A/N: Nioh and Yagyuu do not belong to me. I own the plot and any characters you don't recognize from the series. This one shot is a side story to a longer story that I'm in the process of writing, but I thought I'd throw this up here to see what people think of it.

Yagyuu Hiroshi sighed softly as he maneuvered his pillow behind his back. Sitting against the head board of what had once been his cousin's bed, the eighteen year old was taking a rare evening to relax and read for fun before getting back to studying. His senior year of high school was approaching quickly, and the purple haired youth knew he would have to work extra hard to maintain his good grades. That isn't to say that he hadn't always worked his hardest in school, but since he and Masaharu had inherited custody of his cousin's two infant sons, Hiroshi wasn't able to devote as much time to his studies as he used to. He sighed again as he lowered his book to his lap, one long finger marking his place. Hiroshi had never expected that the business trip his cousin Keita and his wife Hitomi had taken back in December would end with their flight crashing into the Pacific with no survivors. Trying to shake off such sad thoughts, Hiroshi instead began to turn his musings toward the two little boys that had become his after their parents' deaths. It had always amused him to look at Kyou and Izumi and see how much they looked like Masaharu and himself. Hiroshi's trickster of a boyfriend always bleached his hair to keep it looking snow white, but through some odd twist of genetics Kyou's hair was the same color naturally. With a bit of a smile Hiroshi recalled a rant that Hitomi had gone on back in the fall over the fact that both her little boys looked nothing like her or her husband, since Izumi looked as much like a clone of Hiroshi as Kyou did of Masaharu. Privately Hiroshi thought it would be absolutely hilarious if the twins' personalities ended up being the opposite of who they looked like. His musing were brought to a rather abrupt halt as the bedroom door swung open and Masaharu sulked in to the room after pushing the door shut with his heel. Something was bothering the white haired teen, and Hiroshi had no idea what it was.

Noih Masaharu was in a very poor mood, and he had no idea why. The day hadn't been a bad one; school was out for the year and would start back up in a week or so which was fine. The twins had been surprisingly well behaved for getting to spend the day out of day care and with their adoptive fathers. He hadn't even gotten into any fights or trouble for playing tricks on anyone when they had all gone out to run errands earlier; in fact, Hiroshi had actually had to stifle his laughter at the pranks that he had played on the unsuspecting patrons in the shops they had visited. And yet for all of that, Masaharu was feeling quite miserable for absolutely no reason. It wasn't often that such moods struck him, but when they did they hit hard. Shaking his head as he watched Kyou and Izumi sleep, Masaharu decided that maybe sleep would help him feel better. Leaning down to place one last kiss on each of his sons' foreheads-and wasn't that a head trip in and of itself, he never thought he'd be a father, let alone so young- Masaharu slipped silently out of their room and sulked down the hallway to the bedroom he shared with his lover. Seeing the violet haired boy sitting in bed with a book in his hands, Masaharu nudged the door shut with his foot as he moved over to flop on the bed next to Hiroshi's legs. As he laid his head in Hiroshi's lap, Masaharu felt his bad mood shift into uncertainty and insecurity that he knew would not let him sleep without expressing.

Hiroshi felt his heart clench in his chest as Masaharu put his head in his lap and hugged his legs. He knew that the white haired teen was feeling down, but Hiroshi knew better than to push the subject. He had learned many years ago that Masaharu would shut down if someone tried to make him talk about his problems. No, the best way to get the trickster to open up was to not mention such things, and to instead speak of something else. Picking up his book to finish the last page of the chapter he was on, Hiroshi decided that a bit of small talk might be just the thing to prod Masaharu into opening up. "Are the twins sleeping then?"

Rolling onto his side just far enough to talk without his words being lost in Hiroshi's thigh, Masaharu replied. "Yep, they're out cold for the night. I guess we must have worn them out today. I really don't want to have to put them back in daycare when school starts; we miss too much fun with them that way."

"I know and I agree, but we have to finish school so we can get good jobs to take care of the boys." Hiroshi smiled as he put his book on his nightstand. Running his fingers through Masaharu's hair, he waited silently for the other boy to continue speaking.

Masaharu bit his lip before he replied in a very small voice. "What if I can't though?"

Hiroshi's fingers stilled for a moment as he processed his partner's question. "What if you can't what? And don't chew on your lip, it's bad for your teeth."

Tilting his head up to lean further into the nimble fingers running over his scalp, Masaharu sighed heavily before he answered. "What if I can't get a good job and you get stuck supporting me and the boys? What if you end up having to work some place you hate because I can't get a job that pays enough and you end up resenting me for it? What if we end up fighting and hating each other so much that we split up? What would happen to the boys if that happened?"

