Mo Ichido Baby Blue
By Hayai-Akurei
Prologue – Daybreak
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As a ninja, Kurogane was accustomed to waking up before the sun rose, and afterwards, prepare for the day.
However, in light of many dimension-hoppings, he caught himself being lax and actually sleeping in from time to time. Such a thing for a man of his profession was unheard of and it kind of sickened him.
Maybe it was because he was a touch out of practice. There was no pressing need to escort the princess to greet foreign envoys at dawn, or patrol the castle borders with Souma before breakfast.
Maybe it was because of the time shift. To be quite honest, he had absolutely no idea how long they had actually been on this quest of theirs. Every world they visited moved differently in place and pace in accordance to time, so eventually, he stopped caring. If he could give an educated guess, he would estimate about two years.
Still, that was far too long to be away from home.
Maybe it was because he was never really granted the luxury of being able to sleep peacefully. In a land riddled with youma and assassins, one never really got a true good night's sleep.
Maybe it was because of his newly acquired duties that prevented him from sleeping in the first place.
Nevertheless, the ninja started to make it a part of his routine to start getting up earlier, even if it meant going to bed sooner (because he sure as hell wouldn't sleep through the night). Even if it was just to lapse back into familiar habits and bringing some sense of control and organization into his life. Because once the sun came up, chaos would undoubtedly ensue.
He would get up about an hour before dawn, shower, get dressed and make himself a cup of tea. Some worlds had coffee, but he still preferred tea whenever he could get it. Their current host had graciously pointed out a small district of town that carried many foods that were actually native to his world, for which he was very thankful.
Who would have figured that the ninja would be subject to homesickness?
So he would spend some time with himself, have a cup of tea (or three) and watch the sun rise outside on the front porch. And then about an hour or so later, the kid would wake up, often times Mokona with him, and he would start his day off with a bright smile on his face and tall glass of orange juice.
Or milk.
Kurogane hated milk. Nastiest stuff in the world, in his opinion.
Give him saké, tea, coffee, that bubbly stuff in Hanshin that Sorata called "Cola," or anything else, he would drink it.
Give him milk and he would refuse it and sulk like a petulant child, for which he set himself up for another bout of teasing from the white manjuu.
A little while later, the princess would come out of her room, a blazingly brilliant smile on her face, and a wriggling blonde bundle in her arms who would then down several bottles of milk during the course of the day.
Kurogane was very, very, VERY thankful for that. Otherwise Mokona might try to force feed him the stuff.
However, today, he was feeling a little peculiar this morning as he sat at the front doorstep. Their host had left early that morning for a business meeting, taking his son with him to drop him off at school. Even the dog had gone along, as he had an appointment with the vet. The kid and the princess were completely wiped out after a long day of work the day before, and would not likely be getting up any time soon.
Taking another sip of his tea, the tall man got up from where he sat on the patio and went back inside, quietly walking into his room where his roommate lay slumbering.
Kurogane was not at all surprised to see Fai still sound asleep in his crib, lying snugly amidst the warm baby quilts. A small stuffed cat was nestled in beside him, to which he clung to stubbornly, even in sleep.
"Hey," he said softly, tickling the child's side with one finger. "Wake up."
Slowly, the infant stirred, and petite limbs stretched out as Fai yawned.
"You sleep too much," the ninja remarked offhandedly. "Even for a baby."
The child blinked, rubbing at his eyes with a tiny fist, smacking his lips. Soon, Kurogane was met by bright baby blues as Fai peered up at him. For a moment, he lay there, looking adorably sleepy. Gradually, he began to properly wake up, and smiled at the man staring down at him.
Sighing, Kurogane reached over to wind up the small mobile that dangled over the edge of the crib, the small birds, clouds and plush yellow sun whirling around in a circle as a little children's song began to tinkle away. Immediately, the music caught Fai's attention, and his blue eyes followed the toy's cyclical movement.
Really. Such a distracted little bugger. A wide smile broke out on the blonde infant's face, waving his arms about at the moving objects.
As the song came to an end, Kurogane leaned down and gently lifted Fai from the confines of his little white cage. Fai gurgled happily as the dark-haired man sighed and hefted him over his shoulder, making his way downstairs to make breakfast.
Meandering his way into the homey little kitchen, the ninja pilfered through the refrigerator for one of Fai's bottles.
Just how had his life taken a turn for the domestic route? Frankly, he didn't want to know. He could just see Tomoyo's blinding smile of pure glee if she could see him now.
Leaning back in his chair, he flicked on the news channel and cradled Fai in one arm the way he had been shown, offering him the bottle with the other. Fai immediately took it, happily sucking away. Even now, he still smiled all the time. But this time, it was pure, unadulterated happiness. There was nothing to hide, no reason to wear masks in the presence of others.
He felt Fai's eyes on him and he met the baby's blue gaze.
"What?" he asked. Fai just blinked at him innocently and resumed eating.
When the child finished, he hefted Fai over one shoulder and gently pat his back, pouring himself another cup of tea. No one else really drank it, and he was not one to let it go to waste.
"Bleergh."
Kurogane froze, setting the cup down before he dropped it. He did NOT just hear that. He turned his head to face the baby, who dipped his head down a bit, as if afraid that he got caught.
Sighing heavily, the ninja trudged over to his room to change.
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Hallelujiah! Sequel!! (does a dance) And about time too!
And Kurogane's dislike of milk is actually found in the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Omake. I started giggling madly because he hates milk (like a certain blonde alchemist we know) and Fai doesn't like sushi.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with this quite yet. It could range from being a series of one-shots or a full-chaptered story. I think I might shoot for the latter, because Parenthood is already set to be a one-shot series. And I can't have two of the same kind. It just doesn't work out. I mean, Faraway was written in a similar fashion to Alone Tonight and it didn't work as well. I think I might get rid of it.
But, if you ever have any questions or suggestions, let me know! I'd love to hear your input.