Blessed: Chapter 2
Title: Blessed
Author:
patrycja444d
Pairing: Akame
Rating: NC-17 (PG-13 for now)
Warning: None
Genre: AU, Romance, Fluff, M-Preg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but plot.
Corrected by:
masami93
Summary: After the divorce, Kuroki Meisa is taking care of her and Akanishi Jin’s daughter, Theia but suddenly the woman gets a chance to star in an American movie and decides to leave the child with Jin. Knowing that the ex-husband can be rather childish and, sometimes, irresponsible the woman wants to hire a babysitter. After a few failed interviews, she finds a perfect one but Jin doesn’t approve her choice because of a babysitter’s secret that his ex-wife seems to hide from him. Despite Jin’s inner uneasiness, he agrees with Meisa’s choice. The problem is: will he be able to actually accept the babysitter and the unbelievable secret that can shock you to the core?
A/N: I'm very sorry guys! The chapter should be ready about 2 weeks ago but my computer needed to be repaired and then I went on vacations with my family - a week without the Internet made me even more lazy, sorry! Unfortunately, my laziness can be also seen in the chapter, I think since for me it didn't turn out how I wanted it to (but I might be wrong since I rarely re-read my own stories XDD). So, enjoy and hopefully it's better than I think it is. :)
[Ficlist]
Back to: Prologue | Chapter 1
Chapter 2 “Fire or Quit”
Despite the fact that Akanishi was always glaring evilly at Kamenashi every time the younger man was in his sight, Kazuya’s work was going smoothly. Theia was a lovely girl and, though she was a little spoilt, Kame didn’t have many problems with her. She listened to him, ate all her vegetables and went to sleep without grimacing. Kazuya was surprised at how obedient she was but he had a feeling that Theia’s daily phone calls to her mother might have something to do with such good behavior of the small girl. Anyways, Kame couldn’t complain.
Jin on the other hand was getting more and more frustrated every day. He couldn’t find a single flaw that would let him kick out Kamenashi on the spot. The guy was annoyingly good. Akanishi saw him only in the morning when he needed to go to work and in the afternoon after coming back home, nevertheless Theia never complained or said anything that would paint the babysitter in the bad light. On the contrary, she seemed to like the man very much, always bubbling about him during dinner.
Jin had enough. He wanted the guy out of his house and out of his daughter's life but with the guy playing a perfect babysitter, the father couldn’t do anything. He needed a plan and he needed to hurry; he couldn’t let his daughter be around the man any longer! It didn’t take him long to think of a good way to get rid of the man but he needed to be home if he wanted to try it. Thankfully for Jin, and unfortunately for Kazuya, the opportunity came on Sunday evening in the form of a simple phone call.
“Akanishi, speaking.” Jin answered the ringing machine.
“It’s Maruyama. I am very sorry for bothering you on your day off and at this hour, Akanishi-san.”
“Don’t worry about it. What is it?” Jin asked aware that it had to be important if his assistant was contacting him now and not waited till tomorrow.
“We’ve got a call from Ogawa-san from technical department. There was a sudden breakdown of electricity in the middle of checking consoles in record studios. Two of our rooms can’t be used because of a blowout.” Jin closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly with his fingers.
“When are they going to repair them?”
“Ogawa-san says it may take two weeks. What should we do, Akanishi-san?”
“We still have a lot of work to do but without studios…” Jin thought for a while. “Tell me, did someone get hurt during the blowout?”
“No, sir, everyone’s fine.”
“Good. Until technical staff fixes the studios we need to reschedule the use of the rest of our rooms.”
“Of course, sir, I’m on it.”
“And add my studio to the list as well.”
“Eh?” The assistant was surprised; Akanishi rarely let someone work in the studio next to his office.
“We need to do as much as we can. Please, send everything important to my house, I will be working from here for the time being in my personal studio. This way we’ll lack only one studio so the work should go, more or less, smoothly.”
“I understand. I will send everything in the morning. Good night, Akanishi-san.”
Jin’s assistant hung up. Akanishi was looking for a moment on his phone with a blank look before his lips twisted into a wicked grin. He just killed two birds with one stone. One, he made sure there won’t be any delays in the corporation and two, during his stay at home he can easily execute his plan and say ‘bye-bye’ to his ‘favorite’ babysitter.
Jin happily exited his office and went to tuck Theia in. The girl smiled widely seeing her father in the doorway and stretched out her little arms towards him, asking silently for a hug. Jin complied and bent down, kissing his girl’s cute, pink, chubby cheeks playfully. Theia giggled and returned her papa’s sweet gesture. Jin covered her with a soft, warm blanket and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Ne, Theia-chan? Would you like it if papa stayed at home with you for a few days?”
“Really? Papa will stay?” The girl’s eyes sparkled in happiness and Jin nodded with a smile but Theia frowned suddenly and asked. “If papa’s home, will Kazu-nii not be here?”
“Do you want him to be here?” Jin asked feeling equally angry and happy at his daughter’s question; angry because he couldn’t stand how familiar Theia got with Kamenashi and happy that he has an excuse to ask the man to come despite being at home personally.
“Yes. Theia-chan likes Kazu-nii ve~ry much!” she said excitedly and looked hopefully at her dad.
“Then Kamenashi-san will be here as well.”
Theia smiled widely but tiredly. She rubbed her eyes with her small fists and yawned. Jin wished her nice dreams and slowly went out, closing the door behind him quietly. He walked back to his own bedroom and got ready to go to bed. He fell asleep grinning at the thought of his plan and slept, dreaming about the moment he’ll finally get to fire the man who apparently bought hearts of both his ex-wife and now also daughter.
* * *
When Kazuya came on the next day, Jin announced him the news. Jin was a little afraid that Kamenashi might get suspicious but the man didn’t have any complains, he even said that he will make sure that he and Theia won’t come near his office and studio to not disturb the working man. Jin only nodded and walked off. But he didn’t take care of his actual work, instead his mind was focused on something much more urgent…
* * *
Kazuya watched as the man disappeared in his office and stood in the corridor for a minute. He felt that the man said the truth about the problems in his company but at the same time something was telling him that there was more to this whole situation. The question was - what? Kame shrugged and walked to Theia’s bedroom to check up on the 3-year-old. The girl was still sleeping soundly. Kazuya smiled and decided to go to the kitchen where Kanagawa-san was making breakfast.
“Good morning, Nakagawa-san.”
“Ah, Kamenashi-san, good morning.” The woman smiled warmly and Kazuya looked at the counter. Slices of bread were placed next to the toaster.
“Bread?” He asked surprised.
“Yes, Akanishi-san spent way too much time in America. It’s like a small obsession of his. Ask him about the country and you will need to listen to him for the rest of the day.”
“But American breakfast? It’s not too healthy, especially for Theia.” Kame shook his head in disapproving gesture.
“You’re right. That’s why Theia-chan gets only one toast and a boiled egg to her portion of rice and miso soup.”
“Good, she needs to know Japanese cuisine. It’s part of our culture after all.”
“If only Akanishi-san had the same opinion as you do. I would be happier with him eating normal food. That boy needs vitamins, not those fat snacks he brings home.” Kazuya chuckled at the woman’s motherly behavior and he came closer to the counter.
“May I help you with something, Nakagawa-san?”
“Oh, you can cook?” Kame nodded with a smile. “Perfect, can you cut vegetables for me and peel the skin from oranges? There’s another apron next to the fridge.”
Kame put on a blue apron and took a knife. He carefully but skillfully cut carrots and cucumbers into not too thick not too thin slices. The maid was slightly impressed and let the man take care of miso soup while she was making the American breakfast for Akanishi. The woman was grateful for the younger’s help and wanted to repay him by making an additional portion for him. Kazuya declined. He had a feeling that if Akanishi got to know that he ate the food Nakagawa-san’s prepared, his employer might use it as an excuse to fire him; something along the lines: ‘he makes my maid make him food!’ - Kame preferred not to get into conflict with the older man.
When the food was ready, Nakagawa-san went to Akanishi’s office while Kame went back to Theia’s room. He peeked quietly inside before making his way to the girl’s bed. She was cutely hugging her favorite teddy bear, which was actually a panda, and smiling sweetly in her dream. Kame almost didn’t want to wake her up but it was already time for it. He knew that if she won’t get up now, she will have problems to fall asleep in the evening. Kazuya called the girl’s name gently a few times until she opened her eyes. She looked at her babysitter sleepily, slightly confused but smiled nonetheless. She was happy to see that her papa kept his promise.
Kame helped Theia to tie her shoelaces and let her hug him before taking hold of her small hand and walking downstairs to the dining room. Jin was already there with a cup of coffee in his hand. Theia immediately ran to her father and demanded a hug. The older obligated and kissed his princess’s cheeks. Theia giggled and kissed the man back before running to her own chair and climbing on it. Kazuya sat next to her, ready to help her.
Jin observed, hoping that the babysitter will make a mistake; he didn’t care what type of mistake, any would be good. Kame was aware of his gaze but decided to ignore it and concentrate on his job; why should he be afraid of Akanishi? He knew he was doing right. Theia was happy and smiling widely, she was a normal (at least as normal as having a famous parents was), healthy child.
Jin couldn’t find a ‘loophole’ in the younger man’s behavior. It was making him angry but he wouldn’t give up, he had some aces up his sleeve, he just needed to find the perfect time to use them. The man thought for a moment. The best way to find the opportunity was to ask the babysitter for today’s schedule.
