as he tried to remember where Jin’s classroom was. He wanted to find Jin; it took a lot of time, asking Ryo on how he should escape the toddler room and go visit Jin-Jin but Ryo had finally told Kazuya to just stick something in the door before it closed so that he could actually get out of the supposed-to-be-baby-proof room.
Kazuya looked up at the signs on the doors and recognizing the number on the door, Kazuya beamed and pushing a plastic chair over to the door, Kazuya climbed up and turned the door handle. He let out a yelp as the door opened and he was lifted off the chair. Holding onto the door tightly, a whimper on his lips, Kazuya shut his eyes and prepared to fall down onto the ground, which he knew was going to hurt. Looking down, Kazuya decided that he didn’t like being this high; it was going to hurt when he fell! Kazuya clenched his eyes shut.
He whimpered as he let go but to his surprise, it didn’t hurt. He looked down and saw an older boy holding him around his stomach to brace the fall. Kazuya rolled off the boy and sat up, blinking in surprise.
“You’re heavy” the boy said as soon as he sat up as well.
Kazuya blinked and then puffed his cheeks out, pouting, “Am not”
“Are too” the boy muttered, “But the idiot there was screaming that ‘kazu-chan’ was gonna get hurt from falling” he pointed and then he looked down embarrassed, “So I helped”
“Idiot?” Kazuya looked over at where the strange new boy was pointing, “JinJin!” he called out happily.
“Yeah, him”
“JinJin!”
Kazuya immediately got back on his feet and ran all the way over to where Jin was. Jin stood up, and ran toward Kazuya as well, and the toddler crashed face first into Jin, arms snapping around Jin tightly as he buried his face into Jin’s shirt, “JinJin!” came the muffled but very delighted squeal.
“Kazu-chan!” Jin said just as delighted as he hugged the toddler. After a moment, Kazuya looked up with a bright smile, “Kazu found way to see JinJin at school!” he announced proudly.
Jin nodded, but then tilted his head, “But Kazu will get in trouble” he said worriedly.
At those words, there was a silence and the next thing Jin knew, Kazuya was looking up at Jin with a quivering lip and watering eyes.
“Kazu?! What’s wrong? Kazu!”
“JinJin not want Kazu here” Kazuya cried softly, rubbing his eyes, “Kazu tried, but JinJin not want to see Kazu at school!” he wailed.
“No, no, no, no” Jin repeated and then he smiled brightly at Kazuya, “I want Kazu here; let’s play, Kazu!” he offered, hoping to distract the toddler from his crying.
Kazuya looked up with wet, accusing eyes, “Really?”
“Really” Jin smiled.
“Yay!” Kazuya squealed and pounced on Jin, hugging him with his arms around Jin’s neck.
The boy who had helped Kazuya rolled his eyes, “Both are idiots” he murmured to himself.
Jin, however, noticed this and smirked, “Haruto can play with us too”
Kazuya followed Jin’s gaze and nodded solemnly, “Hari-Hari play”
Haruto rolled his eyes and walked over to them but sat with his back to them, playing with his blocks.
“s’okay” Jin whispered loudly to Kazuya, “Haruto is like Ri-Ri; being nice makes him blush like when Pi-Pi tells Ri-Ri that Ri-Ri was being nice”
Kazuya nodded solemnly, “Ri-Ri hides face”
Jin grinned, “let’s play Kazu-chan” he said, offering Kazuya a toy truck.
Kazuya giggled and took the truck, running it over the carpet and making ‘vroom-vroom’ sounds as he lay on his stomach, giggling as Jin took a car out of the bin and then sent it flying in Kazuya’s direction. It hit Kazuya’s truck and Jin’s eyes widened and then he grinned widely, “BOOM!” he said loudly, “Kazu, our cars went boom!”
“…idiot” Haruto commented.
Jin stuck his tongue out at Haruto.
“Haruto just jealous” he declared.
