The detective sighed as he turned around. An officer sitting in a chair reclined to face him. "Do you think he's guilty?"

The detective sighed. "Of course. He confessed to the whole thing. The question is…why the hell did he do it? He seems earnest about regretting it. I couldn't squeeze a reason out of him no matter how long I pressed him. He just seems sorry and worried about his kids."

The officer sighed. "Well it's not our job to figure out what his reason for doing it was. We just have to give him his punishment."

"Seeing as he has had no previous convictions, community service and probation for six months should do the trick," the detective remarked, marking a few things on the paperwork.

"'Kay," the officer grunted as he stood up. "I'll go get him." A few minutes later, he reappeared, Takumi in tow.

The detective approached Takumi silently until they were face-to-face. "I need you to sign this paperwork," he grunted, sticking his hand out. "Since it's your first offence, you only need six months of community service and probation. However, if you violate that, you could be facing prison time."

Takumi didn't react to that as he signed the papers. He sighed. "I guess I can finally head home and check up on my sons."

"Was someone watching them?"

"I instructed them to call their aunts while I was gone." He frowned. "But that doesn't mean there weren't complications. Perhaps none of them picked up. Or maybe they were too busy to come over. I don't really know," he babbled on, starting to get nervous.

"Well, you're free to go," the detective remarked, putting away the paperwork. "Just make sure to follow your probation and to report for your community service."

"Will do," Takumi said quickly, rushing out the door. He stopped as he made it to the parking lot. "Wait, I don't have a ride!" he groaned as he saw the nearly empty parking lot.


"You're lucky I happened to pick up the phone after the things you said to me," Leo grumbled as the car rumbled into the driveway.

Takumi jumped out of the side door, racing into the house. Flinging open the door, he found his sons sitting on the couch, watching TV with Foleo.

"Dad!" Kanna squealed, jumping up from the couch.

"Are you all right, Mr. Takumi?" Foleo asked politely, the blond ringlets of his hair bouncing up and down.

"Yeah, Foleo, I'm fine." Takumi forced a smile. "It's only a misdemeanor. It's not like a felony or anything. I'm not getting any jail time."

"So you weren't punished?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"No, I wouldn't say that," Takumi replied, biting his lip. "Six months of community service and probation."

"That's pretty serious for a misdemeanor," Leo remarked.

"Well, it was a class one misdemeanor," Takumi replied. "That reminds me. Since I'll be on community service five days a week from 3:00 to 7:00, I'll need somebody to watch the kids for me…"

"Oh you cannot expect me to watch over Deere and your kids at the same time," Leo retorted.

"Deere's going to be living with us?" Foleo asked.

"It's complicated, Foleo," Leo replied edgily.

"Maybe I can make clothes for him!" Foleo exclaimed in excitement.

"Don't forget me!" Kisaragi exclaimed.

The two held hands. "I would never forget about you," Foleo said, looking Kisaragi in the eye.

Takumi and Leo exchanged nervous looks, deciding to discuss it later. "Anyway," Takumi said, clearing his throat loudly, "Leo and I have some things to discuss. "How about you three watch some more TV together?"

Leaving the three together on the couch, Takumi and Leo disappeared into the kitchen. "Are our sons gay?" Leo asked as soon as they were sure that they were outside of hearing range.

"I'd like to say no, but honestly, I'm not sure," Takumi replied.

"I mean, this isn't really the time to worry about that," Leo said calmly. "I mean, we have bigger things to worry about. Also, does it matter if they're gay? There's nothing wrong with being gay."

Tapping his fingers nervously on the island, Takumi looked away. "I mean, what is he gets beaten up or harassed? In this part of town, if you're gay you're a loser. And in this part of town, you can't really afford to be a loser. They'll pull a knife on you as soon as look at you here."

"I never saw anyone have any problems with being gay. One of my closest friends is gay," Leo remarked casually. "Although, I guess you could say he is bi. I mean, he had this major crush on one guy in college, but after that, he mainly liked women. But I think that the one time he liked a guy was the one time he was truly in love."

"But what about grandchildren?!" Takumi asked, twiddling his fingers nervously. "Will I even get any?"

"I mean, you have Kanna. And besides, have you ever heard of adoption?" Leo narrowed his eyes. "Takumi, are you homophobic?"

His face flushed in the light. "No, I'm not," he lied, turning his eyes away guiltily. "I'm just worried life'll be hard for him this way."

Leo sighed and put his hands on his hips. "I guess that's what happens when you grow up in this part of town." Turning around towards the fridge, Leo pulled out a tomato and began to eat it.

"Do you want a napkin for that or something?" Takumi asked lamely.

