EDIT: Whoopsie, I accidentally uploaded something else, my bad. Here is correct chapter.
Pairings: Too many. I am tired.
IMPORTANT: Sena is thought to be a boy in this story except by a few. POVs in which they think she's a boy while use male pronouns, and POVs in which they know she's a girl will use female pronouns. Easy, right?
As always, requests are welcomed and I am working on the ones already put in.
"Daddy?" The toddler asked, scrutinizing Sena. She stood holding a box of Cheerios in the mini mart near her apartment, her heart feeling like it had been drop-kicked as she beheld the tiny child.
The little boy could not have been older than two to three years old, his thumb in his mouth as he gazed up at her with brown doe eyes. His soft brunette hair was adorably mussed and he was wearing a light green frog onesie, she could see the round eyes that stood up from the pushed back hood. His free hand clutched a butter yellow blanket that he dragged along with him as he tottered closer to her.
Sena's breath caught in her throat as their eyes met. "You are literally the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life." But he wasn't just cute; he was beautiful, like commercial baby beautiful.
The child reached for her, making grabby hands and she picked him up without another thought. "Daddy," he repeated, grabbing a fistful of her scarf. She chuckled self-deprecatingly. Of course the child was confused; she was dressed in 'boy' clothes, as usual. It helped keep her identity secret but it was often puzzling for smaller children and football players, even those in Team Japan.
"Hi, little guy, where's your mommy?" She began walking up and down the aisles, not finding anyone frantically searching for a lost toddler. Despite her growing apprehension, she kept her voice even and relaxed. "Strange, your parents couldn't have just left you, now could they?"
"Hey, Sena, what do you think, Reese's Cups or- Is that a baby?!" Monta slammed to a stop a few feet away from her, blinking owlishly at the boy in her arms. The child babbled softly and patted her cheek with his tiny hand, lisping a little, "Daddy, Daddy, play!" He smiled at her, his mouth already full of petite white teeth. "Play! Please!"
"Monta," she said, abruptly on the verge of tears. "I can't find his parents."
Immediately, Monta sensed the approaching danger. His best friend was too kind hearted and they often fought over the strays that she would frequently bring home. "We are not adopting a random child. Put him back where you found him."
"But he was just wandering around! We can't leave him," she protested, rubbing the boy's back soothingly when his miniscule eyebrows furrowed. She whispered, "He's all alone."
The other teen shrugged. "Then let's look for his parents."
Sena clutched the child closer and muttered shyly, "Or we could just keep him?"
"No!"
"Daddy?" The child asked in an adorable lisp, frowning quizzically at Sena and then Monta, reassessing. He pointed a chubby finger at him. "Daddy!" Returning to face Sena again, he pointed at her. "Mama."
Sena was absolutely heartbroken. "Monta."
The receiver appeared to be struggling to say no again, his face flushed as he tried to fight against the boy's charm. "Th-The apartment's too small," he tried lamely.
"We could get a bigger one?"
He frowned at her. "I didn't even know that you like kids."
"I like THIS one," Sena replied, smoothing a hand over the boy's head.
From an outside view, they appeared to be a couple arguing over their child in the frozen food section. However, she hadn't realized it until a familiar voice spoke up, asking, "What the hell are you two idiots doing?"
They whirled around.
"Hiruma-san," she blurted out, the tension inside her doubling.
Their fellow demonic football player stood at the entrance of the aisle, a pack of sugarless gum in hand. "Who's brat is that?"
"Mine," Sena replied bashfully at the same time Monta said unfeelingly, "I don't know."
Hiruma blew a bubble and let it pop. "Right. Well, get rid of it."
"What?!" She yelped, her heart thudding unsteadily. "L-let's take him with us and leave a number to call. If, I mean, when the parents come back, they'll ask the worker up front and he'll direct them to us," Sena reasoned then gulped. She had disobeyed a direct order from Hiruma. Monta sucked in a sharp breath.
Hiruma raised a slender eyebrow, but she shakily held her ground. Her resolve only strengthened when the boy yawned and began to fall asleep in her arms.
After studying her face for a long moment, he spun and headed to the front checkout counter, throwing back over his shoulder, "Fine, fucking chibi, but he's your responsibility then. Don't have him interfere with practice."
Sena grinned like the sun, pressing her cheek into the boy's downy hair. "Yes, of course."
