A/N: I've actually been wanting to write an UtaPri fanfic for quite a while (in fact, for about 2 years or so now) but never got the chance to sit down, think of a plot, or even catch up with UtaPri orz
But it's the holidays here, and I've recently caught up to Season 3 and of course, it was amazing as usual! (especially all those new cross-unit songs holy hell i'm in love srsly HAHAHA)
This one actually took quite some thinking, and since I actually write my new fanfic chapters based on complete, utter impulse all the time (including little or zero research, everything is mostly, if not completely, based from personal experience and inspiration... and over-the-top impulse), I actually don't have a defined outline for the whole story overall XD Feel free to review and suggest possible situations for the next chapter if you'd like!
(In fact, reviews are love orz)
I should really get to my other stories soon orz I have a whole crapton of other fanfics which has been neglected for ages OTL Also, I haven't actually written a fanfic for a really large fandom in a long while (the last was... KnB... 1-2 years ago? :'D) so I hope this is able to meet the satisfaction of you readers who actually drop by this fic! ;w;
Alright, enough of my rambling! XD More at the bottom! *runs awayyy*
Please PM me if there are any grammar mistakes and I'll try my best to fix them ASAP ^o^
Chapter 1 : You found me
A never-ending veil of night had slowly, but efficiently concealed the light of day once the clock had struck seven. The silver stars were spilled across the black sea and the wan moon shone brightly amidst the darkness and the streams of glitter. The people gradually dissipated from the streets, and all that remained on the streets were the dim flickering yellow lights of the street lamps, and the occasional splutter from the exhaust pipe of passing cars.
That did not mean security had to be relaxed just a little, though. In fact, it had to be strengthened more than ever. Crime rate was on the sharp rise in Japan nowadays, and the police have spared no efforts in minimising the misdeeds that would, in any way possible, whether big or small, threaten the safety of the country. In the past week, the police had received reports of numerous theft and kidnap cases. Although they managed to successfully apprehend the culprits, the number of such cases were abnormally increasing as of late, and the police could not figure out why. The higher-ups suspected a mastermind behind all of the cases to throw the country into chaos, but up till now, they could not grasp any leads on who.
Definitely, the police officers knew that the safety of their country and millions of lives were placed upon their shoulders. They had chosen this path on their own, and they had made a resolve long ago that they would see through this to the very end.
Tonight, the hunt continues.
A police officer stared glumly at the narrow ray of light that lay before him. He swung his torchlight around, carefully surveying the area that he was in with his limited area of vision. The light illuminated his face, revealing blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Although he was diligently doing his work, it seemed that he was not satisfied with something, though...
"Damn that Ichinose! Leaving me alone to patrol the streets alone while going off to do something else!" he grumbled. "Certainly he has nothing else to do other than paperwork! He should know I'm hopeless when it comes to dark places and left alone!" He raised his left wrist, fumbles with a button and peers at the momentarily lighted-up screen. The bluish screen blasted '1.30am' right in his face. After mumbling a string of curse words, he sighed in defeat, before looking around the place, in search of any suspicious things that would catch his eye. Finding none, he relaxed his shoulders.
"... Well, it can't be helped either," he said as he looked up at the night sky. The sky seemed exceptionally colourful tonight, with hues of blue and red mixing together like an aurora borealis. "Captain Mabuchi has high expectations for him, after all, given that his performances are always exceptional. It wouldn't be a surprise if he's being worked to the bone now."
Suddenly, there was a shuffling sound, and the sound of munching. Startled, the police officer swung his torchlight, directing the blinding light at a narrow alley just next to him. Seeing nothing but only a trash can and some trash bags bursting with rubbish, he frowned in confusion.
"But I swore I heard something earlier..."
When he switched the torchlight off, the odd crunching sound returned again, this time more vigorous than before. In a flash, he flicked the switch on, but saw no changes. Sucking in a deep breath, he mustered up his courage and slowly, but somewhat angrily, marched forward, trembling torchlight in hand.
"..."
Something must be there! A thief, perhaps?
He slowly walked towards the trash can, the large spot of light growing bigger by the second and increasing his confidence.
Maybe... I'll give him a scare! That'd teach him not to lurk in the dark ever again!
Closer... and closer...
What a great idea!
And then...
"RAAAARGH!" he viciously snarled, while holding up his hands and shaping them into claw-like ones. The shadow formed on the bleached wall suddenly morphed and became distorted, dissolving and turning into a shadow of a fierce monster, with sharp teeth and menacing claws, and a large body.
The trash can suddenly fell forward, crashing onto the ground. The deafening clatter sent flocks of birds spiraling into the air in a hurry, and the rubbish stored in the black can scattered themselves all over the ground. But what was most disturbing, and most fascinating of all, was that...
