Youth

Chapter Three

The next morning, while Hiroki was attempting to make a more complex breakfast, Emiko was sitting in the living room with Nowaki and trying to make sense of the news. By trying to do so, she wound up asking question after question about politics or why one person was being so mean towards another, and why they couldn't just talk it out like adults instead of going into verbal wars through social media. She eventually got tired of listening to grown-ups talking about things she couldn't comprehend, so she wandered into the kitchen to join Hiroki in making breakfast.

"Can I help?" she asked once Hiroki became aware of her presence, and tried to move to lift herself in order to see what Hiroki was cooking. Hiroki moved faster than her, just managing to keep her hands away from the hot burner.

"Emiko! Don't touch anything in the kitchen when Daddy and I aren't in here, or without permission!" he admonished, his tone sharper than he intended. Her almond-shaped brown eyes blinked owlishly at him before hunching her shoulders and guiltily apologizing, her eyes lowering to the floor.

Hiroki sighed in exasperation and rubbed the back of his neck, mentally reminding himself that Emiko was just a five-year-old child and not one of his ignorant man-child students. "Don't get upset. I didn't mean to snap at you, you just startled me because you nearly burnt yourself. Just make sure you mind yourself in the kitchen, and always listen to what Daddy and I tell you to do. Okay?"

Emiko nodded, a hesitant smile touching her lips once she realized her Papa wasn't really upset with her, just worried about her. "I promise, Papa. Can I still help? I promise I won't touch anything!"

"I'm actually already done cooking," Hiroki admitted and reached over to the side to turn off the stove burners. Emiko's eager posture deflated instantly, so Hiroki hurriedly opened a cabinet and passed Emiko a plate. "But, you can help me set the table now, and help out with making dinner later. How does that sound?" Emiko's eagerness was back immediately and she nodded, waiting for Hiroki to hand her a couple more plates. Once he did, she scampered off towards the dining area and Hiroki bit his tongue before he could yell at her to not run with breakable dishes. 'One thing to coach at a time,' Hiroki thought to himself.

He dug out some chopsticks and spoons from the drawer for Emiko to grab once she came back, as well as a few bowls. When she did come back for the utensils and bowls, Hiroki calmly reminded her not to run, or skip, with dishes or anything sharp. To this, she simply nodded and followed his instructions as she walked back into the dining area. Hiroki sighed quietly and turned back around towards the stove to grab the pot and rice to carry over to the table. Before he had the chance to, he felt Nowaki's familiar weight press against his back and warm breath ghost against the shell of his ear, drawing out an involuntary shiver from Hiroki.

Hiroki furrowed his eyebrows and gave halfhearted wriggles to escape Nowaki's grasp. "You shouldn't do this with the kid just in the other room." Nowaki just hummed contently and tightened his hold on Hiroki, further pressing him against the still-warm stove.

"Seeing affection between parents will do no harm to a child, Hiro-san. In fact, it teaches them about healthy relationships." Hiroki just grunted under his breath, but reluctantly allowed himself to relax in Nowaki's hold, at least for a few more moments. "It's amazing to see you so parental. You had nothing at all to be worried about."

Hiroki's eyes widened from their half-lidded state and sputtered, shoving Nowaki away from him so he could grab the pot to carry over to the table. "I have no idea what you're talking about! Who was nervous? I wasn't nervous!" He turned to face Nowaki, hoping his glare was distracting him from the blush that was currently overtaking Hiroki's entire face and ears. "Make yourself useful and grab the rice. We're going straight to the school to sign her up once we're finished eating."

"Alright Hiro-san," Nowaki said easily and followed him into the dining area, setting the rice in the middle of the table. "You can go ahead and sit Emiko-chan. But get dressed as soon as you're finished eating so we can bring you to the school and get you signed up so you can start on Monday."

Emiko's shoulders seemed to tense as she lowered herself to the chair and sat down next to Nowaki as he put some food on her plate and bowl. "Do you think I'll be able to make friends?" she asked nervously.

Nowaki set the rice down and smiled at Emiko reassuringly. "Of course, you will! In fact, I'm sure you'll make tons of them."

Emiko's eyes brightened and she smiled at her father's comforting words and took a bite of the food her Papa had prepared. She hummed at the taste and gave a thumbs up to her Papa, who settled down across from her. Hiroki smiled at Emiko's wordless praise and took a bite of his own, figuring that the food was good, but could have used a bit more spice. "What makes you think you won't make many friends?" Hiroki asked after a few minutes of silent eating.

Emiko looked up at him and sighed, pushing her finished plate away from her and moved on towards the rice. "I didn't make any at my old school. Except for the kids that I grew up with, no one else ever wanted to play with me because they think I'm weird. They always say it's dumb that I have no parents and grow up with a whole bunch of other weirdos."

Nowaki sighed sadly and shook his head. So it hadn't changed much at all since he had been a child. It was always easier to make friends once he got older and people began to get their own opinions, but as a kid, he never had any friends outside of the orphanage because the other students figured that if his parents didn't even want him, why would they want to play with him. He was about to say something to lighten her worries, but Emiko began to talk before he could.

"But, now that I have a family, they can't make fun of me! And I wouldn't have wanted to be friends with those mean kids anyway."

"That is certainly a good way to look at it," Nowaki said and ruffled her messy hair affectionately. "Now, go get dressed while Papa and I wash the dishes so we can go. We're also going to buy school supplies and pick out some snacks that you like, so make sure to wear comfortable shoes."

"Okay," Emiko said and bounced off back to her room, leaving her parents alone to finish the chores.