“Kamenashi-san.” The younger looked at his employer. “I would like to know what’s your plan for the day.” Jin sipped from his cup.
“I thought I would take Theia to the park first and then eat lunch in the garden.” The man said while cleaning Theia’s face with a napkin.
“Good, just make sure she doesn’t hurt herself by accident.”
“Of course.” Kame answered politely even if he was angry inside; he didn’t like to be looked down on.
Jin smiled to himself. It was a perfect occasion to start on his scheme. He had a few ideas that would make Kamenashi lose his job or make him quit; no matter which one would work, Jin would be satisfied anyway. He just couldn’t wait for the babysitter to take Theia out so he could prepare everything.
* * *
Kame watched as Theia was running around on the green grass. The weather was very nice; the sun was shining and nicely warming people in the park, the sky was clear except for a few white clouds and the wind was blowing lightly making the air feel fresh. It was a good day to spend time outside so Kazuya soon joined the small girl playing ‘hide and seek’.
Before he knew it, Theia made friends with some kids but despite that, she still wanted Kame to participate in their games. The man was rather surprised knowing from experience that when children played with each other, they used to forget about adults. If Kazuya was Theia’s parent, he wouldn’t be as surprised but since he was practically a stranger to the girl, he wondered how often Theia’s parents spent time with her like he was at the moment.
Kame shook his head at the ridiculousness of his thoughts. Akanishi-san and Kuroki-san loved their daughter deeply. He could see it clearly but with Kuroki-san’s leave, and considering that the father also didn’t have much time at the moment, Theia probably felt lonely and missed playing with them. Kame was the closest to a parent right now so she probably focused her attention on him. It was sad and nice at the same time.
After playing some more they went home. On their way back, Theia spotted a pet shop and Kame agreed to go inside for a short while after the girl looked at him pleading, making cute puppy eyes. Kazuya knew perfectly well where she’s learnt that trick seeing as her father was using it as well. Once inside, the girl instantly ran to the fish section. Kame followed her a little surprised she didn’t ran to see cats or dogs since these animals were most loved by small children. The mystery was solved quickly when he saw her looking at the terrarium with turtles, calling to him happily.
“Kazu-nii! Come, come!” The girl pointed at the bowl-like glass container. “So cute~! Kazu-nii must like turtles very much.”
“Why?” the man asked curiously and Theia looked at him in confusion.
“Kazu-nii has turtle in his name…” the girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “Does it mean that Kazu-nii doesn’t like them?”
“Oh, I like them but that’s not why I have them in my name.” Kame smiled; he was impressed that Theia connected his name with the animal; she was very smart for her age.
“No?”
“No.”
The girl furrowed her eyebrows, crinkling her nose funnily in reflection. Finally she nodded but didn’t ask further probably deciding that she doesn’t care about the truth; having a turtle in the name because of liking the animal was very cute in her opinion so she didn’t want to be proved wrong. She turned her attention back to the turtles and observed them. Surprisingly, she didn’t get bored of the slow animals like other children her age, on the contrary she seemed to be completely engrossed in them.
“Theia-chan, we need to go.”
“But… the turtles…” she said sadly but Kazuya just shook his head. The girl sniffed loudly, her eyes getting slightly wet, nevertheless she grabbed Kame’s hand, even if unwillingly. When they were walking out, Theia stopped and turned back to the turtles. “Bye-bye, Kame-chan,” she said while waving to the animals. The scene was really sweet and touching for Kazuya so he crouched in front of the girl who looked at him quizzically.
“I can’t buy you a real turtle but what if I buy you a plushy?”
“Really? Kazu-nii will buy a plushy turtle for Theia-chan?”
“Un,” Kazuya nodded and Theia jumped on the man hugging him tightly and squalling in happiness. “But you need to promise to eat all the vegetables.”
“Green peas, too?”
“Green peas, too.”
Theia pouted but nodded obediently. Kame smiled and grabbed her hand. On the way back, he bought the promised stuffed turtle and a pack of strawberries for dessert. The girl completely forgot about the hated vegetable, hugging her new toy with a big smile. Kame knew he probably shouldn’t buy her things, she wasn’t his daughter after all, but he couldn’t help himself. She was very lovely and adorable little girl and somewhat he wanted her to remember him after Meisa comes back from America and he would need to go away.
Once home, Kame sat on a stylish wooden chair on the veranda while Theia started chasing after a butterfly. The man kept an eye on the girl until she became bored and came to sit on a chair next to his. She climbed on it herself, refusing any help; she wanted to show she was big enough to do it herself and Kame had no intentions to interrupt her. She smiled widely when he managed to sit and Kazuya clapped while smiling proudly.
While Theia was engrossed in drawing her new plushy turtle, Nakagawa-san came to them with lunch. Kazuya was surprised the woman made him one as well but she wouldn’t let him refuse saying that he needs energy to take care of the lively girl. He bashfully took the offered food and thanked the woman. Theia was beaming as well, happy that she wouldn’t have to eat alone. Nakagawa-san sat next to them since she was done at the moment and needed a small break. Kazuya finished his portion of onigiri and looked at Theia, he chuckled seeing rice that stuck to the girl’s face. He asked Nakagawa-san to stay with the child and got up himself to go to the kitchen for some paper towel or a tissue.
Jin observed them discreetly, waiting for the right moment. He’s eyes started sparkling mischievously and his lips formed a smirk. He watched as the younger man made his way to the kitchen and when he was sure the man wouldn’t see him, he quickly walked into the living room and tied the thin, almost invisible string to the leg of a heavy bookshelf. Giggling to himself, he ran up the stairs and waited for a sound of a crash.
Kame grabbed a paper towel and headed out of the kitchen. He was surprised when his leg stumbled over something almost making him fall forward. Nevertheless the man had to fall to the floor anyway at the end. When he tripped, a vase that stood on the small table about two meters away from him, overturned and started rolling towards the edge. Kame quickly darted forward and in the last second caught the vase. He sighted relieved and got up putting the vase back on its place. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He didn’t have an idea how the falling vase was connected to his stumbling but something was suspicious here. He turned around and looked for a paper towel he dropped before. When he bend down to pick it up, he saw it; a thin string laying messily on the floor. He grabbed it and in the same moment he could swear he heard someone cursing, and that cursing sounded exactly like Akanishi Jin.
Kazuya sighted and decided to ignore the man’s childish behavior. Akanishi wanted him out - Kazuya would stay no matter what. Kame walked back to the veranda and sat in his spot. Theia’s innocent, sticky face was really adorable so Kame’s mood increased immediately. He smiled and cleaned the girl’s face. Nakagawa-san gave him a look and Kame only nodded knowing that the woman probably realized that him being away for quite some time had something to do with their employer.
* * *
Jin paced around his room, biting on his thumb in frustration. He was sure the vase would break and he would be able to fire Kamenashi for touching his belongings but the man was surprisingly fit for such a small, skinny guy. Because of the man’s good condition, Jin’s plan ended with a failure but the older man didn’t have any intention to give up. On the contrary he still had more ‘traps’ to make and he was going to use whatever he could, even his own daughter. He only needed to remember to not make her cry in the process.
Jin didn’t have everything he needed to make another pranks, except for one thing.
When Theia was taking her afternoon nap, Kamenashi was usually helping Nakagawa-san in her chores. The woman seemed to fall for Kamenashi’s goody two-shoes act the same way Jin’s ex-wife and daughter did, and Jin couldn’t stand it. No one seemed to be on his side and able to see that a man being a babysitter was just too weird to be true. Something just had to be wrong with the guy if he wanted to do it willingly.
“What is with this guy? It’s just not normal.” Jin was talking to himself quietly while observing the guy that was calmly sweeping the floor in the corridor. The older man made sure not to be seen and crouched down every time the babysitter was looking up as if sensing Jin’s presence. At some point, Nakagawa-san came out of the dining room with a black sack full of rubbish and asked Kame to throw it away. The man agreed immediately, at the same time making Jin smirk in mischief. When the younger exited the house Jin came down and quickly locked the door. He wanted to jump from happiness; if the man wouldn’t come back, he can fire him for leaving his place of work.
Unfortunately, Jin forgot that the house has more than just one door so his jaw dropped at the sight of Kame sitting on a chair in the kitchen. The man was peeling mandarins of their skin that Nakagawa-san needed for a dessert. Jin couldn’t believe his eyes and was blinking stupidly until the woman saw him.
“Akanishi-san? Shouldn’t you be in your office, working?” the woman asked.
“Huh? Ah, yes, I should but I… I… I wanted coffee, yes, coffee,” the man tried to explain himself.
“Then why didn’t you call, sir? We have this speaking system for a reason,” She pointed to the small device stuck to the wall with a few buttons and small lights attached to it along with names of different rooms.
“W-well, I just… I wanted to stretch myself a bit. It’s not a crime, is it?” Jin grumbled with an annoyed pout that made Kame smirk a little.
“Of course not, but I haven’t seen you ‘stretching yourself’ since I started working here,” the woman replied and went back to cooking diner.
Jin was flustered and quickly glanced at Kamenashi who was able to contain another smirk from appearing on his face. Nevertheless, Jin saw a slight twitching of the other’s lips and narrowed his eyes. The freaking babysitter was laughing at him! Akanishi huffed and turned back, walking away towards his office. Since he wouldn’t be able to make more today, it was better for him to concentrate on his actual job.