His eyes met the most brilliant, absolutely innocent, and strikingly vibrant red eyes that he had ever seen in his entire life.
Shortly, the ear-piercing screams of a frightened child and the shrieks of a scaredy-cat adult echoed into the night of Tokyo.
"... Care to explain this, Kurusu?"
Mabuchi Takeshi, the leader of his squad, stared at Kurusu Shion, who had his head hung low and an invisible sign was nailed on his head, practically screaming his guilt and shame. Just a few meters away was the child that he had found hiding inside the trash can earlier on, clinging tightly to another officer's leg like his life depended on it. He was crying profusely and waving his finger at Shion, constantly crying out illegible words, but it was evident that there was great dissatisfaction from the tone of his voice.
"I-I found this child in the bin just behind the orphanage! I thought it was a thief hiding so I got riled up and I thought I could scare the hell away from him, but..."
Takeshi sighed. "Kurusu, you're too hot-headed as always." He reached out, and in one swift movement, his fingers thwacked the other officer's forehead, earning a sharp cry of pain from the latter.
"What the hell - Leader?! What was that for?!"
"For being too insensitive!"
"But I was doing my duty diligently!"
"Silence!" With an enraged roar, Takeshi's voice boomed loudly, shaking the entire office into a standstill. Shion looked up at him, whimpering as he did so. From the very corners of his eyes he could see the domineering figure of his leader casting a dark shadow over him, with his stubble barely noticeable.
"You, Kurusu, write me a 500 word essay of apology for rebutting your senior!"
"Hey, that's unfair! I didn't do anything wrong!"
"One thousand!"
Shion kept quiet almost immediately.
Watching the blonde officer standing still, Takeshi let out a dragged sigh. "Kurusu, your actions have caused the small child to be so frightened. Look! He's still shaking and clinging to Ichinose until now."
"..."
Turning his head ever so slightly, Shion could barely see the small child sniffling and crying while still thrusting his finger at him. He noticed, that his hair was of the same colour as his eyes; an eye-catching hue of crimson. His eyes were directly focused on the small child now; slightly tan skin, red eyes, red hair, and reddened eyes from profuse crying. Upon closer inspection he could see a small rosario peeking out from the collar of his V-neck sweater, and that his pockets were literally bulging with something, but he decided to not pursue the matter. Sighing, he squatted down and stretched out his hands.
"Come here," he gestured with an apologetic smile.
The child curiously looked at him, his teary eyes sparkling ever so brightly. Slowly, he let go of the other officer's leg, and began walking with small, uneven footsteps. He had barely made it before he stumbled and fell into Shion's arms. When the officer carried him up with one swift scoop, the child began to pull at his blonde hair playfully. He yelped out in surprise, before soon laughing with the small kid in his arms.
Ichinose Ayato shuffled with the freshly printed papers of information that now held in his hands.
"I called up the orphanage in this area earlier on. The owner said a child has indeed gone missing. In fact, the description of the missing child exactly matches this one here."
Shion and Takeshi stared long and hard at Ayato, silently pressing him for more information.
"The child, Ittoki Otoya, has been admitted into the orphanage about seven years ago, when he was still a baby. His biological parents are still unknown as of yet, so it might have been possible he was abandoned by his own parents at that point of time."
Shion gasped. "But that's so cruel!"
"... Of course, this is only a possibility, so we can't make any wild guesses as of yet." Ayato sighed as he watched the blonde's face brighten up. "But this is the more logical reason I could come up with, given that his parents are still alive somewhere."
Takeshi nodded. "Got it. Thanks, Ichinose."
Shion then turned to the child - now known as Otoya - and smiled at him. "What were you doing in the trash bin, Otoya? It's not very healthy for you, especially since you're such a small child."
"... Hungry. Couldn't sleep too."
Shaking his head, Shion then patted the child's red hair. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of an old guitar, battered and broken, lying just at the spot where the child was once standing at.
"Where did you get that?" He glanced at the now useless instrument, his interest piqued.
"Found it in the bin," Otoya announced with a big smile. Then, he slapped both of his pudgy hands on the blonde officer's cheeks with a hearty smile. "I haven't seen it before!"
"Oh really?" Shion chuckled. "It's a guitar! Someday I'll get it fixed for you and then I'll watch you play it when we see each other next time!"
"Really?!" the small child shrieked with happiness. "Yay!"
Takeshi then cleared his throat loudly, interrupting the conversation both Shion and Otoya were having. Both sides turned towards him, making a pout at the same time. It was very obvious that they had already become friends, and close ones at that.
