[My hero's smile]
Title: My hero's smile
Pairing: Akame
Disclaimer: Of course they're mine. Did you even doubt it? Hey, look, it's raining cows again.
Rating: PG
Summary: Jin, Kame and their little girl spent a day at the amusement park. And then Jin gets all sappy with old memories.
Warning: Very long and un-Jin-ish monologue at the end. And with very long I mean very long. Also, please notice I'm having my exams this week and I'm lacking many hours of sleep. Oh, and the name of Emi in japanese means "smile". Just so you'll understand Jin's final sentence.
“Mommy! Mommy! It’s Saturday today!”
“I know it’s Saturday, sweetheart. That was why I was sleeping...”
“But it’s the Saturday!”
“Mommy already told you we know that, Emi, darling, now go back to bed.”
“Daddy! Today it’s the Saturday you promised to take me to the amusement park!”
Jin blinked twice, his face buried in the white warmth of his pillow, before jumping on the bed and shaking Kame.
“Ne, Kazu-chan, Emi is right! Come on, wake up! It’s already eight o’clock, are you planning to sleep all day long? I also want to go to the amusement park!”
Kame groaned into the pillow, cursing whatever divinity responsible of his boyfriend being such a dork. He reached out for a cushion and placed it over his head to muffle the annoying cheerful - way too cheerful for eight o’clock in the morning - noises coming from his side.
Though, all his attempts were in vain as Jin decided to lay on him to hold him down while tickling his sides. Kame shrieked and tried to get free, but Jin was heavier than him and it was useless to fight.
“Okay, okay! I’ll get up! Let me go, you freaking idiot!”
“Mou, Kazu-chan, you’re being mean to me in front of Emi ~”
“Yeah, mommy! Don’t be mean to Daddy!”
“Would you like Daddy to do this to you?”
Kame took the little girl in his arms and started tickling her until she was giggling and her Daddy had to rescue her.
“Daddy, you really shouldn’t tickle Mommy! It’s evil!”
“Now, that’s a good girl. What do you want for breakfast?”
= = = = =
When they arrived at the amusement park it was already mid-morning so there were already a lot of cars parked, and so they spent the next fifteen minutes looking for a free place and endless whinning from Emi because she wanted to go to see the clowns.
They finally found a free spot and Jin placed Emi on his shoulders. The girl squealed happily that she wanted to go to the bumper cars - Uncle Koki was a better clown than those in there, she said after a guy with a red nose kicked his partner to make her laugh. Uncle Junno was much fun to abuse, too.
Kame and Emi rode a bright pink car while Jin pouted about being abandoned and choosed a red one. He decided to chase his girls - Jin liked to think of Kame as his girl too - but didn’t think they would fight back. He screamed and tried to escape, but those crappy little cars weren’t - of course - as fast as his own. Jin whined when the pink car bumped against his, and Emi clapped her little hands.
Kame laughed too when he saw Jin climbing down of the car rubbing his back with a big pout. He approached them and Emi reached out to be passed from Kame’s arms to Jin’s, who grimaced while taking her.
“Mou, Kazu-chan, you should be nicer to me...”
“That’s your fault for bumping into us first. Admit we’re smarter than you.”
“Meanie.”
“I want to go to The Cups!”
= = = = =
“Ne, Mommy, I want ice-cream!”
“You’ll ruin your appetite if you eat ice-cream now. I’ll buy you one after lunch”
“But I want it now!”
“I said no.”
“Daddy... Mommy won’t buy me ice-cream...”
“Kazu-chan! I want ice-cream too!”
“Jin! Don’t go and ask for something I’ve just denied Emi!”
“Mou, but I really want one!”
“And can’t you wait until lunch?”
“But I want it now... Pretty please?”
“God, you’re worse than the kid. Fine. Do whatever you want.”
“Thank you Kazu-chan! Come on, Emi. I’ll buy you a delicious ice-cream, yeah?”
“Yay! Thank you Daddy! Thank you Mommy!”
Kame sighed, rubbing his temples and was wondering why Jin couldn’t be a normal and mature adult when a cone of ice-cream was placed before him. He lifted his sight to see Jin handing it to him, Emi happily licking - and ruining her t-shirt in the process - a cherry ice-cream by his feet.
