Junjou Egoist
Youth
Chapter One
Hiroki looked over his shoulder and at his lover who was sitting silently at the dinner table, waiting for Hiroki to set the table with the food he had just prepared. Nowaki had been acting strangely for the past couple days, and only seemed to get more and more out of it as the days passed by. If he didn't hurry and talk to him about whatever was bothering him, Hiroki worried that it would interrupt his work.
"Nowaki, are you okay?" Hiroki asked as he walked over towards him, setting a plate and glass of water in front of him. "You've been acting kind of spacey ever since you got home."
"I've been wanting to talk to you about something, but I'm not sure how to approach you about the subject, and I'm not sure on how you'll react," Nowaki replied slowly, chewing on his bottom lip as he raised his eyes to meet Hiroki's.
"Just tell me because you're only worrying me more when you don't talk to me," Hiroki said as he sat down. "Besides, it isn't like you're planning on telling me something like you're thinking about breaking up or anything." Hiroki paused, picking up his chopsticks, hesitating to start eating. "Right?"
"Of course not, Hiro-san," Nowaki exclaimed quickly, his arm shooting out so he could place a reassuring hand on top of Hiroki's. "Quite the opposite actually," he muttered quietly. "I am thinking about something that will bring us closer together actually. I've been doing some research, and I've discovered that the Kusama Orphanage allows homosexual couples to adopt. I was just thinking that maybe… we could adopt."
Hiroki blinked, licking his lips nervously as he lowered his chopsticks back onto the table. To be honest, he had thought about adoption many times himself because he knows how much Nowaki wants kids of his own, and since Hiroki isn't a woman, he can't give Nowaki that wish of his. However, this way, he could. But there are a few things that they have to really put into consideration before making the decision to adopt.
"Would we have the time to care for the kid?" Hiroki asked, looking up at Nowaki seriously. "Due to your hectic schedule, especially after you've been promoted to an actual doctor instead of just a trainee, do you think we'll be able to be home to take care of it?"
"I've already thought about all of that," Nowaki said quickly. "While we're both working, there is school and daycare after school if neither of us are home. Also, during the summer, you're off work so you can be able to stay home with them then."
Hiroki nodded slowly, picking up his chopsticks once again to take a quick bite of his food. "We've got financial stability now too," he muttered quietly, biting the inside of his cheek in thought for a few moments of thought. "Okay," he said finally. "We can look more into it. We both have the day off tomorrow so we can go down to the orphanage tomorrow and talk to them about it if you'd like."
Nowaki's eyes widened in shock for a few moments before an overjoyed smile started to slowly spread across his lips. "Thank you so much, Hiro-san," he said, his voice sounding breathy. "I was worried about your response, but to be honest I never really imagined that you would agree so easily."
"You've always wanted a kid, haven't you?" Hiroki asked quietly. "I've always felt kind of bad that I'm not physically able to give you a child, so this is the second best thing isn't it? Besides, you must feel bad for the kids in the orphanage since you know exactly how they feel, right? If we do this… at least the kid will have a second chance for a family."
Hiroki could feel his cheeks heating up into a blush at his mini speech, and he tried not to scream at Nowaki when his lover embraced him tightly, nuzzling his face into his neck as he mumbled words of gratitude like a mantra. Hiroki hesitantly raised his arms to wrap them around Nowaki, happy that he could make Nowaki this happy and give him one of his largest wishes this way.
-Page Break-
The next day, as Hiroki promised, he and Nowaki traveled to the Kusama Orphanage. Nowaki had already explained to Hiroki that the process of adoption would go by much more smoothly since he was an orphan there and the caretakers all already knew him. All he and Hiroki would have to do would choose a child that they want to adopt, talk to the child so they know if they're comfortable with being adopted by two men, and the orphanage would take care of all the paperwork that would legalize the adoption.
When they arrived, a caretaker rushed up to them once she spotted Nowaki. "I was wondering when you two would drop by here to adopt," she said kindly with a sweet smile on her lips. She seemed to be aged with wrinkles beginning to form around her eyes and mouth. "If you both would follow me inside you can take a look at the children."
"Thank you, Kaya-chan," Nowaki said politely, following her inside, Hiroki trailing behind. "Hiro-san and I talked, and we would like to adopt a girl. Preferably one that is old enough to start school this year because we both don't have the time to take care of a baby due to our jobs."
Kaya's eyes sparkled happily and she pointed up the stairs. "There is actually one girl that has just turned five this month and she is able to start school now. She's been with us all her life, and she was brought here in a quite similar fashion as you Nowaki. We have no idea who her biological parents are, but she's very sweet and is always happy to meet new people. You could come up and meet her if you'd like."
Hiroki and Nowaki nodded, following Kaya up the old stairs and towards the female dorms. "Her name is Emiko, just so you two know," Kaya informed them before opening the door that Emiko shared with three other little girls. "Emiko? There are two men here who would like to meet you."