"No thanks," he mumbled as he finished it. He fixed Takumi with a teasing smile. "Should I eat a banana, or would that make you uncomfortable?"

Takumi blushed as he gritted his teeth. "I'm not homophobic!" he shouted.

Kisaragi walked into the kitchen. "What's all the yelling about?" he asked.

Takumi looked at his son for a moment. Just for a second, he saw his son in a different way. He's…gay, he told himself. He doesn't like women. In that moment, Takumi realized he was faced with a decision. He could either accept his son for who he was and move on. Or he could disown him.

Takumi sighed. I could never do that. He's my son, for the Gods' sakes. No matter what I think about the situation, it really doesn't revolve around me. It's his decision. Takumi smiled. "Leo and I were just arguing about the dishes. Now that I think about it, how would hanging out with Foleo on the weekends sound?"

Kisaragi's eyes lit up. "Yes!" he shouted. He tackled his father with a hug. "You're the best, Father!" he cried. "I love you!"

Takumi smiled as Kisaragi ran back into the living room. "What the hell was I even thinking?" he asked himself. "It's Kisaragi's choice, not mine. I can't just disown him."

Leo put his arm around Takumi. "You're finally starting to see what I mean." He sighed as he collected Foleo. "When does your community service start?"

"Tomorrow," Takumi mumbled.

Leo sighed. "Well, I guess you'll drop off Kisaragi and Kanna then." He turned and walked out the front door, leaving the rest of the house eerily quiet.

Takumi sighed as he began to straighten up his clothes. "I want you two to go to your rooms and find something to do."

"Can't we just watch TV?" Kanna asked.

Takumi sighed. "Normally I'd let you, but tonight I just need some time to think." He sighed as the two scuttled upstairs. Slumping up near a table, he put his head in his hands and groaned. "What the hell am I doing with my life?" he asked himself. He simply didn't know.


Okay, to be fair, I bet y'all are all spitting fire at me. "All this waiting for a filler chapter?!" Yeah, I know. It's just that my writing's been slowing down. I don't know why, but everything's grinding to a stop. However, my social life seems to be picking up, so maybe that's the cause. I finally have my first serious boyfriend and just a lot of good stuff's been happening lately. But I also feel sad and like I'm suffocating every single second of the day where I find myself unable to write. I don't know what's wrong with me. So I might end up wrapping this up quicker than expected, so maybe the ending won't be as great as I'd hoped.

After I wrap this up, I don't know what next. I'm still in the middle of working on that Kamui x Joker fic, so I might not be gone for a long time. But this is why I was hesitant to write chapter stories. I was worried I'd lose interest halfway in the middle of it. Plus, I just don't know what I'm going to submit for all the writing competitions happening right now. I feel like it's my job and everyone expects me to keep winning awards. I feel like I'm suffocating from the fact that I can't write. It doesn't sound the same written on the page anymore. I look at it logically and clearly see that I'm getting better, but it just doesn't feel right. Besides, it's all about the views now. I'll pour my heart and soul out into certain fics and they'll only get about 100-200 views. Whereas for some fic I pound out on a request or just write for filler, it gets thousands of views, gushing reviews, tons of follows/favs, all that stuff. I finally understand how VocaApple felt when she left. It really sucks putting all your effort into one thing, and having it completely ignored in favor of some half-assed thing you did on the side.

I don't know if I'm going to retire after this or not. I've already quit being a beta reader. That alone was a big enough pain in my ass. Now, writing fanfiction isn't a chore. At least, most of the time it isn't. But when I'm struggling to write a story about something that inspired me months ago, it kind of does turn into a chore. I just feel disappointed in myself, mainly. Disappointed that it's all about the views. Every time I look at a fic I loved so much, and see the tiny view count, I'll feel a bitter disappointment run through me. I want to feel pride in the fact that I wrote and finished these fics. But I just can't anymore. Ever since I hit those thousands of views, it hasn't stopped-this lust for recognition. I don't really know anymore. I'm probably just going to wrap this up in a few chapters. And yeah.

Oh, I forgot to mention Takumi and Kisaragi's conflict in this chapter. The main reason why Takumi is kinda homophobic is literally what he said. In the really horrible neighborhood he grew up in, you would be straight up stabbed for being gay. So while Takumi didn't have much against it personally, he mainly was against it because he was worried for Kisaragi's safety. Although to be honest, I think Takumi's just a little bit homophobic. Probably because he's in denial about Leo, but nevermind that. I want Kisaragi's sexuality to tie a bit more to the storyline, but now that I realized I'm losing interest, I might not have time to tie it in more.

Anyway, hope y'all enjoyed~