Monta groaned.
They followed Hiruma to the counter but he didn't bother waiting for them as they talked to the clerk. "Huh, that's weird," the clerk mused, rubbing the dark bags underneath his eyes. "I've been here since eight in the morning and I haven't seen anyone come in with a toddler."
"I see. If someone comes looking, here's my number." Sena handed him the piece of paper with her cell number and readjusted her grip on the child. He smiled dimly in his sleep, tightening his hold on her.
Day One: Sena
"I'm Sena and this is Monta," Sena explained to the child in her lap who sat gawking at her raptly, hanging off her every word. "Sena and Monta." She pointed to each of them in turn. Her friend pretended not to be interested, but she saw his ears perk.
"Sema," the boy reiterated. "Monda."
"Close enough." She turned him around so his back was against her stomach. They had gotten to the football field early since Sena wanted to get introductions over with, she didn't want to waste time during practice.
"That's Hiruma-san," Sena said, gesturing towards the blond quarterback typing away at his laptop.
"Hima," the boy countered.
Hiruma wasn't impressed. "Better teach that fucking brat how to speak properly."
Sena turned and glared at him, actually glared at him, before she remembered who he was and weakly reminded him, "He's just a baby, Hiruma-san. He needs time to learn."
Closing his laptop with a snap, he picked up his helmet. "Does this look like a fucking daycare to you?"
"He won't bother anyone; he's a very good child. Hasn't cried even once," she stated proudly and then added thoughtfully. "I just realized he doesn't have a name." Her eyes lowered to meet his doe stare. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He just sat silently, playing with her fingers. She brushed back a stray hair. "You're sweet as honey, so I'm going to call you Mitsu."
"Sounds like a girl's name," Monta remarked, tightening his laces.
"Feh. Bastard is more appropriate," Hiruma drawled, walking over to scowl at the baby, who tried to mimic the glare.
"Neither of you wanted Mitsu, so you don't have a say," Sena muttered under her breath, darting a glare through her eyelashes at Hiruma. "A-and please don't refer to my son like that."
Momentarily speechless, Hiruma was about to give a scalding reply, with a hail of bullets as an encore, when someone shouted, "Whoa, a baby!"
Mizumachi rushed up to Sena, crouching down to be level with the child on her lap. "I didn't know you had a kid," he complained, "Why didn't you introduce us sooner?"
"Well, he's just come into my care, so," Sena replied diffidently, using her hand to keep the baby in place as the child made grabby motions at Mizumachi. "He seems to like you already," she commented, pleased. Hiruma scoffed in revulsion somewhere behind her and she ducked her head, wincing. As soon as they were out of earshot of the other players, she was going to have to dodge a war's worth of ammunition and insults.
As others from Team Japan began to wander in, Sena sighed resignedly and stood to make a quick, timid introduction, "A-ano, everyone, this is Mitsu, and he'll be staying with me for a little while, so please get along…"
Everyone who hadn't noticed before zeroed in on the baby in her arms.
"AHH?!"
Day Two: Agon
Trailing in after the rest had already begun the first round of training, Agon sneered as Riku and Sakuraba talked animatedly with Sena, who stood with the toddler propped on his hip at the sidelines. "Does he even care that he looks like a fucking mommy or is his masculinity that unimportant to him?" he questioned distastefully.
Beside him, Ikkyu shook his head and donned his helmet, "I don't know, but he seems happy enough."
As they watched, Sena handed the child to Riku, who held him carefully, saying in awe, "I'm an uncle."
"I don't know where to begin with correcting that statement," Sakuraba muttered, glancing over at Sena who just smiled good-naturedly. They shared a laugh and Riku glared, grumbling about taking responsibility for Sena and his child. At that, Sena flushed and scratched his cheek, avoiding eye contact.
"Shin," Sakuraba called, "Come look at this."
Agon shoved his dreadlocks away from his face. "Che, even that fucker is getting roped into this nonsense. What trash."
The group carried on as if they hadn't heard him and an angry vein popped up on Agon's forehead.
"What is it?" Shin stared blankly at Mitsu who was tugging Riku's hair and laughing delightedly as it made the teen wince. Sena extricated the white locks from the toddler's grip, scolding him gently and apologizing to Riku.