A small girl's head snapped up to where she had her nose buried in a book and jumped off of the top bunk bed where she was sitting, landing gracefully. She had her long black hair tied up into a messy bun and her russet eyes glinted in curiosity. Hiroki noted that she did kind of look like both him and Nowaki put into one, and he suddenly really wanted to take her home and welcome her into his and Nowaki's little family.
"Wow," she said in a small voice, looking up at the both of them. "I've never had two men want to meet me before. Would you both be like… my two daddies?" she asked with a tilt of her head and a cute confused pout.
Nowaki chuckled lightly as he crouched down to Emiko's level, giving her a bright smile. "That's right," he said with a nod. "Hiro-san and I have been looking into adoption for a while, but before we start to get to know you a bit more, we want to make sure you'd be comfortable with having two daddies."
Emiko fell silent for a moment, looking closely at both Hiroki and Nowaki before coming to her decision with a nod. "Yeah," she said eagerly. "Having two daddies would be really cool!"
Nowaki laughed again and he reached up to pat Emiko's head gently before straightening back up. "Well then, would you like to take a little walk with us to get to know us better?" he asked. Once again, the little girl nodded excitedly and shot passed both of them to start down the stairs so they could go outside to talk.
After they talked for about an hour, they all went inside to head to the main office to tell the director that they would like to take Emiko home with them. They both filled out some paperwork, more Hiroki than anyone else since Nowaki had lived in the orphanage until he turned eighteen. They weren't able to take Emiko home the first day since the orphanage would have to send in the paperwork to make sure everything was approved, but the director assured them that he would call as soon as they got the approval and in the mean time they could both get everything set up.
Hiroki and Nowaki decided to get Emiko's bedroom set up as soon as possible and went out to pick out some furniture and a few toys. On the first or second day of her arrival they would take Emiko out to pick out her own clothes, bedsheets, and some more toys.
For her bed, they settled with a twin sized platform bed that Nowaki said he could take home and build himself without any problems. He had always been good with his hands; in more ways than one, of course. They also picked out a coffee colored nightstand to match the wooden frame color of the bed, a toy box and toys, as well as a few necessities.
On the day they both had everything set up, they got the phone call that they had been approved for adoption and they could come down and pick up Emiko whenever they were ready. Nowaki, out of sheer happiness and excitement, dropped the phone just so he could tightly embrace Hiroki in near tears.
The next day, they went to the orphanage to pick up their new daughter. When they entered the main office, she was sitting in a chair pressed against the wall with her short legs swinging and a small suitcase next to the chair. In her arms, she was cradling a dirty looking horse stuffed animal that her biological parents had left with her when they dropped her off. When she raised her eyes and spotted them, she squealed in excitement before racing up to them and hugging them both tightly. "Thank you both so much for taking me in," she whispered, her voice choked up.
Hiroki's heart melted, and as he and Nowaki leaned down to hug her back, he thought that this was the best thing he and Nowaki had ever done. As they walked outside, Nowaki rolling the suitcase for Emiko, Hiroki remembered that they had to stop by the store for bedsheets and clothes for her. Emiko looked up at Hiroki, her eyes wide. "I get to pick out my own bedsheets and clothes?" she asked in wonder.
"Of course," Hiroki replied. "And toys and whatever else you want right now that we can afford."
"Books?" Emiko asked with a serious expression. "I'm sick of reading the same books over and over again. Could I pick out some of my own books today too?"
"Yeah," Hiroki said with a smile, amazed that a child her age was so interested in reading. "I pretty much have my own library at home, so you can look through a few of those to try out depending on your reading level. I think I have some that you could understand."
"Seriously? Wow! Thank you so much, Papa," she said happily, a bright smile spreading across her face. Hiroki smiled, surprised that Emiko was already calling him papa. Emiko suddenly turned to look at Nowaki, reaching up to tug on his shirt sleeve to catch his attention. "Can I call you daddy? That way I don't get you both confused."
"Yeah," Nowaki said, nodding his head instantly. Hiroki is pretty sure he can catch the slight shine of brimming tears in Nowaki's big, blue eyes. "That sounds really good, Emiko-chan."
"Okay," Emiko said and reached up with both arms so she could hold both of their hands as they started to cross the street where they were going to let her pick out her own bedsheets, clothes, and books.
First chapter is kind of shitty, but I promise it'll get better as it unfolds. This is just me wanting to get Emiko adopted by them and everything, so it's basically a first chapter filler. This is set about four years from where the manga is right now, which means Hiroki is 34 and Nowaki is 30. Also, if you'd like them to eventually get married or anything in this story let me know in the reviews so I can get that added in my story plans!
Ja Ne!
(By the way, this is unedited so I apologize for any mistakes.)