“Of what?”
“Haruto jealous that Kazu-chan likes me more”
Haruto scowled at Jin, and Kazuya giggled, “Kazu like JinJin best!” he agreed.
Haruto proceeded to throw a block at Jin’s head.
Jin dodged it and stuck out his tongue again. He stood up and dragged Kazuya with him, “c’mon Kazu; let’s go colour”
“’kay!” Kazuya chirped, following Jin.
--
Jin smiled happily as he sat against one of the beanbag chairs, Kazuya digging around through the pile of stuffed toys next to him. He could heard giggles from the pile. He grinned and then jumped into the pile as well, hiding under the stuffed animals with Kazuya, who giggled and put a hand over his mouth to keep from giggling and then put one over Jin’s as well.
They were there whispering and giggling to each other when suddenly, there was a loud sound. Jin and Kazuya peeked through a hole in the pile to see Kazuya’s teacher running into the room.
“I have a child missing!” she cried out in panic, wringing her hands, “I don’t know where he is! I just did a head count and he wasn’t anywhere in the room”
Kazuya gulped, “Uh-oh…”
“Trouble” Jin agreed solemnly.
Kazuya’s eyes watered up.
“Don’t cry, Kazu!” Jin whispered, “Don’t cry; it’ll be okay!” he said optimistically.
Kazuya sniffled, burying his head into Jin’s shirt again, hugging Jin, “Kazu don’t wanna go back”
Outside, the teachers were beginning to hear very strange noises coming from the pile of stuffed animals, noises that sounded a lot like sniffling, whispering and strangely enough, giggling.
Suspicious, the two of them walked over and pulled out stuffed animal after stuffed animal and sighed in exasperation at the sight they found.
Kazuya and Jin were lying amongst the stuffed animals, wide, puppy eyes on Kazuya’s face along with an adorable little pout, and Jin had a resolute pout, lip jutting out in defiance at the teachers as he hugged Kazuya to him.
“…I give up” Kazuya’s teacher threw up her hands, “All day, it’s ‘JinJin this’ or ‘JinJin that’ or screaming for Jin, or crying for Jin. The only time he’s not doing that is when he’s with Akira, which totally disrupts any lessons he has to listen to”
Jin’s teacher laughed, “It’s kind of sweet” she said, regarding Jin and Kazuya with a look in her eyes that the two children had recognized quickly as the look adults got when they wanted to pinch their cheeks. Kazuya puffed out his cheeks and then as though taunting her, shoved his face into Jin’s side, hiding his face.
Jin pouted, “No fair, Kazu!”
There was a muffled retort of “Yes fair!” as the teachers gave up and decided to let Kazuya stay here for the rest of today. They knew very well that if they tried to separate the two now, Kazuya would throw a fit and Jin would start sulking and throwing things. They would talk to their grandparents later today to see what could be done.
--
“They want to what?” Tatsuya asked incredulously as he lifted Kazuya from Ryo's arms and looked incredulously at Yamapi.
Yamapi coughed nervously, “They want to put Kazuya in Jin’s class for any time not for lessons so that they’ll stop sneaking into each other’s rooms and causing mass panic. They’re also hoping that with Jin there in the room constantly, Kazuya will concentrate less on getting to where Jin is, and concentrate more on making friends since his mind won’t be solely occupied on finding Jin”
“…what did they do for the teachers to arrange something like this?”
“…well, yesterday, Kazuya snuck into Jin’s classroom”
Tatsuya shot his grandson and accusing look, which was met with an innocent and adorable one in return. Kazuya stuck his thumb in his mouth and pouted, “Kazu miss JinJin”
“And today, they tried it out; it kind of worked”
“Kind of?”
“Kazuya felt that he shouldn’t leave his friend Akira alone and he, Jin and this other kid named Haruto snuck into the toddler room and snuck Akira out into Jin and Haruto’s classroom…”
“…you’re a troublemaker aren’t you?” Junno laughed as he tickled the toddler, “Underneath that innocent look”
Kazuya smiled toothily, “Love Ju-Ju~” he turned to Tatsuya, “Love Tat-Tat!!!” he squealed and hugged Tatsuya around the neck and put a messy kiss on Tatsuya’s cheek.
Any reprimand Tatsuya had for Kazuya melted into pink, sticky goo at that.
“I believe that those puppy eyes are his fault” Tatsuya pointed to the fifth adult in the room, who looked back with a look just as innocent as Kazuya’s.
“What?” he asked, with an innocent smile, “It’s not like I’m purposely teaching him the art of puppy eyes”
“Aren’t you?” Ryo muttered.
“No!” was the reply, “You’re mean Ryo-chan!”
“Meanie Ri-Ri” Kazuya agreed with a giggle.
As Ryo pouted, Tegoshi smiled sweetly at Kazuya, “Let’s leave the mean Ryo-chan here and go find Jin, okay, Kazu-chan?” he suggested, holding his hands out.
Kazuya immediately began wiggling out of Tatsuya’s arms and was stretching to try to get to Tegoshi, “’eshi-‘eshi!” he giggled as Tegoshi beamed down at the adorable toddler.
“I still don’t get why Kazu-chan can say ‘Eshi’, obviously an attempt to say Tesshi, but still can’t pronounce my name properly!” Ryo pouted, crossing his arms and looking accusingly at the toddler.
Said toddler blew a raspberry at him, and then turned to Tegoshi, “JinJin! ‘eshi-‘eshi! JinJin!” he pointed down the hall, toward the kitchen where he could hear the sounds of Jin laughing with another adult.
“Yes, let’s see how much food Massu has let Jin pig out on” Tegoshi said with a bright grin.
Kazuya giggled, “JinJin and Da-Da!”
All the other adults except Tegoshi froze at that nickname.
“Exactly”
“…Tegoshi…why exactly is Kazuya calling Massu ‘Da-Da’?” Tatsuya asked, taking a deep breath.
Ryo was looking wide-eyed at Tatsuya and then started shaking Junno, “This is why Kazuya can pronounce Tego-chan’s name properly isn’t it?! He’s secretly his and Massu’s lovechild and you kidnapped him and oh my god, you stole their baby”
“Yamapi, better get him checked out” Tatsuya said, rolling his eyes as he hit Ryo on the head, “I think he’s getting senile”
Tegoshi cleared his throat, “It’s probably from hearing Ryo-chan call Massu ‘Masuda’ all the time when Ryo-chan is angry and yelling at Massu for eating his food”
Ryo glared and sat down with a scowl.
Kazuya giggled, “JinJin right. Ri-Ri is like Hari-Hari”
Ryo twitched.
Tegoshi laughed as he swept Kazuya out of the room before Ryo exploded in anger.
“I AM NOT LIKE A THREE YEAR OLD”
Sitting Kazuya in the highchair next to where Jin was sitting in his booster seat, Tegoshi took the seat on the other side of the toddler, watching the almost four year old and the two year old talking animatedly to each other.
“JinJin~”
“Kazu” Jin grinned with a mouth full of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, “Ri-Ri go boom?” he asked.
“Ri-Ri go boom” Kazu repeated solemnly.
And Jin proceeded to make sound effects of an explosion.
Kazuya giggled as he reached for Jin.
Seeing that, Jin stood up on his booster seat, much to Tegoshi’s alarm, and Kazuya hugged Jin.
And Tegoshi melted at that sight.
Kazuya suddenly wrinkled his nose, "JinJin sticky" he complained, holding up grape jelly covered arms, "Sticky"
"Sorry" Jin offered half of his sandwich, "Peanut butter and jelly?" he asked.
Kazuya took it and began eating, "Kazu forgive JinJin for being sticky"
"Good" Jin smiled happily.
--- END CHAPTER ---