"A child, Sena-san's to be specific, I believe," Takami observed, adjusting his glasses as he moved next to Sakuraba. "Although I'm not sure how…"
'They're ignoring me!' Agon thought, filled with something close to rejection, but mostly irritation. 'How dare those fucking pieces of trash!'
"Ah, it's actually not a long story to tell, but maybe not now," Sena answered, turning his head this way and that as others came up to view the child. He took the baby back from Riku and held him carefully to his chest, tensing up. Mizumachi in particular pestered him about holding the child until Kakei appeared and dragged the swimmer away.
"Practice is starting," Kakei warned, clearly uncomfortable with Sena and Mitsu so close. His calm face was slightly pink as he refused to so much as peek in Sena's direction.
Agon shook his head. 'Is that tall bastard really that intimidated by a baby and that fucking mom runningback? Pathetic.'
Kakei casually propelled the swimmer in the right direction. "You can hold him afterwards."
"Wah, no fair!" Mizumachi pouted, reaching down to ruffle Mitsu's hair before following the first half of the team to the field. Agon smirked. Today, he didn't play until the second half, unlike Ikkyu, so he had plenty of time to observe (stalk) his pint-sized rival.
Sena sighed, fixing the child's brown locks before addressing the small group that remained. "Kakei-kun is correct, practice is starting. Do you think one of you could watch him while I play?"
"I'll do it," Sakuraba suggested with a winning smile. "Kids like me."
Agon rolled his eyes.
A little too reluctantly for someone who had just come into possession of a child, or at least in Agon's opinion, Sena placed Mitsu in Sakuraba's arms, letting his hands rest a little too long on the receiver's forearms. A muscle in Agon's jaw ticked. The child began to tear up when Sena moved out of sight but the runningback cast a wary glance at an observing Hiruma, who meaningfully cocked his shotgun.
'Of course, it's that fucker that puts that bitch into place. Typical.' Agon huffed, leaning against the wall behind him. 'That sly bastard is always blackmailing someone. What's he got over Sena anyway?'
"Don't worry, Mitsu, I'll be back. You can see me play from here, okay?" Sena assured the toddler, hesitating again before dashing out onto the field. The child sat sedately in Sakuraba's arms until Sena returned, following all of the runningback's movement with unsettling attentiveness.
"Huh," Agon muttered, somewhat interested. "That kid is…"
'Fucking weird,' he finished in his mind, his instincts prickling when the child's eyes shot through the crowd to unwaveringly meet his.
Day Three: Shin
Shin considered Mitsu. It was the third day Sena had brought him to practice and he still did not see the resemblance to Sena everyone had said was evident. His rival had strong, quick legs and determined eyes. This child was far too weak and slow, but he was a toddler so that was to be expected. As long as he did not impair Sena's abilities, Shin would tolerate him. He held out a hand and Mitsu grabbed a finger, "Greetings, Sena-san's child."
"Ah, Shin," Sakuraba started, unsure of what to say to that. He was on babysitting duty again, having switched with Riku who had gone into the game. "Nevermind."
"Sema," Mitsu hiccupped tearfully, reaching a tiny hand towards the other runningback on the field, "Sema, Sema."
"He's growing quite close with Sena-kun," Yamato noted with a worried smile, tilting his head back as he took a deep pull from his waterbottle. "I think it will be painful for them to be separated when his parents come. Although, I am concerned as to what is taking them so long to find Mitsu, surely they must have noticed by now that he is gone."
"Indeed, it is strange," Taka admitted, readjusting his helmet straps. "You would think there'd be a missing child alert at least. Someone has to be looking."
They considered Mitsu, who continued to cry and stretch towards Sena's distant form. "Sema!" He wailed with extra emphasis.
Through the noise of the match and the distance between them, there was no way that Sena should have been able to hear Mitsu, but his head snapped to their exact direction, his eyes intent like Shin had only ever seen directed at him. Shin felt his fingers clench into fists as Sena dashed over, using his top speed, as soon as a break was called and hugged the whimpering child to his chest.
For whatever reason, Shin could have sworn the face Mitsu wore as Sena consoled him was triumphant.
Day Four: Kurita
Kurita, for one, loved Mitsu almost as much as Sena did. The child could eat and eat and eat, a feat that the others for unnerving or suspicious but one that Kurita could relate to wholeheartedly. "He's a growing boy, he needs to eat a lot," he would say, smiling as he handed the child yet another cracker or apple slice.