* * *
The week with Akanishi staying in the house was hard for Kame but not hard enough so he would quit. Actually, most of Akanishi’s pranks were childish and more than making Kazuya want to resign, he was just more and more annoyed with the older man, especially when they had something to do with Theia.
On the second day after the vase thing, Jin bought Theia new permanent markers and crayons. He also told the little girl that when you like someone, you should use your new markers on them when they’re asleep and later draw a huge picture for them on the wall. Of course, Theia listened to her father and wanted to make Kame a surprise. When the babysitter left the girl, supposedly asleep, in her bedroom, Theia got up and ran downstairs asking for help Nakagawa-san. The woman agreed not knowing what the little girl planned. But really, what can such a small kid do? Maybe try to draw a portrait of Kamenashi, right?
She was wrong and she realized that when she found Theia an hour later drawing on the wall in the living with Kazuya sleeping on the couch. The man had a big blue rectangles around his eyes imitating glasses, a pair of black mustache and beard, and red circles on his cheeks. The wall wasn’t looking any better; Theia had time to draw a house, some tree, flowers and a bunch of people. Nakagawa-san went towards Kame and shook him awake.
“Is it the time?” The man asked right away, still slightly sleepy.
“Yes and no. Theia-chan wasn’t napping at all, she wanted to make a surprise for you but I think Akanishi-san might have something to do with it.”
“What?” Kazuya looked at her confused and the woman gave him a small mirror she always had with herself. Kame gapped at his reflection until Theia ran to him and climbed on his lap.
“Kazu-nii! Do you like it? Papa said you need to draw with new crayons on the face of a someone you like.” She explained excitedly.
“Um… yes, I like it but you don’t need to do it.” The man chuckled and the girl frowned.
“Really? But papa said to draw.”
“Your papa just likes to make pranks on people.” Kazuya explained and the girl’s lips formed an O-like shape. Then she nodded, realizing that her father was just stupid, like always. Theia came down from Kame’s lap and grabbed his hand wanting him to come closer to her piece of art. When they were in front of it, she started explaining everything.
“This is our house, a tree, roses,” she was pointing to certain part of her drawing. “This is Nakagawa-san, Mayumi-nee-chan,” Kame guessed it had to be the second maid that he hadn’t had a pleasure to meet yet. “Theia-chan, Mommy, Papa and Kazu-nii.” She said proudly.
Kame was rather surprised with the picture, not because it was quite nice for a 3-year-old girl, but because of the arrangement of people in it. There was nothing weird with Akanishi standing next to his ex-wife or Theia standing in front of him, her plushy turtle and teddy bear next to her, but the sight of Kame drawn next to Akanishi, not to mention really close to him, was rather shocking. Kazuya wondered why Theia decided he needed to stand much closer to Jin than Meisa. He knew for sure that Theia was always very happy to see her mom so it wasn’t a way of showing that they were on bad terms with each other. Also Jin and Meisa seemed rather close as well and didn’t fight over Theia so Kazuya was sure it would be natural for the small girl to draw her parents together and yet, she didn’t - instead she’s drawn Kame and Jin together.
“Kamenashi-san?” Nakagawa-san saw the man’s shocked face and it didn’t take her long to realize what made him so speechless. “Oh…”
“Do you like it?” The girl looked at Kame with shining eyes. The man quickly came back to Earth.
“Yes, I do,” he answered with a smile and the girl hugged his legs tightly before she skipped towards the door before Kame could ask her about her drawing.
The adults looked at each other, helpless - they had no idea what was on Theia’s mind and that made them worried. But the girl seemed rather normal so maybe the picture was just a random incident. They shrugged at each other and followed the small girl who was impatiently waiting for them. Kazuya quickly saw that the girl was tired, deprived of her afternoon nap and upon asking Nakagawa-san for her opinion, decided to put the girl to bed so she would rest at least a little before dinner.
During the time Theia was sleeping, Kazuya and Nakagawa-san were trying to clean the wall in the living room but before they started, Kazuya took a picture of the drawing so Theia wouldn’t be sad afterwards. Somehow they managed to remove most of the colorful lines and circles but Kame couldn’t say the same about his face. At the end he had to use a solvent and carefully cleaned the marker’s ink. At the end he needed to leave some parts of the rectangles around his eyes in fear he might get the solvent in them.
When Jin came down, he smirked at the sight of the man’s face. Even though he was aware that Kamenashi was able to remove the ‘make-up’, Jin still could enjoy some remaining blue lines on the man’s face. Kazuya glared at the man at first but then remembered Theia’s drawing and his expression changed to a questioning one. He watched Akanishi walking around. He couldn’t find a single reason for the girl to draw them next to each other, especially since they hadn’t spent more than half an hour with each other during the whole time Kazuya was taking care of Theia.
Kazuya shook his head to get rid of the weird thoughts and went upstairs to wake Theia up. When he did so, he came back, said goodbye to the small girl and Nakagawa-san and bowed to his employer stiffly. Walking back home Kame was thinking about the picture but when he got a headache, he sighed in resignation and decided not to dwell on it anymore. After all, kids’ minds are quite complicated for adults to understand sometimes, aren’t they?
* * *
Wednesday, just like two previous days, wasn’t the best. When Kazuya got to work, he found Theia already awake, too awake. The girl was very hyper today, running around, jumping, squealing loudly and dragging Kame everywhere, losing interest quickly in everything; she wasn’t simply energetic, she was overactive, completely high… on sweets.
When Kazuya walked into Theia’s room, he found many colorful wrappers lying on the floor. The amount of sugar the girl absorbed this morning shocked Kame. He wondered where the girl got a hand on all those sweets since she couldn’t really go and buy them herself. The mystery was solved when Kame made his way to the kitchen and saw Akanishi there. The man acted normal but when Kazuya turned around, he couldn’t hide his smirk anymore. In the corner of his eyes, Kame saw the mischievous expression and cursed inwardly.
Jin was enjoying watching the younger man struggling to keep up with Theia and made her sit still for at least a second. It was very amusing seeing as Theia suddenly ran out to the garden and the babysitter started chasing the girl. When they came back inside, Theia was laughing and fidgeting in Kamenashi’s hold while the younger man was all dirty and tired. Jin even could see some scratches, probably from the roses that grow in the backyard.
Finally Jin’s plan worked, he just needed to wait for Kamenashi to came to him and quit. He sat comfortably on the chair in his office and while humming a happy tune, he was checking the documents. About two hours later he heard knocking on his door. He grinned widely, expecting Kamenashi to enter the room, but his smiled faded a little seeing Nakagawa-san.
“Akanishi-san, the dinner is ready. Will you come down or should I bring it here?”
“No, no, I will come.”
The woman nodded and exited the room. Jin followed her soon after in quick steps. When he entered the dining room, he saw Kamenashi sitting at his usual place next to Theia and feeding the girl with rice. Jin gaped at the scene. Hi daughter seemed to be really tired, barely keeping herself awake. Jin wondered how that’s possible since he knew from experience that after the amount of sweets he gave her this morning, she wouldn’t be able to sleep even at night and it was only 4:30 in the afternoon! How could she be so exhausted.
Kazuya felt that someone was observing him and Theia. He turned back and saw Jin’s shocked expression. When the older man focused his attention on the babysitter, Kame smiled innocently but his eyes were sparkling with mirth and, just a little bit of, maliciousness. Jin glared at the younger, huffed in annoyance and sat in his own chair upset that he wasn’t able to make Kamenashi ran away again.
Kame observed the man, satisfied with his success. He was able to play with Theia so much that the girl got tired more easily; she just needed to get some good exercises at the local playground. Thankfully, Kazuya knew what made children tired quickly. Now he could proudly look Akanishi in the eyes and say that there’s nothing in this world that would make him quit. Yet, Kazuya frowned upon seeing a smile creeping its way on Akanishi’s lips. The older man suddenly looked up and stared straight in Kame’s eyes. Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows while Jin smirked; he was up to something and Kazuya knew that the war wasn’t over yet. Maybe Kazuya won the battle but the week hadn’t ended yet.
* * *
On Thursday, Jin’s ideas started to get a different level of creativity. Akanishi’s weirdest plan included Kame drawing a cute animal for Theia. How the man knew that he was bad at drawing, Kame didn’t know, but the older man’s agenda was to make Theia think that the babysitter wasn’t as good as she thought. It’s not hard to guess that the plan was a failure, even more than other plans since Theia, surprisingly, liked Kame’s picture very much.
Akanishi’s second plan for the daywas to make Kame chase a cat around the house to bring it later to one of his friends who was a big animal lover.
Jin opened the window without anyone noticing and let the cat he had bought in the pet shop out of the cage. Jin brought also a mechanical mouse that he left in the dining room. Of course, when the cat saw the mouse, it immediately started chasing it not being careful of its surroundings . While Theia was squealing and clapping her hands in excitement, Nakagawa-san jumped on a chair afraid of the mouse that she took for a real one. Kazuya rushed after the cat, catching everything that was about to fall. Thankfully, nothing got broken and when the mouse stopped moving, the cat got very calm; it lost interest in the mouse-like toy. Kame slowly took the cat and put it back in the cage he found by accident next to the door.