“Here, I know you like mint flavoured ones.”
Though maybe he wasn’t that bad.
= = = = =
Kame screamed, trying to resist as Jin pushed him toward the attraction.
“Jin! Stop! You know I don’t like them!”
“But I’ll be with you, so you don’t have to fear anything”
“And who’ll take care of Emi, idiot?”
“I wanna ride it too!”
“You can’t sweetie, you’re too young.”
“Mou... But I really want to ride it!”
“I’m sorry cutie, Daddy will have to ride this on his own. You can decide the next one, deal?”
“Kazu-chan~ I want to ride it with you~”
“I won’t go with you, Jin. You know I hate roller coasters.”
Jin pouted a little more but finally decided to go alone, seeing Kame was not going to change his mind and Emi was no longer on his side. They stayed down, the little girl waving his hand franctically at the car every time she saw it, and Kame laughed when his boyfriend went down. He ran a hand through Jin’s messy hair.
“Did you have fun?”
Jin grinned widely and wrapped his arms around Kame’s waist, giving Emi a peck on the cheek before kissing the boy.
“It would have be mote fun with you.”
= = = = =
“Ne, let’s go to the Haunted House!”
“No, Emi. You’ll get scared by the ghosts.”
“I won’t! I’m an old girl!”
“Yeah, Kazu, she’s an big girl! Let’s go to the Haunted House!”
“No, Jin. You’ll get scared too by the ghosts. And not, you’re not an big boy so don’t even try it.”
“Meane. I won’t get scared. And it was in a Haunted House were we had our first actual date, don’t you remember?”
“Of course I do. But it was not a date, you just dragged me there after work without a word of where were we going. And you got scared and almost stomped on me while trying to run away from a ghost who was more scared of you than you were of him, anyway.”
“But I’ve grown up since then...”
“No, you haven’t.”
“Ne, Emi let's go with the two of us, Mommy can wait here because she’s too boring...”
“Jin! I’m not a woman!”
“I want Mommy to come... Please?”
“Fine. Whatever. You two are sleeping on the couch tonight. I don’t want to be awakened by your nightmares”
= = =
“Aaaaaah! It’s scary ~”
“Mommyyyy~ I wanna go ooouuut~”
“Kazu-chan! Don’t let the ghost eat meee!”
Kame sighed and rolled his eyes. He hugged Emi, whose face was buried in his neck, closer to his chest while
Jin was hiding behind him with his eyes tightly shut, and squeezed his boyfriend’s hand comfortingly. He led them to the exit, glaring at the ghost who was now laughing his ass off at him.
= = = = =
“I’m hungry~”
“You ate ice-cream only an hour ago.”
“Yeah, but I want a hamburger now.”
“You’ll get sick.”
“No, I won’t.”
“It’ll be too much...”
“But I have a biiiiig stomach!”
“You’re an adult Jin, do whatever you want.”
“Yay! Hamburger!”
= = =
“Kazu-chan~ Tummy hurts~”
“I told you not to eat that hamburger and you didn’t listen to me. Why should I help you now?”
“Kazu-chan, please... It really hurts...”
“Ne, Emi, let’s leave Daddy sitting here so he can recover. Where do you want to go now?”
“I’m sleepy~ I want to go home~”
“Kazu... Hurts~”
Kame sighed, defeated.
“Fine, let’s go back home. Jin, why don’t you day down on the back (lay down in the back) and try to sleep a little? I’ll drive.”
= = = = =
“Mommy! Is dinner ready?”
“Emi! Come back here!”
Kame sighed and put the knive on the counter, cleaning his hands with a rag and turning around to check why Jin wasn’t bathing Emi as he was supposed to. The little girl beamed at him from where she was, standing in the kitchen doorway naked and dripping on the floor. He sighed again and took her into his arms, wrapping her in his apron.
“Didn’t I tell you not to escape from Daddy when he’s bathing you? And what about running around the house wet? Don’t you remember how painful it was when you hit your head?”
Emi looked at him with her patented puppy eyes and Jin appeared at the door, wet and covered in soap. He frowned at the kid, who wrapped her little arms around her mommy’s neck.
“Daddy doesn’t know how to brush my hair!”
