Father's Day One-shot

Only For Today

Father's Day is the day when daughters and sons get to express their deepest appreciation and love to the man that sired, raised and protected them throughout the years.

On such a day, it is common for the restaurants to be crowded with families or for them to be fully booked by early reservations. Moreover, sales and promotions will be specially emphasized on men's apparel and accessories as it is expected that any daughters and sons will certainly be buying those items as a gift of appreciation to their beloved father. All in all, it is one of those commercialized events that are profitable for those in these businesses since one couldn't escape from spending a certain sum of money for the special occasion.

In the current hectic era, most people tend to forget that love and appreciation doesn't necessarily need to be shown through expensive gifts or a luxurious dinner. Sometimes, all a father wants is for his children to spend time with him and avoid having arguments with him. To be able to talk and laugh in the company of his children, who will or might have already grown up and has their own life. It is as simple as that and it can be done every day, not just on Father's Day. Sadly, most people are too occupied with their own life to do even such a simple task. Instead, they believe that a gift or a dinner is enough to make up for the loss of the time that should have been spent with their fathers.

Kiryu Ichiru usually didn't care much about this kind of events.

It is not just because of it being highly-commercialized. It is also because the fifteen-year-old boy had lost both his father and mother two years ago. With his parents resting six feet under the ground, Ichiru found it meaningless to celebrate any of the related occasions without their presences. Now, those special occasions only made him depressed as it caused him to yearn for what he knew was forever gone in his life. Moreover, he had been so worried about Zero's condition in those past two years that these events tend to slip past his mind without him realizing it.

However, this year will be different.

Ichiru had planned to celebrate Father's Day with his uncle, Cross Kaien. Ever since their parents' death, Kaien had taken both Ichiru and Zero under his wings. At the beginning, both twins were so affected by their parent's death that they refused to speak to anyone aside from each other. However, they started to open up to Kaien after witnessing his sincerity in caring after them in spite of their difficulties.

Although Ichiru is irked by Kaien's eccentric manners most of the time, he knows that Kaien is sincerely caring and protective of both Zero and him as though they are his own children. Whenever the Hunter's Association tries to trouble Zero, Kaien will go out of his way and stand up in Zero's defense without a second thought. When Ichiru fell ill, Kaien will drop off all the works on his hand just to nurse him back to health. Although Ichiru and Zero are not directly related to him by blood, Kaien is more like a father to them than an uncle. Even so, the twins will never call him 'otousan' as that just doesn't sound right to the both of them.

"Ichiru-kun?"

Ichiru snaps out of his reverie and turns to look up at Momoyama, who is looking at him inquisitively. Momoyama is a retired member of the Hunter's Association and is currently working as a maid at the Cross household. Aside from doing the household chores, Momoyama is also responsible in taking care of Ichiru and Zero when Kaien is either busy running the academy during the weekdays or working overtime during the weekends. In a way, she can be considered as Ichiru and Zero's nanny.

"Is something bothering you, Ichiru-kun? You looked troubled just now," asked the elderly woman with her grey eyebrows creased in worry, making the wrinkles on her forehead more evident.

"It's nothing," assured Ichiru while averting his eyes away from Momoyama and attempting to be cheerful. He is terrible at lying to people face to face, at least that's what Zero had told him. "I was just thinking if Kaien-ojiisan will be back for dinner tonight, that's all."

It is a white lie, well, not entirely a lie since Ichiru did wonder about Kaien's return for tonight's dinner. Having left home early in the morning to work in his office, Ichiru is having doubts that Kaien will be returning home for dinner, much less that he remembers about today's special occasion. Nonetheless, Momoyama seems convinced by his words for Ichiru feels a gentle hand patting his shoulders comfortingly. Looking back up at Momoyama, Ichiru sees that she is smiling down at him in the same maternal manner that reminds him of his mother. This brings up a certain nostalgic feeling within him.

"I am sure Cross-sama will be back for dinner tonight. It is a special day for him after all."