Kame was a little mad at Akanishi for startling Nakagawa-san but otherwise he didn’t mind the joke, the cat was quite cute and liked fawning so Kame let Theia play with it for some time. The girl was a little sad that the cat wouldn’t stay with her but Kazuya promised that if his friend agrees, he would bring the cat with him from time to time.
Jin was in a bad mood for the rest of the day wondering what he had to do to make Kamenashi quit. Slowly, he started to believe there was nothing that would offend the man enough but being the stubborn man he was, he didn’t want to give up; he would eat worms before he would let Kamenashi be. He wanted him out, now and forever.
* * *
Friday was a day Kame had enough of his employer’s pranks. Jin got desperate and it was very obvious that he lacked ideas because he did something that made Theia sad. Damaging furniture, painting walls, trying to tire Kame, giving sweets to Theia - all of it was okay because it didn’t hurt anyone else except for Kame but with his last idea, Jin got overboard; it wasn’t a simple joke that one would laugh at soon after being make fun of, it was the one that made people angry and made them cry.
Theia was a good girl and didn't make any problems but Kazuya knew how much she missed her mom. The girl was happy and energetic, enjoying every day but she was the happiest when talking to her mom. Kazuya made sure Theia was able to see Meisa at least every two days. Thankfully, in modern times, there was Internet and many programs that helped to communicate with people even on the other side of the globe.
"Kazu-nii, is it time for mama to call?" Theia asked while looking at the babysitter hopefully. Kame looked at his watch and smiled at the child.
"Almost. Let's turn on the computer."
"Un!"
The girl grinned and nodded her head energetically then ran to the small but very cozy library. Kazuya had to say that he liked the room a lot, it was a great place to relax and get some well deserved peace - at least that was what he thought since he couldn't neglect his job; not to mention that it would be an insult if he said that Theia was giving him troubles. The girl was just adorable and nothing could change that.
Theia climbed on one of the chairs quickly and pressed a power button with a short chubby finger but her smile wavered leaving her rather confused. Kazuya frowned seeing as the computer’s screen stayed black - nothing happened. Kame looked under the desk in search for a loose cable or any other broken part that might be a reason for the device not to work like it normally should.
“Kazu-nii, why is it not working?” Theia asked the man with obvious sadness.
“I don’t know. Come here. We will see if we can use your father’s computer.” Theia fidgeted slightly biting on her lower lip just slightly. “Theia-chan, is something wrong?” Kame crouched in front of the small girl.
“Papa’s busy, is it okay to go to his room?” the girl looked at Kame with her puppy eyes. It was cute how much she cared about her father’s job but it was very visible that she wants to see her mother even more. Kazuya smiled lightly and patted her head.
“I think your papa won’t mind if it’s something like you talking to mama.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Theia smiled and her eyes got brighter. She nodded and grabbed Kame’s outstretched hand in her chubby one. Kazuya guided them to his employer’s office and knocked softly on the wooden door. They heard a muffled sound and Kazuya pushed down a handle opening the door and letting Theia in first. The girl ran to her father quickly while Kazuya walked inside and closed the door behind him, before approaching Akanishi and his daughter.
“Sweetheart! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”
“Papa, computer in the library doesn’t work!” The girl said with a pout. Seeing that the girl won’t say more, Kazuya decided to explain the situation properly.
“Kuroki-san was going to call Theia-chan today but the computer doesn’t work even though nothing seems to be broken or misplaced. Akanishi-san, is it possible for us to borrow your laptop for some time?”
“Please, papa! I want to talk to mama!” The girl pleaded. Jin melted at the sight of his pouting daughter but he started to feel guilty.
“Of course, you can. Here, just give it back in an hour. I need it after all.”
Jin handed his laptop to Kame who bowed slightly and exited the room along with squealing Theia. They went to the living room and made themselves comfortable on the couch, putting the laptop on the elegant glass table in front of them. Kame turned on the device and searched for the right program. In the opened window he could see all the contacts but he frowned almost immediately. Something was wrong - all contacts were grey indicating that he had no connection to the Internet. He quickly checked what might be wrong furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. Surprisingly the problem seemed to lay inside the house so Kame left Theia with Nakagawa-san and went to check the router. Kazuya gritted his teeth in anger upon seeing the device. He had no doubts that Akanishi had something to do with what happened to the router. The device was alright but all the wires were cut in half - it was obvious that someone did it and it wasn’t the old gardener for sure.
Kame took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. He couldn’t do anything at the moment except to go and break the bad news to Theia-chan. He slowly made his way to the living room. Theia looked at him hopefully and Kame’s heart almost shattered at the sight. He sat next to the girl and explained the situation in the way she would understand. Theia lowered her head and nodded then stood up silently and went to take her crayons and a piece of paper. She sat quietly in the corner and started drawing.
Kazuya looked at her sadly. He knew how much Theia was wanting to see her mom. The normally energetic girl was now sulking in the corner, barely stopping herself from crying - it was a heartbreaking sight. Kame considered calling Meisa by phone but the bill would be huge so, with a heavy heart, Kame discarded the idea.
When half an hour later Theia approached him again, her lower lip was quivering slightly and her small fists were clenched tightly. He immediately took the girl on his lap and Theia buried her face in his shirt starting to wail loudly. Kazuya was rubbing the girl’s back and rocked her gently back and forth, whispering soothing words to her ear. Theia was crying and screaming, wanting to see her mother but Kame couldn’t do anything - he felt completely helpless.
When the girl’s crying turned into a soft sob, Kazuya make the girl drink some water and took her to the bedroom. Theia refused to let go of Kame so the man laid down in the bed still patting the girl’s back and head in reassuring gesture. Soon he felt the small hands losing their grip on him and he gently got up from the bed. He pulled the blanket and covered Theia with it. Kazuya pushed away some strands of hair from the cute face and exited the room.
Kame leaned on the door with his head lowered and face hidden behind his dark bangs. When he raised his head again his eyes were looking hard and determined, ready to face the man who brought his own child so much pain and to scream straight in Akanishi’s face what Kame thought of him.
Kazuya made his way to Akanishi’s office and walked in after knocking. The older man looked at him in question but his eyes were shining with mischief. Kame closed the door behind him and stopped in front of his employer looking at him with a grim, angry expression. The other straightened up in his chair and leaned back without a word waiting for Kamenashi to admit defeat. What Jin hadn't foreseen was that the younger man was very devoted person and his love for children made him only want to stay and protect Theia from every bad thing in this world, even if it meant he had to fight against the girl’s father.
“Do you have something to tell me?” Akanishi asked nonchalantly while intertwining his hands together and putting his elbows on the armchairs. Kazuya’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
“Yes, I do have something to tell you.”
“I will listen then, go ahead.” The older man smirked inwardly, this was the moment he had waited for.
“Akanishi-san,” Kazuya crossed his arms and looked coldly at the sitting man. “may I know who cut the wires of the router?”
“Oh… someone cut them? It’s the first time I hear of it.” Kame’s patience was already thin when he came into the room, now he snapped completely and hit the desk in front of him with both palms.
“Don’t try to play innocent, Akanishi. I know you did it!” Kazuya growled angrily.
“Watch your mouth, Kamenashi-san. I’m your employer, I can easily fire you for lack of respect.”
“Well, I would respect you if you actually weren’t a big child. Even your own daughter is more mature than you. For the whole week you tried to do everything to make my job harder than it is so I would quit but let me tell you, I will NOT quit! On the contrary, I will stay as long as Kuroki-san won’t come back from United States.” Kazuya calmed down a little and crossed his arms again. Jin frowned for a second, then looked at the babysitter in fury.
“What did you say?!” Jin stood up and glared at the shorter male.
“You heard it. I’m going to stay as long as I’m needed here. Besides, you can be sure that I will inform Kuroki-san about everything that happened this past week, including today’s incident!”
“You wouldn’t dare…” Jin drawled out through his clenched teeth.
“Oh, I certainly would. If you play dirty like that then have it your way but I’m not going to stay put when you’re hurting your own child! If you have a problem with me, then solve it like a man, not a freaking little brat!”
“So what? You want to fight? Fine, I don’t mind one bit.” Jin narrowed his eyes dangerously and smirked while Kame rolled his eyes.
“Really, what a kid…” Kazuya muttered quietly but Jin seemed to hear it anyway but before he could react, Kame spoke again. “No, Akanishi-san, what I mean is why don’t we make a bet that will solve everything once and for all?”
“A bet?” Jin raised an eyebrow in question.
“Yes.” Kame nodded before explaining further. “If during the next week you will be able to take care of Theia-chan better than I do, then I will quit without complaining.”
“ How do you know I will be free then? I’m a busy man - I still need to do my own work.”
“Seeing as you had lots of time to prepare all those traps, I think you have enough time to work and spend time with Theia-chan.” Kame answered with a short glare.
“What if I lose?”
“If you lose, you won’t complain ever again and accept the fact that I’m going to look after your daughter until your ex-wife comes back. What do you say?” Kazuya extended his hand for Akanishi to shake. The older looked at it for a moment before he grabbed it facing Kame again.
“Deal.” The man squeezed Kazuya’s hand tightly but soon they broke their hands apart and Kame exited the room with a short ‘excuse me’. Jin glared at the door intensely before growling in annoyance and falling back onto his chair. His plan backfired on him and he had the last chance to get rid of the pest in a form of a male babysitter.