His tiny teeth made quick work of anything he put in his mouth, so Sena's worry of him choking seemed mercifully unfounded. They set aside a safe area to place the toddler down, a large blanket on which he could crawl or walk on. He seemed to understand that the edges of the blanket were also the end of his allowed play zone.
"What a clever boy," Kurita complimented, seating himself at one corner, Mitsu climbing on one of his legs. When he wasn't in Sena's arms, he had developed the tendency to move around, fighting to get out of whoever's grasp he was in. On the floor however, he was content to wander only marginally and wait for his 'mother' to return.
Kurita had nearly passed out when the team had dubbed Sena a 'mother' rather than a 'father', fearing that they had learned her preciously hidden secret. After all, he had worked so hard to not slip up and accidentally call her a 'her' or 'chan' or any other girl-related thing. But, in reality, it was a purely mocking, affectionate for some, nickname that had started up when Agon called out Sena's tender behavior.
Something along these lines had been said:
"Sena-kun, you know, you make a pretty good dad. Not bad." Riku nodded admiringly, folding his arms and eyeing her in a considering manner.
"A-ah, really? You think so? I'm just doing what I need to do, that's all," Sena responded, rubbing her head self-consciously.
"Che, dad? He's a fucking mom if I've ever seen one," Agon jeered. "I'm surprised he hasn't started breastfeeding the brat already."
And then people had gotten this weird look on their faces at the idea and Kurita had made a hasty retreat as Sena squawked and denied the accusation.
Kurita shook his head, returning to the present as he felt Mitsu play with his fingers. The child had a fascination with hands and recently he had developed a fondness for ears too. He would reach up and tug them, not hard but enough to get your attention. He loved attention, especially Sena's. In fact, now that Kurita thought about it, that seemed to be all he wanted now.
"What about your ears, hmm?" Kurita asked as the little boy babbled and tried to climb his massive stomach to get within pulling range of his earlobes. His brushed some hair out of the way, intending to gently reciprocate when he stopped cold.
"Oh, my," Kurita mumbled aloud, blinking. "His ears…"
"His ears?" Sena asked, walking up to the blanket while taking off her helmet. Practice had just ended and she plopped herself down next to Kurita. Mitsu swiftly crawled over to her. An uneasy note entered her voice. "What about them?"
Kurita hesitated, fiddling with the edge of the blanket. "Well, ah, uh. They, well, they're… pointed."
"…Eh?"
They twisted as one to gape at Hiruma, who sat off to the side reloading his AK-47. The quarterback's eyes had grown wider at the discovery, but he just grinned and cackled, "What? He's not fucking mine."
Sena's cheeks colored as her eyes darted about, waving her hand in front of her. "O-o-of course not! We didn't mean to- to- to imply that!"
Kurita shook his head furiously. "N-n-no! Of course he's not yours! What a silly thing to suggest!"
"Yeah, if you were the dad and if I were raising your child, that would mean," Sena cut herself off sharply, dismayed at the words that had escaped her mouth tactlessly.
Hiruma peered at her over his bubblegum, intrigued. "Oh, do fucking go on, what does that mean?"
"Nevermind! Nevermind! I have to go!" She shrieked, hoisting Mitsu into her arms and bolting for the exit.
Kurita sighed. "Hiruma-kun, really, you shouldn't tease like that. What if Sena-kun takes it seriously?"
He grinned like a shark scenting blood in the water.
Day Five: Monta
By the fifth day, almost everyone had taken a turn watching over Mitsu, everyone including Gao and excluding Agon. No one really trusted him with a toddler and not Hiruma either, for obvious reasons. Even Monta had, despite his reluctance to care for the child outside the apartment. He groused that he did enough already back at their shared abode.
"Thanks again," Sena smiled, rushing out of her private changing room, perfectly reasonable according to Hiruma somehow, to take the toddler back into her arms. "I'll care him home."
"You'll have to, that dang kid was practically kicking me to get out of my arms." Monta rubbed his muscles tenderly. The child was outrageously strong. "What are you feeding him? Protein shakes?"
"No," she mused, walking sluggishly towards the train that would take them home. "Just normal baby food things." Rubbing her eyes, she nearly tripped when her ankle twisted underneath her.
"Whoa!" Monta shouted, catching her.