“Okay, call me when you're done bathing and I’ll dress you and brush your hair, okay? Now go with Daddy and be a good girl.” Kame leaned in to whisper in the girl’s ear “You know he’s not very smart. We’ve got to be nice to him.”
Emi laughed happily, clinging to Jin’s t-shirt when Kame passed her to him.
“Mommy is the best!”
= = = = =
“Jin! Emi! Dinner is ready!”
“Yay!”
“I thought you had a stomachache?”
“But I’m better now... And it smells so nice”
“You are a gluton.”
“Just because you’re such a good cook.”
Kame smiled, placing the plates on the table while Jin lifted Emi to her chair. The girl smiled and handed Kame a drawing.
“Thanks for dinner, Mommy!”
“Aww, you’re so nice, Emi. It’s that me?”
“Yup!”
“Why am I wearing a cloak, darling?”
“Because Daddy said you’re a hero!”
= = =
“I don’t want to eat more!”
“Emi, sweetheat, you’ve left all the tomato on the plate. Eat a little.”
“I don’t want to!”
“Emi, eat the tomato. Just a little, okay?”
“Mou, but I don’t like tomatoes!”
“I don’t care if you like it or not, Emi. You’ve got to eat vegetables.”
“I don’t want!”
“No screaming, Emi! I’m going to the kitchen to fetch the dessert. You better have eaten your tomato when I come back or you’re getting any.”
Emi pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Kame. She was beaming again when he came back, though, Jin munching happily by her side and the girl’s plate empty.
“Jin...”
“Hmmph?”
“Didn’t I tell Emi to eat her tomato?”
“She did.”
“Jin...”
Jin smiled and got up as Kame placed the pudding in front of the girl, who started eating immediately. He wrapped his arms around the younger’s waist and leaned to whisper in his ear.
“You didn’t use to eat tomato either... And you’d always ask me to eat it for you... Though you liked it better when I ate other things of yours...”
Kame blushed deeply when he heard Jin, and Emi chuckled at his reaction.
“Is Daddy saying corny things?”
“Yes, he is. Maybe a should leave him without any dessert...”
Kame ate a spoonful of pudding and Jin pouted.
“Kazu-chan~!”
= = = = =
Jin climbed onto the bed and Kame rolled over to his side,wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s neck and giving him a sloppy kiss. He felt Jin’s hands roaming his body, trying to slip under his t-shirt.
“Don’t you even think abou it. I’m damn tired.”
“Crap. I was being subtile...”
“Sure you were. Is Emi sleeping?”
“Yes, she fell asleep before I even tucked her in.”
“You told her I’m a hero?”
“Yup.”
“Why?”
“Because you are. You are our hero.”
Kame looked up, startled by the serious tone of Jin’s voice.
“Ne, Kazu, do you remember how she arrived? It was hardly two months after I came back from America, wasn’t it? Do you remember how little she was? All alone in that fruit box, wrapped in that sheet. Do you remember? And there was only a note, telling me to take care of what was mine...”
“Fuck you, Akanishi. That’s your problem now.”
“Yeah, that was. You will never know how afraid I was, Kazu, how utterly afraid I was when you kicked me out of the house with the baby and I didn’t know what to do. I had never been so afraid in all my life, Kazu. I had to call Pi in the middle of the night and beg him to let me stay, and he was too shocked to even scold me. And we were scared because she was so pale and tiny wrapped in her blue sheet and she was so cold and we didn’t know what to do to warm her up because we were even afraid to have her in our arms, she was so little.
>> Do you remember when I brought her to the office the next day? Do you remember how they all looked at me? And then they started to scold me, of course, and they shouted and awakened her, and she started crying and I didn’t know what to, because nothing I did would make her stop. But then you started singing, and you had you headphones on like if you were listening to music, but I know you weren’t. You sang, Kazu, and everybody shut up and she stopped crying. Do you remember?
>> And that time when Ryo and I were trying to change her into a clean diaper? I never thought it would be so complicated, but she wouldn’t stop moving. She was already two months old when they brought her to me, wasn’t she? But she was so little I was always afraid to take her in my arms, because everybody is always saying I’m a clumsy idiot, and I was afraid I'd let her fall or harm her... We were trying to change her into a clean diaper, but we couldn’t. And you saw us and came into the room, and you changed her in a moment, so easily, without a word, and I didn’t dare to speak to you. She was smiling when you took her and looked at her, and she stroke your cheek with her little tiny hand, but you didn’t do anything and just passed her to Ryo before leaving.