He wouldn’t fail, not again…
Chapter 3
Author:
patrycja444d
Pairing: Akame
Rating: NC-17 (PG-13 for now)
Warning: None
Genre: AU, Romance, Fluff, M-Preg
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but plot.
Corrected by:
masami93
Summary: After the divorce, Kuroki Meisa is taking care of her and Akanishi Jin’s daughter, Theia but suddenly the woman gets a chance to star in an American movie and decides to leave the child with Jin. Knowing that the ex-husband can be rather childish and, sometimes, irresponsible the woman wants to hire a babysitter. After a few failed interviews, she finds a perfect one but Jin doesn’t approve her choice because of a babysitter’s secret that his ex-wife seems to hide from him. Despite Jin’s inner uneasiness, he agrees with Meisa’s choice. The problem is: will he be able to actually accept the babysitter and the unbelievable secret that can shock you to the core?
A/N: I'm very sorry guys! The chapter should be ready about 2 weeks ago but my computer needed to be repaired and then I went on vacations with my family - a week without the Internet made me even more lazy, sorry! Unfortunately, my laziness can be also seen in the chapter, I think since for me it didn't turn out how I wanted it to (but I might be wrong since I rarely re-read my own stories XDD). So, enjoy and hopefully it's better than I think it is. :)
[Ficlist]
Back to: Prologue | Chapter 1
Chapter 2 “Fire or Quit”
Despite the fact that Akanishi was always glaring evilly at Kamenashi every time the younger man was in his sight, Kazuya’s work was going smoothly. Theia was a lovely girl and, though she was a little spoilt, Kame didn’t have many problems with her. She listened to him, ate all her vegetables and went to sleep without grimacing. Kazuya was surprised at how obedient she was but he had a feeling that Theia’s daily phone calls to her mother might have something to do with such good behavior of the small girl. Anyways, Kame couldn’t complain.
Jin on the other hand was getting more and more frustrated every day. He couldn’t find a single flaw that would let him kick out Kamenashi on the spot. The guy was annoyingly good. Akanishi saw him only in the morning when he needed to go to work and in the afternoon after coming back home, nevertheless Theia never complained or said anything that would paint the babysitter in the bad light. On the contrary, she seemed to like the man very much, always bubbling about him during dinner.
Jin had enough. He wanted the guy out of his house and out of his daughter's life but with the guy playing a perfect babysitter, the father couldn’t do anything. He needed a plan and he needed to hurry; he couldn’t let his daughter be around the man any longer! It didn’t take him long to think of a good way to get rid of the man but he needed to be home if he wanted to try it. Thankfully for Jin, and unfortunately for Kazuya, the opportunity came on Sunday evening in the form of a simple phone call.
“Akanishi, speaking.” Jin answered the ringing machine.
“It’s Maruyama. I am very sorry for bothering you on your day off and at this hour, Akanishi-san.”
“Don’t worry about it. What is it?” Jin asked aware that it had to be important if his assistant was contacting him now and not waited till tomorrow.
“We’ve got a call from Ogawa-san from technical department. There was a sudden breakdown of electricity in the middle of checking consoles in record studios. Two of our rooms can’t be used because of a blowout.” Jin closed his eyes and rubbed them tiredly with his fingers.
“When are they going to repair them?”
“Ogawa-san says it may take two weeks. What should we do, Akanishi-san?”
“We still have a lot of work to do but without studios…” Jin thought for a while. “Tell me, did someone get hurt during the blowout?”
“No, sir, everyone’s fine.”
“Good. Until technical staff fixes the studios we need to reschedule the use of the rest of our rooms.”
“Of course, sir, I’m on it.”
“And add my studio to the list as well.”
“Eh?” The assistant was surprised; Akanishi rarely let someone work in the studio next to his office.
“We need to do as much as we can. Please, send everything important to my house, I will be working from here for the time being in my personal studio. This way we’ll lack only one studio so the work should go, more or less, smoothly.”
“I understand. I will send everything in the morning. Good night, Akanishi-san.”
Jin’s assistant hung up. Akanishi was looking for a moment on his phone with a blank look before his lips twisted into a wicked grin. He just killed two birds with one stone. One, he made sure there won’t be any delays in the corporation and two, during his stay at home he can easily execute his plan and say ‘bye-bye’ to his ‘favorite’ babysitter.
Jin happily exited his office and went to tuck Theia in. The girl smiled widely seeing her father in the doorway and stretched out her little arms towards him, asking silently for a hug. Jin complied and bent down, kissing his girl’s cute, pink, chubby cheeks playfully. Theia giggled and returned her papa’s sweet gesture. Jin covered her with a soft, warm blanket and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Ne, Theia-chan? Would you like it if papa stayed at home with you for a few days?”
“Really? Papa will stay?” The girl’s eyes sparkled in happiness and Jin nodded with a smile but Theia frowned suddenly and asked. “If papa’s home, will Kazu-nii not be here?”
“Do you want him to be here?” Jin asked feeling equally angry and happy at his daughter’s question; angry because he couldn’t stand how familiar Theia got with Kamenashi and happy that he has an excuse to ask the man to come despite being at home personally.
“Yes. Theia-chan likes Kazu-nii ve~ry much!” she said excitedly and looked hopefully at her dad.
“Then Kamenashi-san will be here as well.”
Theia smiled widely but tiredly. She rubbed her eyes with her small fists and yawned. Jin wished her nice dreams and slowly went out, closing the door behind him quietly. He walked back to his own bedroom and got ready to go to bed. He fell asleep grinning at the thought of his plan and slept, dreaming about the moment he’ll finally get to fire the man who apparently bought hearts of both his ex-wife and now also daughter.
* * *
When Kazuya came on the next day, Jin announced him the news. Jin was a little afraid that Kamenashi might get suspicious but the man didn’t have any complains, he even said that he will make sure that he and Theia won’t come near his office and studio to not disturb the working man. Jin only nodded and walked off. But he didn’t take care of his actual work, instead his mind was focused on something much more urgent…
* * *
Kazuya watched as the man disappeared in his office and stood in the corridor for a minute. He felt that the man said the truth about the problems in his company but at the same time something was telling him that there was more to this whole situation. The question was - what? Kame shrugged and walked to Theia’s bedroom to check up on the 3-year-old. The girl was still sleeping soundly. Kazuya smiled and decided to go to the kitchen where Kanagawa-san was making breakfast.
“Good morning, Nakagawa-san.”
“Ah, Kamenashi-san, good morning.” The woman smiled warmly and Kazuya looked at the counter. Slices of bread were placed next to the toaster.
“Bread?” He asked surprised.
“Yes, Akanishi-san spent way too much time in America. It’s like a small obsession of his. Ask him about the country and you will need to listen to him for the rest of the day.”
“But American breakfast? It’s not too healthy, especially for Theia.” Kame shook his head in disapproving gesture.
“You’re right. That’s why Theia-chan gets only one toast and a boiled egg to her portion of rice and miso soup.”
“Good, she needs to know Japanese cuisine. It’s part of our culture after all.”
“If only Akanishi-san had the same opinion as you do. I would be happier with him eating normal food. That boy needs vitamins, not those fat snacks he brings home.” Kazuya chuckled at the woman’s motherly behavior and he came closer to the counter.
“May I help you with something, Nakagawa-san?”
“Oh, you can cook?” Kame nodded with a smile. “Perfect, can you cut vegetables for me and peel the skin from oranges? There’s another apron next to the fridge.”
Kame put on a blue apron and took a knife. He carefully but skillfully cut carrots and cucumbers into not too thick not too thin slices. The maid was slightly impressed and let the man take care of miso soup while she was making the American breakfast for Akanishi. The woman was grateful for the younger’s help and wanted to repay him by making an additional portion for him. Kazuya declined. He had a feeling that if Akanishi got to know that he ate the food Nakagawa-san’s prepared, his employer might use it as an excuse to fire him; something along the lines: ‘he makes my maid make him food!’ - Kame preferred not to get into conflict with the older man.
When the food was ready, Nakagawa-san went to Akanishi’s office while Kame went back to Theia’s room. He peeked quietly inside before making his way to the girl’s bed. She was cutely hugging her favorite teddy bear, which was actually a panda, and smiling sweetly in her dream. Kame almost didn’t want to wake her up but it was already time for it. He knew that if she won’t get up now, she will have problems to fall asleep in the evening. Kazuya called the girl’s name gently a few times until she opened her eyes. She looked at her babysitter sleepily, slightly confused but smiled nonetheless. She was happy to see that her papa kept his promise.
Kame helped Theia to tie her shoelaces and let her hug him before taking hold of her small hand and walking downstairs to the dining room. Jin was already there with a cup of coffee in his hand. Theia immediately ran to her father and demanded a hug. The older obligated and kissed his princess’s cheeks. Theia giggled and kissed the man back before running to her own chair and climbing on it. Kazuya sat next to her, ready to help her.
Jin observed, hoping that the babysitter will make a mistake; he didn’t care what type of mistake, any would be good. Kame was aware of his gaze but decided to ignore it and concentrate on his job; why should he be afraid of Akanishi? He knew he was doing right. Theia was happy and smiling widely, she was a normal (at least as normal as having a famous parents was), healthy child.
Jin couldn’t find a ‘loophole’ in the younger man’s behavior. It was making him angry but he wouldn’t give up, he had some aces up his sleeve, he just needed to find the perfect time to use them. The man thought for a moment. The best way to find the opportunity was to ask the babysitter for today’s schedule.