Sena lurched upright, yelling, "Sorry! Sorry, geez, I must be really worn out to misstep like this."
"It's alright, just… be careful," he replied exasperatedly. Mitsu, when he remembered to check on him, didn't appear disturbed at all by the blunder.
Later at night, when Monta got up to get himself a drink of water, he heard a noise coming from Sena's room. Observing the time, his eyebrows furrowed. After a debate, he slide her door open bit by bit to make sure she was okay.
Curled up, Sena sleep deeply, Mitsu at her chest, his face buried there, clutching at her shirt greedily. Monta gasped softly and the child's eyes seemed to glint as his gaze darted towards the noise.
The next morning, Monta woke up, uncertain if what he saw had been a dream or not.
Day Six: Riku
"Ah, Sena-kun, did Mitsu always have such pointed teeth, or am I imagining things?" Riku asked, clutching his finger to his chest. He had passed the toddler over to Jumonji rather hastily. The former delinquent was actually quite good with kids, to all of their surprise.
"What?!" Sena exclaimed, pulling his wounded hand into his own. The white-haired boy began to sweat as Sena leveled a concerned gaze at him over their joined hands. "I'm so sorry! He's never done anything like this before. Does it hurt?"
"Yeah, weirdly enough. His teeth are sharp," Riku muttered, side-eyeing Mitsu. Kid stood next to him, examining the bite impression the child had made. He whistled lowly. "Really sharp."
Sena shrugged feebly, she hadn't been feeling well lately. "Maybe he's teething? Again?"
"Can they do that?" Jumonji wondered aloud, bouncing the child to sooth his ire but he thrashed in his hold, reaching and whining for Sena.
"No," Kid drawled, studying Mitsu from under the rim of his hat. "I don't think so."
Day Seven: Hiruma
It was on a Saturday that the call came. Sena secluded herself off to the sidelines while she talked to the person Hiruma assumed was the actual parent of that miserable parasite.
"Looks like that fucking brat actually does have someone who gives a shit about him," Hiruma mused, watching her face twist between joy and sorrow. 'About damn time.'
He was ready to ship that little bastard off to an orphanage, but this solved his problem just as well. For one, Sena wouldn't give him forlorn, accusing stares every time he was in the same room as her. The downside was he still had to put up with her inevitable depression once the unpleasant child was returned to his rightful guardians.
Sena jogged back to the group, who had unashamedly been observing.
"Well?" Yamato asked, smiling kindly. A few others nodded encouragingly.
She shifted back and forth, a habit when she wanted to run from an uncomfortable situation. "W-well, Mitsu's, I mean, Tashi's father called. He's been searching for him and he's…" Sena stopped her fidgeting. "He's coming to pick him up. I'm supposed to meet him at the mini-mart where I first found Mi- Tashi."
Sena looked to him and Hiruma sighed, nodding. "Go get rid of that fucking kid already."
She simply bobbed her head, picked up the newly dubbed Tashi, and left.
Hiruma didn't expect her to come back smiling, particularly after returning so late that practice was over and everyone had gone home except Kurita, Monta, and himself. They had stayed behind to wait for her; he had business to attend to.
"What happened?" Kurita asked cautiously, fluttering around her nervously. Or as much as someone as large as him can flutter.
"Did he not want his kid back?! Did he get mad at you for keeping him?! What took him so long to find Mi- Tashi?!" Monta interrogated, gripping his waterbottle so tightly it almost burst.
Sena just smiled, uncharacteristically calm. "He wanted his son back, he wasn't mad, and he was under the impression that his ex, the mother of the child, had him, so he didn't know he was missing until she told him so. In fact, he was quite grateful for us taking care of him."
They considered this information in silence. "So," Monta started, "you're not upset?"
"Well, a little, but I'm happy Tashi is with his father now, and," Sena's usual timidity returned. "A-and, well, he, uh, kind of invited me out to see them again."
"…What?" Monta asked, raising a thick eyebrow. "He thinks you're a dude, right?"
"Yes, of course, but it's just dinner. It doesn't mean anything!" Sena protested, unable to keep her hands still. "It's fine as long as I get to see Tashi again."
Hiruma, still typing away at his laptop, narrowed his eyes. 'Shit.'
Ohhh, what's this? Do I smell a part two? Maybe. Depends.