Ichiru will certainly not admit it out loud, but he truly wishes that Momoyama is right about that. After all, he had been planning with Zero to celebrate this special day with their uncle since last month. It will no doubt be disappointing if Kaien was to forget and stay overnight at the academy like what he had done for his other overtimes. Sparing a glance at the clock on the wall, he notices that it is already seven o'clock in the evening.

Will he really be back?

Kaien sighs heavily as he put the paperwork that he had just completed to the side of his desk. Being the chairman of Cross Academy is certainly not an easy task, especially when Kaien is working on opening a special class for vampires. The purpose of doing so is actually very simple, that is to form coexistence between the two races. However, most people must have thought of Kaien's action as either insane or foolish, maybe even both. After all, to allow vampires to be in the same environment as humans will be no different than letting wolfs into a flock of sheep.

Even so, Kaien wouldn't give up.

This isn't just his own personal dream. It is also the dream of the two precious people in his life, who are no longer in this world. Having owed them his life, this is the least Kaien could do for them now. Not to mention, he is already close to achieving the first step of this dream of coexistence after many years of hard work. Having gained enough approval and funding from influential people of the human society, all that is left is to gain approval from the Council of Ancients and the gathering of vampire students for the special class.

Of course, it is not as simple as it sounds since the Council of Ancients is very distrustful of humans, especially those who are related to the Hunter's Association. Nonetheless, Kaien will not be deterred by them since he had already done so much and gone too far to actually turn back now.

"That's all the work for tonight," he said to himself as he stretched his hands above him.

Looking at the clock on his table, his fallow brown eyes widened when he saw that it was already ten o'clock. Momoyama had specifically reminded him to return for dinner tonight and he had just forgotten about it amidst his work. Hastily, the bespectacled man stands up from his seat and turns off the lamp on his table before proceeding to leave his office. Even though his home is within the academy ground, it takes Kaien twenty-five minutes to briskly walk back from his office. As he had half-expected, Momoyama is standing at the entrance hallway with a look of disapproval on her face when Kaien enters the house.

Feeling guilty, Kaien put on a nervous smile and greets her like he usually does, "I am home."

"Welcome home, Cross-sama," she replied out of politeness, but her stern expression remains the same. Kaien is about to apologize for his absent-mindedness, but the elder woman beat him to it by asking, "Do you know what day is today, Cross-sama?"

"Err... Sunday?" replied Cross timidly.

Although it is a simple question that didn't required much thought, Kaien had answered it wrongly quite a few times in the past. The elderly maid let out a soft sigh, which made Kaien wonders if he had made a mistake once again. After some thoughts, he found it to be unlikely since he did remember passing a brief glance at the calendar today while signing his paperwork and it clearly indicates today to be a Sunday.

"With all due respect, Cross-sama, I am glad that you still remember that today is a Sunday."

Aha, just as he thought.

"However, do you know what day is it on this Sunday?"

Uh-oh...

"Well, Cross-sama?"

Honestly, he had no idea. Since Momoyama is upset about him not remembering it, it must be an important day for her. If he had to make a guess, he will say...

"Ah, today is your birthday!" he exclaimed with his fist hitting against his palm as if it was something that he had just remembered, though it was actually a random guess.

With Momoyama, who doesn't usually frown, now frowning at him while shaking her head disapprovingly, Kaien knows that his answer is incorrect and way off the mark. So, he ponders on the question more thoroughly, but he still couldn't find an answer that is more possible than his previous one. Scratching the back of his head, Kaien grinned nervously at the elderly maid with the word 'clueless' written boldly on his forehead.

In response, Momoyama allows another sigh to escape her lips before she answered, "It's Father's Day, Cross-sama."

Oh yes, he had forgotten about that. Still, what does it has to do with him? He is a bachelor without any children of his own. Moreover, it is unlikely for Ichiru and Zero to celebrate it with him since they are rather cold towards him and regarded him more as a weirdo than their uncle.

"Cross-sama!"

"Ah, yes?" he answered hastily having been stirred from his deep thoughts.

"Honestly! The boys put a lot of thoughts into celebrating today with you, Cross-sama. How could you forget? I even reminded you this morning before you left."