“Kamenashi-san.” The younger looked at his employer. “I would like to know what’s your plan for the day.” Jin sipped from his cup.
“I thought I would take Theia to the park first and then eat lunch in the garden.” The man said while cleaning Theia’s face with a napkin.
“Good, just make sure she doesn’t hurt herself by accident.”
“Of course.” Kame answered politely even if he was angry inside; he didn’t like to be looked down on.
Jin smiled to himself. It was a perfect occasion to start on his scheme. He had a few ideas that would make Kamenashi lose his job or make him quit; no matter which one would work, Jin would be satisfied anyway. He just couldn’t wait for the babysitter to take Theia out so he could prepare everything.
* * *
Kame watched as Theia was running around on the green grass. The weather was very nice; the sun was shining and nicely warming people in the park, the sky was clear except for a few white clouds and the wind was blowing lightly making the air feel fresh. It was a good day to spend time outside so Kazuya soon joined the small girl playing ‘hide and seek’.
Before he knew it, Theia made friends with some kids but despite that, she still wanted Kame to participate in their games. The man was rather surprised knowing from experience that when children played with each other, they used to forget about adults. If Kazuya was Theia’s parent, he wouldn’t be as surprised but since he was practically a stranger to the girl, he wondered how often Theia’s parents spent time with her like he was at the moment.
Kame shook his head at the ridiculousness of his thoughts. Akanishi-san and Kuroki-san loved their daughter deeply. He could see it clearly but with Kuroki-san’s leave, and considering that the father also didn’t have much time at the moment, Theia probably felt lonely and missed playing with them. Kame was the closest to a parent right now so she probably focused her attention on him. It was sad and nice at the same time.
After playing some more they went home. On their way back, Theia spotted a pet shop and Kame agreed to go inside for a short while after the girl looked at him pleading, making cute puppy eyes. Kazuya knew perfectly well where she’s learnt that trick seeing as her father was using it as well. Once inside, the girl instantly ran to the fish section. Kame followed her a little surprised she didn’t ran to see cats or dogs since these animals were most loved by small children. The mystery was solved quickly when he saw her looking at the terrarium with turtles, calling to him happily.
“Kazu-nii! Come, come!” The girl pointed at the bowl-like glass container. “So cute~! Kazu-nii must like turtles very much.”
“Why?” the man asked curiously and Theia looked at him in confusion.
“Kazu-nii has turtle in his name…” the girl’s eyes widened in surprise. “Does it mean that Kazu-nii doesn’t like them?”
“Oh, I like them but that’s not why I have them in my name.” Kame smiled; he was impressed that Theia connected his name with the animal; she was very smart for her age.
“No?”
“No.”
The girl furrowed her eyebrows, crinkling her nose funnily in reflection. Finally she nodded but didn’t ask further probably deciding that she doesn’t care about the truth; having a turtle in the name because of liking the animal was very cute in her opinion so she didn’t want to be proved wrong. She turned her attention back to the turtles and observed them. Surprisingly, she didn’t get bored of the slow animals like other children her age, on the contrary she seemed to be completely engrossed in them.
“Theia-chan, we need to go.”
“But… the turtles…” she said sadly but Kazuya just shook his head. The girl sniffed loudly, her eyes getting slightly wet, nevertheless she grabbed Kame’s hand, even if unwillingly. When they were walking out, Theia stopped and turned back to the turtles. “Bye-bye, Kame-chan,” she said while waving to the animals. The scene was really sweet and touching for Kazuya so he crouched in front of the girl who looked at him quizzically.
“I can’t buy you a real turtle but what if I buy you a plushy?”
“Really? Kazu-nii will buy a plushy turtle for Theia-chan?”
“Un,” Kazuya nodded and Theia jumped on the man hugging him tightly and squalling in happiness. “But you need to promise to eat all the vegetables.”
“Green peas, too?”
“Green peas, too.”
Theia pouted but nodded obediently. Kame smiled and grabbed her hand. On the way back, he bought the promised stuffed turtle and a pack of strawberries for dessert. The girl completely forgot about the hated vegetable, hugging her new toy with a big smile. Kame knew he probably shouldn’t buy her things, she wasn’t his daughter after all, but he couldn’t help himself. She was very lovely and adorable little girl and somewhat he wanted her to remember him after Meisa comes back from America and he would need to go away.
Once home, Kame sat on a stylish wooden chair on the veranda while Theia started chasing after a butterfly. The man kept an eye on the girl until she became bored and came to sit on a chair next to his. She climbed on it herself, refusing any help; she wanted to show she was big enough to do it herself and Kame had no intentions to interrupt her. She smiled widely when he managed to sit and Kazuya clapped while smiling proudly.
While Theia was engrossed in drawing her new plushy turtle, Nakagawa-san came to them with lunch. Kazuya was surprised the woman made him one as well but she wouldn’t let him refuse saying that he needs energy to take care of the lively girl. He bashfully took the offered food and thanked the woman. Theia was beaming as well, happy that she wouldn’t have to eat alone. Nakagawa-san sat next to them since she was done at the moment and needed a small break. Kazuya finished his portion of onigiri and looked at Theia, he chuckled seeing rice that stuck to the girl’s face. He asked Nakagawa-san to stay with the child and got up himself to go to the kitchen for some paper towel or a tissue.
Jin observed them discreetly, waiting for the right moment. He’s eyes started sparkling mischievously and his lips formed a smirk. He watched as the younger man made his way to the kitchen and when he was sure the man wouldn’t see him, he quickly walked into the living room and tied the thin, almost invisible string to the leg of a heavy bookshelf. Giggling to himself, he ran up the stairs and waited for a sound of a crash.
Kame grabbed a paper towel and headed out of the kitchen. He was surprised when his leg stumbled over something almost making him fall forward. Nevertheless the man had to fall to the floor anyway at the end. When he tripped, a vase that stood on the small table about two meters away from him, overturned and started rolling towards the edge. Kame quickly darted forward and in the last second caught the vase. He sighted relieved and got up putting the vase back on its place. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He didn’t have an idea how the falling vase was connected to his stumbling but something was suspicious here. He turned around and looked for a paper towel he dropped before. When he bend down to pick it up, he saw it; a thin string laying messily on the floor. He grabbed it and in the same moment he could swear he heard someone cursing, and that cursing sounded exactly like Akanishi Jin.
Kazuya sighted and decided to ignore the man’s childish behavior. Akanishi wanted him out - Kazuya would stay no matter what. Kame walked back to the veranda and sat in his spot. Theia’s innocent, sticky face was really adorable so Kame’s mood increased immediately. He smiled and cleaned the girl’s face. Nakagawa-san gave him a look and Kame only nodded knowing that the woman probably realized that him being away for quite some time had something to do with their employer.
* * *
Jin paced around his room, biting on his thumb in frustration. He was sure the vase would break and he would be able to fire Kamenashi for touching his belongings but the man was surprisingly fit for such a small, skinny guy. Because of the man’s good condition, Jin’s plan ended with a failure but the older man didn’t have any intention to give up. On the contrary he still had more ‘traps’ to make and he was going to use whatever he could, even his own daughter. He only needed to remember to not make her cry in the process.
Jin didn’t have everything he needed to make another pranks, except for one thing.
When Theia was taking her afternoon nap, Kamenashi was usually helping Nakagawa-san in her chores. The woman seemed to fall for Kamenashi’s goody two-shoes act the same way Jin’s ex-wife and daughter did, and Jin couldn’t stand it. No one seemed to be on his side and able to see that a man being a babysitter was just too weird to be true. Something just had to be wrong with the guy if he wanted to do it willingly.
“What is with this guy? It’s just not normal.” Jin was talking to himself quietly while observing the guy that was calmly sweeping the floor in the corridor. The older man made sure not to be seen and crouched down every time the babysitter was looking up as if sensing Jin’s presence. At some point, Nakagawa-san came out of the dining room with a black sack full of rubbish and asked Kame to throw it away. The man agreed immediately, at the same time making Jin smirk in mischief. When the younger exited the house Jin came down and quickly locked the door. He wanted to jump from happiness; if the man wouldn’t come back, he can fire him for leaving his place of work.
Unfortunately, Jin forgot that the house has more than just one door so his jaw dropped at the sight of Kame sitting on a chair in the kitchen. The man was peeling mandarins of their skin that Nakagawa-san needed for a dessert. Jin couldn’t believe his eyes and was blinking stupidly until the woman saw him.
“Akanishi-san? Shouldn’t you be in your office, working?” the woman asked.
“Huh? Ah, yes, I should but I… I… I wanted coffee, yes, coffee,” the man tried to explain himself.
“Then why didn’t you call, sir? We have this speaking system for a reason,” She pointed to the small device stuck to the wall with a few buttons and small lights attached to it along with names of different rooms.
“W-well, I just… I wanted to stretch myself a bit. It’s not a crime, is it?” Jin grumbled with an annoyed pout that made Kame smirk a little.
“Of course not, but I haven’t seen you ‘stretching yourself’ since I started working here,” the woman replied and went back to cooking diner.
Jin was flustered and quickly glanced at Kamenashi who was able to contain another smirk from appearing on his face. Nevertheless, Jin saw a slight twitching of the other’s lips and narrowed his eyes. The freaking babysitter was laughing at him! Akanishi huffed and turned back, walking away towards his office. Since he wouldn’t be able to make more today, it was better for him to concentrate on his actual job.