Hiroshi's eyes widened, where was all of this coming from? Squirming his way down to lie next to Masaharu, Hiroshi pulled his lover into his arms and held him tightly. "Masaharu, where is all of this coming from? It doesn't matter if I end up as the one supporting us, you know that. It would be impossible for us to hate each other Masaharu, no matter how much I envy your ability to express yourself without worrying how people will react. Don't you know that that is my favorite part about being you? Besides, if I end up being the one earning the money, you get to be the one to stay at home and take care of the house. And really, that wouldn't be such a bad thing; after all you know I can't cook to save my life. Do you really want to run the risk of me poisoning the boys?"

The trickster turned his head to look up at Hiroshi with a glare as one hand moved to pinch the gentleman's side. "You stay the hell out of my kitchen unless you are washing dishes, you understand?" Hiroshi nodded with a hint of a smile before Masaharu continued with yet another heavy sigh. "Honestly I have no idea where this is all coming from, it just kind of snuck up on me. I mean, today was awesome, so I don't get why I'm suddenly questioning myself like this. You know that this doesn't happen to me, like ever, and I just don't get it but I can't ignore it either you know?"

Hiroshi nodded in understanding, he did know. In fact, Hiroshi could honestly say that this was only the third time in the seven years they had known each other that Masaharu had ever suffered from such severe self doubt before. The first time had been when Yukimura got sick back in middle school, and the second time had been back in December when they became parents as per Yagyuu Keita's last will and testament. Detaching partially from his hold on his smaller lover, Hiroshi leaned backward to place his glasses on top of his book. He might have needed them to see, but the dark haired boy was thankfully near sighted, so he didn't need them to be able to make out every minute detail in Masaharu's expressions when they were this close together. "So are you really worried about providing for the boys or is that just a piece of the puzzle?"

Masaharu huffed in frustration softly as he snuggled back against Hiroshi's side, both loving and hating how well his partner could read him. "I don't know. I think it's just a puzzle piece though. What if I can't do this Hiro? I've never had a father, hell I don't even know if my mother knows who he was anymore. I've had no role model to learn from to know how to be a good dad. What if I screw up and they hate me? I mean it's pretty much a given thing that I'm gonna teach the boys how to be the best damn pranksters they can be, but even then I'm not sure that's something that a good dad would do. What if Kyou and Izumi end up being all screwed up because of what I taught them? I know I'm reading too much into things and probably worrying for nothing, but I just can't stop thinking about this Hiroshi." It was pathetic, really, but Masaharu couldn't stop himself from sniffling sadly as he tried to burrow into Hiroshi's shoulder.

Bringing one hand up to comb through the unbound hair of Masaharu's rat tail, Hiroshi squeezed his boyfriend just a little tighter as he pressed a kiss into the white locks before his face. "Masaharu, I know you're worried about doing right by Izumi and Kyou, to be honest I am too. Yes I have been lucky enough to have had a father growing up, but I'm still not sure that means much. I think that the best thing we can do is just do what we think is right, what feels right. You should do the things that you wished you had had a father to do with you. I think it's a good thing that you're going into this with such a blank slate, you can do things your own way without feeling like you're doing things wrong because that isn't how your father did things with you. I can pretty much guarantee I'll be having a lot of moments of self doubt just because the way my father was with me won't work with the twins I don't think. You are going to be an amazing dad Masaharu, I'm sure of it. And you know that I'll be there to call you on things that I don't agree with. I also know that you'll be more than happy to do the same thing to me, and I'm glad. And as far as teaching the boys to be pranksters, do you really think I'll let you do that without me there to teach them how to not get caught? It's going to be fine Masaharu, just wait and see. Try to not worry so much ok?" Hiroshi smiled at Masaharu and he ran a thumb over the trickster's cheek.

Masaharu felt his lips curving up into a smile of their own as he looked at his boyfriend, maybe things really would be ok. Leaning up to place a quick but sweet kiss on Hiroshi's lips, Masaharu rolled on top of the gentleman to snuggle into his chest. "Thanks Hiro, you always know exactly what I need to hear. I love you."

Hiroshi grinned as he nuzzled the white hair brushing against his chin. Reaching over to switch off the lamp on his nightstand, he held Masaharu tight as he settled in for the night. "I love you too 'Haru. I just have one stipulation that I don't want you to break."

"What's that?"

"If they haven't started doing it on their own by then, you are not under any circumstances allowed to teach Kyou and Izumi to switch places with each other until they are ten. They need time to establish their own identities and preferences before they start pretending to be each other." Hiroshi tried to sound stern, but it was really hard to do when his boyfriend was shifting around in an effort to get comfortable on top of him.

Laughing softly, Masaharu smiled as he leaned up to kiss Hiroshi again. Pulling away with a yawn, he settled down with his head in the crook of Hiroshi's neck. "Sounds like a plan to me. We'll have 'em better than we were by the time they hit middle school. Stupid teachers won't know what to do. 'Night Hiro."

"Good night 'Haru." And with that, both the gentleman and his trickster closed their eyes and let Morpheus whisk them away.