CHAPTER 2
Aomine felt like he'd forgotten something, the quiet niggling at the back of his head kept him from drifting back into another peaceful nap. The TV was quietly showing the news in front of him; nothing remarkable seemed to be happening on his lazy Wednesday off work. He stretched, groaning as several bones clicked back into place; he was no longer as limber as he'd been when he'd made Taiga fall in love with him.
Aomine smirked as he thought about the early days of his and Taiga's relationship, how passionate they'd been, the fights that had turned into the most athletic sex he'd ever had. His smirk turned into a grin as he realised they were still like that after all their years of being together, even if the sex wasn't as frequent as it had been before Mitsuko was born; he'd easily sacrifice his sex life to be able to spend the rest of his life with his little girl.
He glanced up at the clock to see how long it would be until his favourite people in the world got home, figuring he had enough time to do the chores Taiga had left him, which he had obviously left until the last minute. He stretched again, throwing his legs over the side of the sofa to stand when his phone vibrated on the coffee table, Taiga's picture lighting up on his screen.
"Finished early, what do you and Mitsuko want for dinner?"
Aomine frowned, tapping out a reply. "Why are you asking me what Mitsuko wants for dinner?"
"Because you're supposed to be looking after her, asshole!"
The quiet niggling at the back of Aomine's head exploded as realisation dawned on him. He was supposed to be looking after Mitsuko, and she was nowhere in sight. He'd just jumped to his feet when he heard a crash in the kitchen, followed immediately by the sound of his daughter screaming. His stomach churned as he ran to the kitchen.
"Shit!" Aomine fell to his knees at Mitsuko's side, gathering her up into his arms as she continued howling in pain, a trail of blood trickled down her cheek from the gash on her forehead. "I'm so sorry, baby, I'm sorry. Come on." He propped her against his hip, lifting her up onto the counter next to the sink, quickly grabbing wads of kitchen roll, pressing it against the cut. Mitsuko cried harder as he pressed against the wound, kicking her feet out in front of her; Aomine winced as one kick connected with his gut.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, can you hold that there for me a second?"
Mitsuko did as she was asked, holding the kitchen towel in place as Aomine rooted for the first aid kit, growling out curses when he couldn't find it.
"I'll just be a second, I'm sorry." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead as he hurried to the front room, snatching his phone from the coffee table. He dialed Taiga's number, not caring for the angry rant his husband was going to give him.
"Daiki? What-"
"Where's the first aid kit?!"
Taiga paused. "Is that Mitsuko crying? What did you do?!"
"Where's the first aid kit, Taiga?! I don't have time for this!"
"You were supposed to be watching her!"
"I know! Just fucking tell me where it is?!"
"It's in the bathroom. What happened?"
"I'll tell you when you get home." Aomine hung up, tossing the phone onto the sofa before rushing to the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit from under the sink. Mitsuko was where he'd left her, still crying, the kitchen towel now soaked with blood. He grabbed some more, wetting it under the tap. "You can let go now, baby. This might sting, okay? But you kick daddy all you need… ready?"
Mitsuko nodded, peering up at Aomine through her tears as she took the bloodied towel from her head. Aomine quickly tossed it into the bin before she could see all the blood and began wiping away the blood that had trickled down her cheek, careful to dab at the cut. He got several kicks to the thigh as he wiped away the blood.
"This one is going to sting, now. But you're a brave girl, right? You'll be brave for daddy?"
Mitsuko nodded again, wiping away her tears as Aomine unwrapped a disinfectant wipe, hesitating before wiping the cut as quickly as possible. Mitsuko screamed again at the pain, kicking Aomine in the gut even harder than before.
"I know, I know. It's all over now, okay? All done. Just need to put a band-aid over it. Which one do you want?"
Mitsuko mumbled something as she wiped her eyes again; Aomine sighed, softly stroking a hand over her head.
"What was that?"
"Dinosaurs."
Aomine smiled, pressing a kiss to her nose before unwrapping a dinosaur band-aid, placing it gently over the cut, which he was glad was smaller than the amount of blood made it seem. Once everything was cleaned up he pulled her back into his arms, kissing her frantically all over her face until she giggled.
"Daddy~"
"Is everything all better now? No more crying?"
Mitsuko nodded, burying her face into Aomine's neck. "No more crying."
"Good girl. What were you doing in the kitchen anyway?"
"I was making daddy dinner. It was going to be a surprise."
Aomine hugged her closer to his chest. "Oh, you don't have to do that, baby."
"But I wanted to."
Aomine carried his daughter through to the living room, sitting her firmly on his lap. They snuggled up together, Mitsuko's head on Aomine's chest, and watched TV until Taiga burst through the front door, only pausing to kick his shoes off. He ran over to where his family was sat, sweeping Mitsuko into his arms.
"What happened?"
"I was trying to cook daddy dinner and fell off a chair and hit my head," Mitsuko said, smiling, already recovered from her ordeal. Taiga shot a glare at Daiki, holding Mitsuko tighter against his chest.
"You were supposed to be watching her!"
"I fell asleep."
"She's two! You don't get to fall asleep!"
"She's fine now! The cut wasn't even that big! She was more scared than anything!"
Taiga sighed, setting Mitsuko down on the floor, crouching down to her level. "Mitsuko, go play in your room for a minute, okay? I need to talk to daddy."
Mitsuko nodded, pressing a shy kiss to Taiga's cheek before skipping off to her bedroom. Aomine sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, knowing he was in for a long-winded lecture about responsibility. When he cracked his eyes open, however, he expected Taiga to look angry, but instead he just looked upset.
"Taiga-"
"How do you forget you have a daughter to look after?"
"I-"
"She could have seriously hurt herself, Daiki. Sure, it was just a small cut, this time. What about next time? What happens if next time it's not a small cut, huh?!"
Aomine sighed, looking down at his feet. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry's not good enough! You're supposed to be her father! I'm supposed to be able to trust you to look after her!"
"I know, Taiga! I'm sorry, okay? You don't need to make me feel any worse than I already do. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her either, especially if it was my fault! Just… I don't need this right now." Aomine pulled himself from the sofa, marching past Taiga through to their room, slumping down on the bed. He could hear Mitsuko playing in her room, singing happily to herself, and Taiga in the kitchen starting to prepare dinner, banging things louder than necessary. He ran a hand through his hair, silently cursing himself. He knew Taiga would hold this over him for a long time; he didn't need more confirmation he was a crappy father.
Aomine sat by himself, finding things to take his mind off the day's events for a while until there was a quiet knock on the door, followed by Mitsuko poking her head round.
"Daddy?"
Aomine forced a smile, sitting upright, beckoning her to come closer. "What is it?"
"Are you not eating dinner with me and papa?"
"Oh… probably not, sweetheart. I'm not very hungry."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure."
Mitsuko frowned, curling her finger in Aomine's shirt. "Okay… will you come and play with me after dinner? You do voices best."
"Of course. Go on, go eat."
Mitsuko leaned up on her tiptoes, pressing a kiss to Aomine's forehead before skipping off, leaving Aomine by himself again.