* * *
The week with Akanishi staying in the house was hard for Kame but not hard enough so he would quit. Actually, most of Akanishi’s pranks were childish and more than making Kazuya want to resign, he was just more and more annoyed with the older man, especially when they had something to do with Theia.
On the second day after the vase thing, Jin bought Theia new permanent markers and crayons. He also told the little girl that when you like someone, you should use your new markers on them when they’re asleep and later draw a huge picture for them on the wall. Of course, Theia listened to her father and wanted to make Kame a surprise. When the babysitter left the girl, supposedly asleep, in her bedroom, Theia got up and ran downstairs asking for help Nakagawa-san. The woman agreed not knowing what the little girl planned. But really, what can such a small kid do? Maybe try to draw a portrait of Kamenashi, right?
She was wrong and she realized that when she found Theia an hour later drawing on the wall in the living with Kazuya sleeping on the couch. The man had a big blue rectangles around his eyes imitating glasses, a pair of black mustache and beard, and red circles on his cheeks. The wall wasn’t looking any better; Theia had time to draw a house, some tree, flowers and a bunch of people. Nakagawa-san went towards Kame and shook him awake.
“Is it the time?” The man asked right away, still slightly sleepy.
“Yes and no. Theia-chan wasn’t napping at all, she wanted to make a surprise for you but I think Akanishi-san might have something to do with it.”
“What?” Kazuya looked at her confused and the woman gave him a small mirror she always had with herself. Kame gapped at his reflection until Theia ran to him and climbed on his lap.
“Kazu-nii! Do you like it? Papa said you need to draw with new crayons on the face of a someone you like.” She explained excitedly.
“Um… yes, I like it but you don’t need to do it.” The man chuckled and the girl frowned.
“Really? But papa said to draw.”
“Your papa just likes to make pranks on people.” Kazuya explained and the girl’s lips formed an O-like shape. Then she nodded, realizing that her father was just stupid, like always. Theia came down from Kame’s lap and grabbed his hand wanting him to come closer to her piece of art. When they were in front of it, she started explaining everything.
“This is our house, a tree, roses,” she was pointing to certain part of her drawing. “This is Nakagawa-san, Mayumi-nee-chan,” Kame guessed it had to be the second maid that he hadn’t had a pleasure to meet yet. “Theia-chan, Mommy, Papa and Kazu-nii.” She said proudly.
Kame was rather surprised with the picture, not because it was quite nice for a 3-year-old girl, but because of the arrangement of people in it. There was nothing weird with Akanishi standing next to his ex-wife or Theia standing in front of him, her plushy turtle and teddy bear next to her, but the sight of Kame drawn next to Akanishi, not to mention really close to him, was rather shocking. Kazuya wondered why Theia decided he needed to stand much closer to Jin than Meisa. He knew for sure that Theia was always very happy to see her mom so it wasn’t a way of showing that they were on bad terms with each other. Also Jin and Meisa seemed rather close as well and didn’t fight over Theia so Kazuya was sure it would be natural for the small girl to draw her parents together and yet, she didn’t - instead she’s drawn Kame and Jin together.
“Kamenashi-san?” Nakagawa-san saw the man’s shocked face and it didn’t take her long to realize what made him so speechless. “Oh…”
“Do you like it?” The girl looked at Kame with shining eyes. The man quickly came back to Earth.
“Yes, I do,” he answered with a smile and the girl hugged his legs tightly before she skipped towards the door before Kame could ask her about her drawing.
The adults looked at each other, helpless - they had no idea what was on Theia’s mind and that made them worried. But the girl seemed rather normal so maybe the picture was just a random incident. They shrugged at each other and followed the small girl who was impatiently waiting for them. Kazuya quickly saw that the girl was tired, deprived of her afternoon nap and upon asking Nakagawa-san for her opinion, decided to put the girl to bed so she would rest at least a little before dinner.
During the time Theia was sleeping, Kazuya and Nakagawa-san were trying to clean the wall in the living room but before they started, Kazuya took a picture of the drawing so Theia wouldn’t be sad afterwards. Somehow they managed to remove most of the colorful lines and circles but Kame couldn’t say the same about his face. At the end he had to use a solvent and carefully cleaned the marker’s ink. At the end he needed to leave some parts of the rectangles around his eyes in fear he might get the solvent in them.
When Jin came down, he smirked at the sight of the man’s face. Even though he was aware that Kamenashi was able to remove the ‘make-up’, Jin still could enjoy some remaining blue lines on the man’s face. Kazuya glared at the man at first but then remembered Theia’s drawing and his expression changed to a questioning one. He watched Akanishi walking around. He couldn’t find a single reason for the girl to draw them next to each other, especially since they hadn’t spent more than half an hour with each other during the whole time Kazuya was taking care of Theia.
Kazuya shook his head to get rid of the weird thoughts and went upstairs to wake Theia up. When he did so, he came back, said goodbye to the small girl and Nakagawa-san and bowed to his employer stiffly. Walking back home Kame was thinking about the picture but when he got a headache, he sighed in resignation and decided not to dwell on it anymore. After all, kids’ minds are quite complicated for adults to understand sometimes, aren’t they?
* * *
Wednesday, just like two previous days, wasn’t the best. When Kazuya got to work, he found Theia already awake, too awake. The girl was very hyper today, running around, jumping, squealing loudly and dragging Kame everywhere, losing interest quickly in everything; she wasn’t simply energetic, she was overactive, completely high… on sweets.
When Kazuya walked into Theia’s room, he found many colorful wrappers lying on the floor. The amount of sugar the girl absorbed this morning shocked Kame. He wondered where the girl got a hand on all those sweets since she couldn’t really go and buy them herself. The mystery was solved when Kame made his way to the kitchen and saw Akanishi there. The man acted normal but when Kazuya turned around, he couldn’t hide his smirk anymore. In the corner of his eyes, Kame saw the mischievous expression and cursed inwardly.
Jin was enjoying watching the younger man struggling to keep up with Theia and made her sit still for at least a second. It was very amusing seeing as Theia suddenly ran out to the garden and the babysitter started chasing the girl. When they came back inside, Theia was laughing and fidgeting in Kamenashi’s hold while the younger man was all dirty and tired. Jin even could see some scratches, probably from the roses that grow in the backyard.
Finally Jin’s plan worked, he just needed to wait for Kamenashi to came to him and quit. He sat comfortably on the chair in his office and while humming a happy tune, he was checking the documents. About two hours later he heard knocking on his door. He grinned widely, expecting Kamenashi to enter the room, but his smiled faded a little seeing Nakagawa-san.
“Akanishi-san, the dinner is ready. Will you come down or should I bring it here?”
“No, no, I will come.”
The woman nodded and exited the room. Jin followed her soon after in quick steps. When he entered the dining room, he saw Kamenashi sitting at his usual place next to Theia and feeding the girl with rice. Jin gaped at the scene. Hi daughter seemed to be really tired, barely keeping herself awake. Jin wondered how that’s possible since he knew from experience that after the amount of sweets he gave her this morning, she wouldn’t be able to sleep even at night and it was only 4:30 in the afternoon! How could she be so exhausted.
Kazuya felt that someone was observing him and Theia. He turned back and saw Jin’s shocked expression. When the older man focused his attention on the babysitter, Kame smiled innocently but his eyes were sparkling with mirth and, just a little bit of, maliciousness. Jin glared at the younger, huffed in annoyance and sat in his own chair upset that he wasn’t able to make Kamenashi ran away again.
Kame observed the man, satisfied with his success. He was able to play with Theia so much that the girl got tired more easily; she just needed to get some good exercises at the local playground. Thankfully, Kazuya knew what made children tired quickly. Now he could proudly look Akanishi in the eyes and say that there’s nothing in this world that would make him quit. Yet, Kazuya frowned upon seeing a smile creeping its way on Akanishi’s lips. The older man suddenly looked up and stared straight in Kame’s eyes. Kazuya furrowed his eyebrows while Jin smirked; he was up to something and Kazuya knew that the war wasn’t over yet. Maybe Kazuya won the battle but the week hadn’t ended yet.
* * *
On Thursday, Jin’s ideas started to get a different level of creativity. Akanishi’s weirdest plan included Kame drawing a cute animal for Theia. How the man knew that he was bad at drawing, Kame didn’t know, but the older man’s agenda was to make Theia think that the babysitter wasn’t as good as she thought. It’s not hard to guess that the plan was a failure, even more than other plans since Theia, surprisingly, liked Kame’s picture very much.
Akanishi’s second plan for the daywas to make Kame chase a cat around the house to bring it later to one of his friends who was a big animal lover.
Jin opened the window without anyone noticing and let the cat he had bought in the pet shop out of the cage. Jin brought also a mechanical mouse that he left in the dining room. Of course, when the cat saw the mouse, it immediately started chasing it not being careful of its surroundings . While Theia was squealing and clapping her hands in excitement, Nakagawa-san jumped on a chair afraid of the mouse that she took for a real one. Kazuya rushed after the cat, catching everything that was about to fall. Thankfully, nothing got broken and when the mouse stopped moving, the cat got very calm; it lost interest in the mouse-like toy. Kame slowly took the cat and put it back in the cage he found by accident next to the door.