-Page Break-

Kaisei Elementary School was the closest private school in the area in which Nowaki and Hiroki lived, and while there was an even closer public school right across from their apartments, Hiroki refused to allow his child to attend a public school. When Nowaki had asked why, Hiroki had said that it was because the students in public school are typically more behaved than in public, and he didn't want to risk Emiko getting bullied because of her interesting family situation. Walking into the school, Nowaki automatically felt as if he didn't belong in such a seemingly prestigious place, considering he had attended public school himself, and he worried if Emiko would be able to connect with any of the students here.

He glanced over at Hiroki as they walked down the hall towards the main office, and noticed he looked, not comfortable, but almost accustomed to the surroundings. Nowaki knew that his parents were fairly rich, they did live near the Usami mansion after all, but it was strange to see Hiroki in the same kind of element that he grew up with. When they entered the main office, a stiff-looking receptionist greeted them politely but didn't look up from her keyboard until a couple minutes later. When she did, she looked between Hiroki and Nowaki and then down to Emiko, her facial expression giving away nothing.

"Are you here to sign her up?"

"Yes," Hiroki answered and stepped forward and Nowaki felt relieved that his boyfriend was going to handle the business of signing her up. "I have all of the necessary paperwork here so you can make copies, but I would like the original forms back, please."

"Of course, sir," the receptionist said and took the manila folder away from Hiroki and flipped through it briefly. "Will this be the first school she is attending or does she have records from a previous one?"

"The orphanage said that this is the first year she's able to go to any school," Hiroki replied. The receptionist nodded but did not reply, as she took out a few papers from the stack in the folder and turned around to the printer in order to make copies. She then went to a cabinet just above the printer and took out a clipboard with a thick packet clipped onto it, and a pen.

"You and her other guardian need to fill this out in the specified places. After doing so, bring it back up to me and I will give you the basic rules the school has, as well as the bell schedule and supplies she'll need, calendar, and uniform list. The full uniform will be needed by Wednesday at the latest, and if she doesn't have the full attire by then, consequences will be issued. Do you have any questions so far?"

"No ma'am," said Hiroki politely as he snatched up a second pen in the cup on the woman's desk before making his way to the chairs where Nowaki and Emiko were sitting. He handed Nowaki the second pen and sat beside him, immediately starting on the paperwork and asked Nowaki to sign in certain spots as he went through it.

"Sorry this is taking so long, Emiko-chan," Nowaki whispered to the little girl, smiling sheepishly. "If I had realized how tedious this would be I would have told you to bring one of your books."

"It's okay, Daddy," Emiko said brightly, watching her swinging legs that still didn't touch the floor beneath her. "I don't mind."

"Oi, Nowaki," Hiroki called and Nowaki turned back to face him. "S-should I sign under the 'mother' column or 'other relative'?"

Nowaki snorted at the thought of Hiroki being categorized as a mother, which just earned him a nasty glare in return. "I can sign under 'mother' if you want me to, Hiro-san. It really doesn't matter to me."

"N-no it's fine," Hiroki muttered with a blush as he jerkily gave his signature on the line next to 'mother'. "The mother contact is normally the first to be called anyway, and I don't want you interrupted at the hospital if Emiko ever comes down here, or to the nurse, and needs to contact one of us."

"Aw, you're always so thoughtful, Hiro-san," Nowaki murmured and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek, but Hiroki shoved the clipboard into his chest and pushed him back before he was able to.

"Don't even think about it," Hiroki said darkly and Emiko giggled beside Nowaki from their antics. "Just because we have a child together now doesn't mean I'm going to just let you paw all over me in public, you pervert!"

Nowaki hummed as he signed his name directly under Hiroki's, and his heart gave a flip when the reality of all of this set in. He and Hiroki had a child to raise together. It had always been one of his dreams, but he never expected it to actually happen, so this all seemed so surreal. He kept his eyes on the paper in front of him as he checked certain things off, but he smirked as he said, "does that mean Hiro-san will let me touch him in private?" so quietly to make sure Emiko couldn't hear.

Hiroki flushed all the way to the tips of his ears and his fingers twitched, clearly wishing he had a book to hit Nowaki with, or that he could just hit him now without the risk of getting in trouble by the receptionist. "Don't be stupid!" he hissed angrily.

Nowaki flipped the packet shut once he finished the last of it and handed it to Hiroki with a coy smile. "So, does that mean I can? You didn't deny me."

"M-maybe," Hiroki muttered and stood so quickly that he got a head-rush as he stalked back over to the receptionist desk.

Emiko laughed beside Nowaki and he turned, hoping that she hadn't heard what he said, or understood what they were talking about. "Papa's funny," she said and pointed to the still-present redness to his ears. Nowaki didn't respond, but he smiled and looked at Hiroki affectionately as Emiko's foot bumped against his once, and wondered how he ever got so lucky.

Okay, so I was aiming for this chapter to be around 4,000 words, but it just didn't happen. The story is still slow moving because Hiroki and Nowaki are just trying to get Emiko to settle in, so the chapters can't really get all that long. But, the chapters should be getting longer either around chapter four or five since Emiko starts school in the next, and the story will get more interesting as she ages. I'm wanting to write this until she gets into her college years, so I'm expecting for this story to be around 30-35 chapters… maybe more?

Also, if any of y'all want to leave requests for this story, you can! I'm open for ideas, and I'll probably be able to squeeze in anything as long as it doesn't affect the major plot points that I'm already planning. Thanks for reading!

(Unedited. If anyone wants to beta for me that'd be great!)