>> I remember that time, a few weeks after she was left at our home, when Johnny came back from his trip and found out and called me to his office. He was so furious, Kazu, he was so furious he wasn’t even shouting but just talking in a low, threatening voice and I was very scared. It was the first time Johnny scolded only me, and the rage in his eyes was so clear I felt like an indefense kid again. At that time I had brought her with me because Pi couldn’t take care of her, and she was crying loudly and I thought it was because she was scared of Johnny too. I tried to calm her, but it didn’t work.
>> But then you came into Johnny’s office. You came in without knocking, and you didn’t bow or anything. You ignored the look he gave you and just took her and rocked her until she quieted down and fell asleep in your arms. You passed her to me and told me to go out. You were so brave, facing Johnny all by your own when he was angry like that, but then you came out of the office and left without a word, and Johnny followed and said You better take proper care of the kid, Akanishi, and that was all.
>> But she wasn’t crying because she was scared, you remember it, right? She was crying because she was sick. She was too little when she was left at our door, alone in that box with just a sheet, and it was cold. She caught a cold a that time, but neither Pi nor I realized it, we didn’t think about taking here to the hospital when I found her. We were afraid, and we didn’t know how to react. It was already difficult to make her eat, she would always puke on us every time we’d try to feed her. But she used to eat when you were the one feeding her, even if it was just less than half a bottle of milk. She would never eat more, do you remember?
>> She had fever. But Tat-chan was the one who pointed it out, and the one who took us to the hospital, too. He took us to the hospital, and explained the situation to the doctors and even slapped me because I was hysteric, he said. He slapped me hard, that boxer guy of us. He slapped me and I started crying because I couldn’t help it any longer, and he just rolled his eyes and made me sit down and brought me a tea, because he said I needed to calm down. But I didn’t until they returned with my little girl, and it was the first time I thought of her as mine. They gave her to me and I fell asleep in the hospital room and didn’t get up until you woke me up by pulling a blanket over us. You wrapped the thick hospital blanket around us, and stroked her light brown hair and said I was a baka and I shouldn’t let her get cold again because that could be dangerous. You said I was a baka and I would never be able to take care of baby on my own, and that Yamapi and Ryo were not better than me, and that you would help me because even if I was a baka you were also one because you couldn’t resist the pleading look in my eyes, you said. You said that she had exactly the same eyes as I, and that you couldn't resist them and would always take care of us, because it was obvious that we needed you.
>> And it was true. It was true that we needed you. You will never know how happy I was, Kazu, when you said it would be alright. I was so happy I thought my heart would explode of happiness and you would have to take care of the girl alone, because I didn’t know all that happiness could fit in my chest. I would have been lost without you, Kazu. We would have been lost without you by our side.
>> That’s why you’re our hero.”
Kame smile, feeling the tears gathering in his eyes, and buried his face in Jin’s neck to hide them, hugging him tighter. He felt Jin’s warm hands stroking his hair and back, his boyfriend’s lips pressing a kiss on his head distractedly.
“Ne, Kazu, do you remember the day when you told me I should name her? I had never thought about naming her before. It was all new and difficult and scary, and I just hadn’t thought about naming her. I didn’t even think I would raise her but neither did I concider giving her up for adoption. I don’t know how I thought about her back then. She was just a tiny little thing in my arms, soft and sweet. Like a porcelain doll who could break at any moment. But you told me I had to name her, and you wouldn’t be helping me with that, because it was my task.
>> I thought about a lot of names. I thought about Japanese and foreign names. I thought very hard, but I couldn’t find any name that would fit her, any name I liked enough for my precious little girl. I can tell you were surprised when I came to you the very same day you told me to name her and said to you that I had already decided on a name.
>> Ne, Kazu, do you want to know why I named her Emi?
>> That day you were sitting on the couch and you had her in your arms. You were playing with her and she smiled at you, and you smiled back at her, a wide and beaming smile.
>>And Kazu, I have never seen anything as beautiful as those smiles in my whole life.