"Wait... you mean Ichiru and Zero-"

"Yes, they woke up very early this morning just to celebrate with you, but you had already left by then," explained Momoyama. Her expression softens when she notices the regretful look on Kaien's face. He may have always seemed carefree and nonchalant most of the time, but Momoyama knows that the bespectacled man is just putting on that facade in order not to make the people around him be worried or depressed. In truth, he always bears an air of lingering sorrow around him. Thus, Momoyama naturally feels bad for Kaien when he's looking so sad now.

"Then, now they are..."

"Asleep in their room, of course. They have school tomorrow."

"Ah, I see."

Nothing more is said between them as Kaien seems to have slipped into his own thoughts once again. Having done her tasks for that day, Momoyama wishes Kaien good night before leaving the household. Feeling regretful for having missed the rare chance of having the twins celebrating Father's Day with him, Kaien takes off his shoes and walks miserably along the entrance hallway, which leads to the conjoined living room and dining room.

As his stomach is grumbling angrily at being neglected since lunch, the bespectacled man decided to have something to eat at the kitchen before heading to his room for some much needed sleep. When he is passing by the dining room, he sees some kind of green blob from the corner of his eyes. Stopping in his tracks, he turns towards the said object and notices that it is actually a package wrapped in green wrapping paper, which is placed on the dining table. Filled with curiosity and anticipation, Kaien slowly walks towards the table and picks up a folded note that is stick onto the package. Unfolding the note, he realizes the writing on the note to be Ichiru's handwriting.

Kaien-ojiisan,

I guess you must have forgotten about today's special occasion. Don't worry, Zero and I aren't angry at you because we never told you that we will be celebrating it with you in the first place and you also didn't promise us that you will be back anyway. Since the Father's Day for the past two years had also gone by without a word, this is truly not a serious issue. Anyway, please open the green-wrapped present before you continue reading this.

Putting the note aside, Kaien picks up the package and carefully unwraps it without tearing apart the wrapping paper. This is the first gift he had ever received from the twins, which is why it is only natural for him to be treating every single detail with much care. After fully unwrapping the present, Kaien is surprised to discover that the content is actually a pair of grey fingerless gloves. While grinning happily like a child, he eagerly tries them on to realize that the gloves reached just below his elbow. Although the gloves are so wide that the gap is enough to slid a finger in, Kaien is pleased and grateful to have received them. After all, it is the thought that matters most. Having opened the present as told in the note, he then continues reading the rest of the note.

I asked Momoyama-san to teach me and Zero how to knit last month and the gloves are actually our first handiwork. Although we both knitted one gloves each, we made sure that they are of equal length and width. We noticed that the gloves you were wearing last winter had a large hole on it. So, we thought that this will be a good replacement. Although it isn't pink and doesn't have any 'cute' patterns like your previous pair of gloves, we hope you like it.

Kaien chuckles as he could imagine Ichiru shuddering while saying the word 'cute' in a sarcastic manner. As much as Kaien knows about the Kiryu twins, both of them have never been fond of his sense of fashion. Yet, Ichiru is the only one who constantly speaks his mind in either an annoyed or disgusted manner. Zero merely turns a blind eye on that matter since he is never keen on getting involved on bothersome situation if possible.

I admit that I am not exactly nice or polite to you most of the time, while Zero usually doesn't speak a lot to you. So, you will probably find it odd that we will celebrate Father's Day with you. However, you have always been looking after us and protecting us just like how our father would have done if he was still around. Therefore, aside from our father, there's no one more deserving of this celebration than you.

Thank you for all that you have done for us and Happy Father's Day, 'otousan'.

Sincerely,

Ichiru and Zero

P.S Don't forget to eat something since you skipped dinner. Tonight's dishes are cooked by Zero and he had kept some of them for you in the containers on the kitchen counter. Remember to re-heat the dishes before eating them.

A drop of water falls onto the blank part of the note, causing a dot-shaped stain to be formed there. Putting the note down on the table, Kaien wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and laughs lightly. The twins will never call him 'otousan'. Even now, they never did since it is only in written words on the note. However, to be regarded as 'otousan' by the twins, even if it is only for today, Cross Kaien is overjoyed nonetheless.

Truth to be told, it had been so long since he had last felt such blissful happiness.