Kame was a little mad at Akanishi for startling Nakagawa-san but otherwise he didn’t mind the joke, the cat was quite cute and liked fawning so Kame let Theia play with it for some time. The girl was a little sad that the cat wouldn’t stay with her but Kazuya promised that if his friend agrees, he would bring the cat with him from time to time.
Jin was in a bad mood for the rest of the day wondering what he had to do to make Kamenashi quit. Slowly, he started to believe there was nothing that would offend the man enough but being the stubborn man he was, he didn’t want to give up; he would eat worms before he would let Kamenashi be. He wanted him out, now and forever.
* * *
Friday was a day Kame had enough of his employer’s pranks. Jin got desperate and it was very obvious that he lacked ideas because he did something that made Theia sad. Damaging furniture, painting walls, trying to tire Kame, giving sweets to Theia - all of it was okay because it didn’t hurt anyone else except for Kame but with his last idea, Jin got overboard; it wasn’t a simple joke that one would laugh at soon after being make fun of, it was the one that made people angry and made them cry.
Theia was a good girl and didn't make any problems but Kazuya knew how much she missed her mom. The girl was happy and energetic, enjoying every day but she was the happiest when talking to her mom. Kazuya made sure Theia was able to see Meisa at least every two days. Thankfully, in modern times, there was Internet and many programs that helped to communicate with people even on the other side of the globe.
"Kazu-nii, is it time for mama to call?" Theia asked while looking at the babysitter hopefully. Kame looked at his watch and smiled at the child.
"Almost. Let's turn on the computer."
"Un!"
The girl grinned and nodded her head energetically then ran to the small but very cozy library. Kazuya had to say that he liked the room a lot, it was a great place to relax and get some well deserved peace - at least that was what he thought since he couldn't neglect his job; not to mention that it would be an insult if he said that Theia was giving him troubles. The girl was just adorable and nothing could change that.
Theia climbed on one of the chairs quickly and pressed a power button with a short chubby finger but her smile wavered leaving her rather confused. Kazuya frowned seeing as the computer’s screen stayed black - nothing happened. Kame looked under the desk in search for a loose cable or any other broken part that might be a reason for the device not to work like it normally should.
“Kazu-nii, why is it not working?” Theia asked the man with obvious sadness.
“I don’t know. Come here. We will see if we can use your father’s computer.” Theia fidgeted slightly biting on her lower lip just slightly. “Theia-chan, is something wrong?” Kame crouched in front of the small girl.
“Papa’s busy, is it okay to go to his room?” the girl looked at Kame with her puppy eyes. It was cute how much she cared about her father’s job but it was very visible that she wants to see her mother even more. Kazuya smiled lightly and patted her head.
“I think your papa won’t mind if it’s something like you talking to mama.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
Theia smiled and her eyes got brighter. She nodded and grabbed Kame’s outstretched hand in her chubby one. Kazuya guided them to his employer’s office and knocked softly on the wooden door. They heard a muffled sound and Kazuya pushed down a handle opening the door and letting Theia in first. The girl ran to her father quickly while Kazuya walked inside and closed the door behind him, before approaching Akanishi and his daughter.
“Sweetheart! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?”
“Papa, computer in the library doesn’t work!” The girl said with a pout. Seeing that the girl won’t say more, Kazuya decided to explain the situation properly.
“Kuroki-san was going to call Theia-chan today but the computer doesn’t work even though nothing seems to be broken or misplaced. Akanishi-san, is it possible for us to borrow your laptop for some time?”
“Please, papa! I want to talk to mama!” The girl pleaded. Jin melted at the sight of his pouting daughter but he started to feel guilty.
“Of course, you can. Here, just give it back in an hour. I need it after all.”
Jin handed his laptop to Kame who bowed slightly and exited the room along with squealing Theia. They went to the living room and made themselves comfortable on the couch, putting the laptop on the elegant glass table in front of them. Kame turned on the device and searched for the right program. In the opened window he could see all the contacts but he frowned almost immediately. Something was wrong - all contacts were grey indicating that he had no connection to the Internet. He quickly checked what might be wrong furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. Surprisingly the problem seemed to lay inside the house so Kame left Theia with Nakagawa-san and went to check the router. Kazuya gritted his teeth in anger upon seeing the device. He had no doubts that Akanishi had something to do with what happened to the router. The device was alright but all the wires were cut in half - it was obvious that someone did it and it wasn’t the old gardener for sure.
Kame took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. He couldn’t do anything at the moment except to go and break the bad news to Theia-chan. He slowly made his way to the living room. Theia looked at him hopefully and Kame’s heart almost shattered at the sight. He sat next to the girl and explained the situation in the way she would understand. Theia lowered her head and nodded then stood up silently and went to take her crayons and a piece of paper. She sat quietly in the corner and started drawing.
Kazuya looked at her sadly. He knew how much Theia was wanting to see her mom. The normally energetic girl was now sulking in the corner, barely stopping herself from crying - it was a heartbreaking sight. Kame considered calling Meisa by phone but the bill would be huge so, with a heavy heart, Kame discarded the idea.
When half an hour later Theia approached him again, her lower lip was quivering slightly and her small fists were clenched tightly. He immediately took the girl on his lap and Theia buried her face in his shirt starting to wail loudly. Kazuya was rubbing the girl’s back and rocked her gently back and forth, whispering soothing words to her ear. Theia was crying and screaming, wanting to see her mother but Kame couldn’t do anything - he felt completely helpless.
When the girl’s crying turned into a soft sob, Kazuya make the girl drink some water and took her to the bedroom. Theia refused to let go of Kame so the man laid down in the bed still patting the girl’s back and head in reassuring gesture. Soon he felt the small hands losing their grip on him and he gently got up from the bed. He pulled the blanket and covered Theia with it. Kazuya pushed away some strands of hair from the cute face and exited the room.
Kame leaned on the door with his head lowered and face hidden behind his dark bangs. When he raised his head again his eyes were looking hard and determined, ready to face the man who brought his own child so much pain and to scream straight in Akanishi’s face what Kame thought of him.
Kazuya made his way to Akanishi’s office and walked in after knocking. The older man looked at him in question but his eyes were shining with mischief. Kame closed the door behind him and stopped in front of his employer looking at him with a grim, angry expression. The other straightened up in his chair and leaned back without a word waiting for Kamenashi to admit defeat. What Jin hadn't foreseen was that the younger man was very devoted person and his love for children made him only want to stay and protect Theia from every bad thing in this world, even if it meant he had to fight against the girl’s father.
“Do you have something to tell me?” Akanishi asked nonchalantly while intertwining his hands together and putting his elbows on the armchairs. Kazuya’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance.
“Yes, I do have something to tell you.”
“I will listen then, go ahead.” The older man smirked inwardly, this was the moment he had waited for.
“Akanishi-san,” Kazuya crossed his arms and looked coldly at the sitting man. “may I know who cut the wires of the router?”
“Oh… someone cut them? It’s the first time I hear of it.” Kame’s patience was already thin when he came into the room, now he snapped completely and hit the desk in front of him with both palms.
“Don’t try to play innocent, Akanishi. I know you did it!” Kazuya growled angrily.
“Watch your mouth, Kamenashi-san. I’m your employer, I can easily fire you for lack of respect.”
“Well, I would respect you if you actually weren’t a big child. Even your own daughter is more mature than you. For the whole week you tried to do everything to make my job harder than it is so I would quit but let me tell you, I will NOT quit! On the contrary, I will stay as long as Kuroki-san won’t come back from United States.” Kazuya calmed down a little and crossed his arms again. Jin frowned for a second, then looked at the babysitter in fury.
“What did you say?!” Jin stood up and glared at the shorter male.
“You heard it. I’m going to stay as long as I’m needed here. Besides, you can be sure that I will inform Kuroki-san about everything that happened this past week, including today’s incident!”
“You wouldn’t dare…” Jin drawled out through his clenched teeth.
“Oh, I certainly would. If you play dirty like that then have it your way but I’m not going to stay put when you’re hurting your own child! If you have a problem with me, then solve it like a man, not a freaking little brat!”
“So what? You want to fight? Fine, I don’t mind one bit.” Jin narrowed his eyes dangerously and smirked while Kame rolled his eyes.
“Really, what a kid…” Kazuya muttered quietly but Jin seemed to hear it anyway but before he could react, Kame spoke again. “No, Akanishi-san, what I mean is why don’t we make a bet that will solve everything once and for all?”
“A bet?” Jin raised an eyebrow in question.
“Yes.” Kame nodded before explaining further. “If during the next week you will be able to take care of Theia-chan better than I do, then I will quit without complaining.”
“ How do you know I will be free then? I’m a busy man - I still need to do my own work.”
“Seeing as you had lots of time to prepare all those traps, I think you have enough time to work and spend time with Theia-chan.” Kame answered with a short glare.
“What if I lose?”
“If you lose, you won’t complain ever again and accept the fact that I’m going to look after your daughter until your ex-wife comes back. What do you say?” Kazuya extended his hand for Akanishi to shake. The older looked at it for a moment before he grabbed it facing Kame again.
“Deal.” The man squeezed Kazuya’s hand tightly but soon they broke their hands apart and Kame exited the room with a short ‘excuse me’. Jin glared at the door intensely before growling in annoyance and falling back onto his chair. His plan backfired on him and he had the last chance to get rid of the pest in a form of a male babysitter.
He wouldn’t fail, not again…
Chapter 3