"... So," he started. "Since Otoya needs to return to the orphanage, I guess we'll be bringing him back there?"
At the mention of 'orphanage', little Otoya begun shaking his head and immediately flailed his arms around wildly, to the point that Shion had to put him down onto the floor. Once he let go, the small boy immediately crawled his way to Ayato as fast as he could, and clung to him; just like he initially did when he was in his frightened state.
Upon seeing this situation, Shion looked up at his leader.
"It seems that Otoya wants a family."
"..."
Shion shrugged in defeat. "Man, I wish I could take him in. But you know, I already have Syo and Kaoru, and you know how troublesome twins are. I can't even handle the both of them already. Besides, Syo..." He then crouched down so that he was on face level with the red-eyed child. "I'm so sorry, kid," he began, while ruffling his shocking red hair. "I wish I could take you in, but my hands are already full with my own children."
"Then, I'll take him in, then?"
The blonde officer snapped his head up, looking at Ayato in disbelief.
"For real, Ichinose?"
"... Yeah." Cold and indifferent as ever, Shion noticed, but there was something else on his face...
A smile?
"It's about time Tokiya makes a friend, anyway."
"B-But, wouldn't you be busy?! I mean, you have your occasional part-time job as a pianist in other areas; are you sure it wouldn't stress you out?"
Ayato merely let out a small huff, and patted Shion's shoulder in response.
"I'm sure everything will be alright. There's sufficient people at home to take care of them. I'm sure they won't mind having an addition in the family. Besides," he added on, glancing at Otoya who was gripping onto his leg with a hold as solid as iron, "this kid has a much better sense of security than you, Kurusu, seriously."
"Y-You!"
"Enough, Kurusu!" Takeshi barked as he frowned at the blonde officer. "Under no circumstances are you even supposed to have a conflict with your colleague!"
"It wasn't even a..." His voice trailed off as he sighed in resignation. "You know what? Never mind."
Takeshi gave Shion a stare that sent chills traveling down his spine, and which made him shudder, before turning to Ayato. "Ichinose, I trust that you can take good care of this child?"
"Of course, Leader. I will do the utmost of my abilities."
"Alright, then it's settled then." He clapped his hands together as he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "Now let's go home, it's almost three in the morning; I'm sure we don't want to be late for work later, right?"
"Roger."
The sun had already begun peeking out from the horizon when a car had driven into the grounds of the Ichinose residence. In the car, Ittoki Otoya lay at the back seats, fast asleep. The digital clock display showed 5:30am. For Ichinose Ayato, it was all but a normal occurrence to pull off an all-nighter. It happened so often that he was no longer fazed by the side effects of extreme tiredness that came after.
"... I should monitor my petrol consumption rate soon," he mumbled as he watched the meter needle sway just within the fourth quarter region; proof that he had to travel all the way to the nearest open petrol station to refill his car's tank - which was not even near at all. "Maybe I should just top up before going to work instead of after work."
As he held the snoozing child in his hands, he opened the door, just in time to see a blue-haired child sleeping on the sofa.
His son.
"..."
Sighing with a smile, Ayato walked to the sofa. Then, reaching out, he began to ruffle his own child's spiky midnight blue hair.
"Tokiya," he called out softly. "You shouldn't be sleeping on the sofa; you'll catch a cold."
"Nnnnghh..."
The kid stirred ever so slightly. Did he wake him up?
Pale eyelids flickered open to reveal a vivid colour of dark blue; the same colour as his hair. "... Dad?"
"Sorry, Tokiya," Ayato smiled apologetically. "I know you're really tired right now. Do you want to go to your bedroom to continue sleeping?"
"... No, it's alright. I have to get up to practice singing anyway. I have classes with Mrs Amano today." With a small yawn, Ichinose Tokiya groggily sat up onto the sofa. Looking up, he caught sight of Otoya snuggled in his father's arms. Curiously, he pointed a finger at the red-haired child.
"Dad? Who's that...?"
"Oh, him?" Ayato chuckled as he pulled a cushion over and placed Otoya just next to Tokiya, letting his head rest on the small pillow. Then, he went to a room and brought out a small blanket. Laying it just over the red-haired boy's tiny body, he patted the latter's back. He watched the sleeping Otoya smile in his sleep as he grabbed at the blanket, wrapping it around him just like a small caterpillar in a cocoon.
"From today onwards, he'll be your brother."
Soo how did you find this chapter so far? I hope it's okay so far! ^o^ I'm so sorry there's so many OCs here ;w; it's just for this chapter aaaah TwT
Tell me what you guys think! ^w^/ I'm always open for suggestions and all, so feel free to go all out! owo
psst reviews are love *hearts
See you in the next chapter! c: