Disclaimer ;; I don't own anything but the story and the OCs!
Hope you enjoy!
"Are you kidding me? Please, tell me you're kidding me" Akihito said with his gaze locked on the several, rather large gift-wrapped presents standing in the living-room next to the TV. There were seven birthday gifts in total, one for every year Asami had missed. There was a BMX bike, Heelys shoes, a kick scooter, a stack of new clothing, a stack of new books, a watch and a kit for Yurihiko to grow his own bug-eating plants. Judging by the look on the blonde's face, he believed Asami had gone overboard, but the raven cared little for it. He had missed six of his son's birthdays and he wasn't planning on missing any more than that. Buying seven gifts was just something he had done out of selfish reasons.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure he knows he'll only be getting one next year. This is just to make up for the years I've missed" the crime-lord responded and Akihito regarded him before sighing deeply as he closed his eyes, letting his head hang.
"If you say it like that, I can't say anything back, can I" he mumbled before straightening up.
"I'm going to start on the cake. If I'm going to be ready by four, I'll need every hour I can spare" he said and Asami grabbed his wrist, preventing the younger man from walking away. Akihito looked up with an inquiring, somewhat confused hum that was muffled against the crime-lord's lips that pressed against his own in a kiss that was too long to be called a peck.
"Can you spare one hour for me?" Asami asked and the priest shoved him away with a half-hearted jab of his elbow into the older man's gut.
"I can't. I have to bake a cake and decorate it for those monsters that you've invited over for a birthday party" he said and the raven wasn't letting go yet, as if he hadn't had enough the night before, when he had coaxed the blonde into the soundproof room.
"I could just get Kirishima to buy one. Problem solved" the older man said and Akihito rolled with his eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous. It's tradition, not to mention cheaper" he said, managing to detangle himself from the raven's grip only because the crime-lord allowed it.
"Go wake Yurihiko up. I'm sure he'll want to open those presents before he goes to school" Akihito said and Asami watched his retreating back before turning towards the hallway to wake up his son. He opened the door carefully, peeking inside to see the young blonde lying diagonally on his bed, one leg up in the air with his foot placed on the wall, his arms hold above his head as if he had just finishing screaming banzai. The sight was not foreign to Asami, but he was still just as surprised as the first time he saw his son's sleeping positions, chuckling softly as he entered the room as quietly as possible. The bed dipped underneath his weight as he sat down next to his the child, reaching out to brush the messy strands off blonde locks away from closed eyes.
"Yurihiko. Wake up, kiddo" Asami said in a voice that was no doubt too soft to actually wake the blonde up, not even getting a single rustle out of the young child.
"Mom's making breakfast" he said, and that one did get a rise out of his son, seeing him lift his head slightly without opening his eyes, his nose twitching as he sniffed the air. Asami forced down a chuckle even when the corners of his lips curled up into a smile.
"There are apple pie cinnamon rolls in the oven" the raven said and saw Yurihiko try to open his eyes almost desperately.
"Apple pie cinnamon rolls?" he mumbled, nearly unintelligibly in a sleepy tone. This time, the crime-lord couldn't prevent himself from chuckling as he moved his shifted his hands underneath the blonde's armpits as Yurihiko finally managed to open his eyes halfway, moving to sit on the older man's lap.
"Eat or sleep, pick one. You can't do both at the same time" Asami said as he shifted his hand to his son's back when the blonde buried his head in his neck.
"Says who" Yurihiko mumbled and the crime-lord scoffed amused as he rubbed the blonde's back.
"Everyone alive?" he responded and Yurihiko scoffed.
"Of course it's possible. It's called sleep-eating. It's not like anyone died from it before. At least not anyone that I met" he responded sleepily, but slowly waking up. Asami chuckled at the blonde's words that sounded like sleep-talk.
"Okay, I'll admit that it exists, but mom won't be happy if you try it. He's put a lot of effort in making it especially because it's your birthday. Do you really want to disappoint him by sleeping through the breakfast he made?" he asked and Yurihiko immediately lifted his head from the raven's shoulder to look at his father, his eyes still half-lidded but somewhat clearer.
"Birthday? Oh, that's right, it's my birthday" the blonde said, a sleepy smile appearing on his lips that made Asami lean forward to place a fond kiss on his son's forehead.
"That's right. There are presents waiting for you in the living room. Want to go check them out?" he asked and Yurihiko perked up, suddenly more awake as his eyes widened.
"Presents?!" he parroted surprised and the crime-lord hummed with a light smile on his hips.
"Mom scolded me because I bought too much, but I bought one for each birthday I missed" Asami said and Yurihiko seemed to get a glow as he inhaled deeply at the announcement of having more than one present. Seeing the outburst flicker behind the blonde's golden eyes, he placed his son on the ground, allowing to race out of the room.
"Mom! Mom! Dad bought me present!" Yurihiko informed the blonde in the kitchen as he ran towards him, making Asami shake his head fondly as he stood up.
"Dad! Dad! Mom's making apple pie cinnamon rolls!" the young blonde exclaimed as he raced back towards the hallways where Asami stepped out, nearly crashing into the raven.
"I told you so, didn't I?" the raven reminded him as he steadied the blonde, having a feeling that his son hadn't been awake enough to process his words correctly when he had said it.
"So, the presents are true too?!" Yurihiko asked and Asami nodded, unable to answer vocally before the blonde raced off again, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste to get to the living area.
"And so it begins" Akihito said as he stepped out of the kitchen, looking at his son's retreating back with a suffering look. Asami looked at him as the blonde stopped next to him, wiping his hands on the towel hanging from his waist.
"Brace yourself. It's going to be a long" the priest warned and the older man regarded him.
"You're overreacting" he said as he slid his arm around the blonde's waist, pleased when the smaller male allowed him to, even leaning into the touch.
"I'm not, trust me" he said as he looked up at the raven with a tired but fond smile on his lips that the older man couldn't help but kiss. Akihito sighed into the kiss, allowing his lower lip to be captured by the raven's mouth as he reached one hand up to land in the older man's nape, his fingertips spread and adding just the right amount of pressure to draw goose-bumps to the surface. For how much the blonde complained about Asami knowing exactly how to play him, Asami could repeat those exact same words back to him, pulling the blonde firmer into his own body, feeling the way it curved into him as their lips molded together languidly. The sound of approaching footsteps had them break apart before they could take it further, looking at the door-opening of the living-room without stepping away from each other or taking their hands back.
"Mom, dad! Can I open them all? Which one should I open first?" Yurihiko asked excited, not caring that he was interrupting. Or maybe he was just too excited to notice, even when he was normally so perceptive about it. It was funny to both his parents who gave him an amused huff.
"Just pick one. I'm surprised you've waited to ask for permission" Akihito said as he stepped away from the older man to follow after their son. The sound of wrapping paper ripping resounded even before he had reached the door-opening, seeing the colorful paper fly left and right without care as Yurihiko all but dove into his presents. The older blonde was quick to pick up the paper so he wouldn't have to later when there was a sea of it as the little blond looked up with sparkling eyes.
"Mom! Dad! It's a watch!" Yurihiko exclaimed as he held up the see-through light blue digital ohsen sport watch to show his parents behind him, as if Asami hadn't been the one to buy the gift himself. Because he had been busy, Kirishima had suggested to leave the birthday gift shopping to him, but the crime-lord had refused. This was something he couldn't let his subordinates do for him.
"I know" the raven said as Akihito stepped forward to crouch down next to his son.
"Want me to put it on?" he asked and was nearly knocked back by the eagerness with which the child thrust the watch into his face while nodding so fast, he looked like one of those bobble-heads. The older blonde chuckled as he took over the watch before wrapping it around the outstretched hand of his son who admired the watch on his wrist for a few counts before he turned his attention to the next gift. Akihito stood up with a chuckle before turning to the older man with a smile.
"Alright, so a watch isn't that bad of a gift" he said and Asami regarded him, the corner of his lips turning up into a little smile that screamed smugness, something that earned a roll of hazel eyes. Their attention however, was drawn quickly after when Yurihiko ripped open his second gift, eager to know what was inside the wrapping that he couldn't care less about, leaving his mother to clean up after him. Asami's worry that his son might not like any of the gifts was ungrounded and proven untrue when the little blonde's reaction got more excited with each gift, to the point the raven wondered if he might faint. It seemed as if Akihito had the same worry, successfully calming the little blonde down for long enough to eat, though he went back to being excited right after.
"I'll pick up Hiko at school with Jii-sama and Baa-sama and take them to the trampoline park" Akihito said, holding onto the handle of the little blonde's backpack to stop him from racing out of the elevator before it had even reached ground-floor, wanting nothing more than to brag to his friends about the gifts he had gotten.
"Hm. I'll see you there after I'm finished with work" Asami responded, raising his hand to the blonde's nape, the soft strands of hair brushing his fingers as Akihito tilted his head up to meet the raven's lips in a kiss that both of them had already gotten more than used to. The priest's lower lip was a willing captive even if it was only for a short moment until the elevator stopped and they parted again.
"Laters!" Yurihiko exclaimed, not even taking the time to properly see his father off before he dragged his mother out of the elevators as soon as the doors had opened enough to let him out, forcing Akihito to twist sideways to prevent himself from smacking face-first into the opening doors. Asami chuckled softly at the blonde scolding their son who was too excited to hear it, not that the priest was actually annoyed with the little monkey. As the trio stepped outside of the building, Yurihiko's guards bowed their heads at Asami before following after the blonde duo, leaving the crime-lord in the capable hands of Kirishima. Ones he freed by dropping several leather-bound files into the golden-eyed man's arms, earning a dry look.
"If you wish to be finished before Yurihiko-sama's party, you will need all the time you can get" the bespectacled raven said while pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, not at all apologetic for dumping all the work onto his boss before they were even at the office, or at least in the car. However, Asami couldn't complain when he knew it would have taken Kirishima some time to order all his work for the day by priority so it would be easier for him to go through it.
So, instead of complain, Asami got to work as soon as he sat in the car, finishing at least two of the leather-bound files before they had reached the office building. He handed them over to Kirishima as they made their way inside, taking the elevator up to the highest floor. He opened the third file even before he had entered his office, blindly walking out of the elevator and into his work-space where he stayed cooped up until Kirishima had to take him out for a business-meeting. If it wasn't for the bespectacled man, Asami would have likely skipped lunch, just because he forgot to think about it. However, considering his subordinate brought up a bento that was made by Akihito, who didn't want to come up in fear of disturbing the raven during his work, Asami had no other choice but to eat the entire thing instead of a few bites in between his paperwork. It was something Kirishima seemed to be extremely pleased about and Asami couldn't deny that he was pleased as well.
The blonde was almost acting like his wife and he saw no issue with it at all. Though, he was sure the omega would make a big deal out of it and throw a fit if the crime-lord said even a single word that could possibly imply this kind of relationship between them. They had gotten comfortable around each other and Akihito was no longer resisting his advances, not even vocally, so the alpha was confident to say that they were dating. Or at least seeing each other exclusively, if Akihito really refused to label their relationship. But the blonde had no intention of becoming Asami's wife and the crime-lord didn't see a problem with that, had no urge to change that any time soon. He was satisfied enough with being unlabeled as long as Akihito still belonged to him. A label like wife or husband would only paint a bigger target on his back and that of their son, which was the last thing Asami wanted to do.
"Sir, we should leave now, if we still want to make it on time" Kirishima suggested as he peeked his head into the office where Asami was already getting up from behind his desk, his finished paperwork organized cleanly on top of the mahogany wood.
"Let's go. I'm not taking any work-calls anymore, so direct them through when they come in" the crime-lord said as he walked up to the door that the bespectacled man pushed open further.
"Already taken care of, sir" he said Kirishima said, once again reminding Asami why he was so lucky to have the man as high right hand. Instead of the short limo the man had come to pick him up with, Kirishima has prepared the BMW instead, a little less eye-catching but just as sleek black. However, even if the car was smaller, it didn't get them through traffic any faster, making the raven worry that he might be too late to his own son's birthday-party. He breathed a relieved sigh when he could see children the same age as Yurihiko enter the trampoline park, flanked by their parents.
"I'll park the car, sir" Kirishima said, stopping the car in front of the building to allow the crime-lord to step out so he didn't have to deal with driving around longer, looking for a parking spot. Asami took the suggestion, getting out of the car before unbuttoning his blazer as he walked up to the entrance of the building. Once he had entered the trampoline park, it wasn't hard to find the people he was looking for. He could hear Yurihiko squeal in pleasure, already on the trampolines with his classmates, while Akihito was fussing around his grandparents, making sure they were seated comfortably and that their glasses were filled. Asami remembered how intimidating the two elderly had been when he had first met them and doubted they needed this kind of mothering treatment from their grandson, but he guessed that this just showed how much Akihito respected and loved them.
"Ah, Asami-san" Sachiko said as she took notice of the raven's approach, making Akihito and Hidenori look up as well.
"Sachiko-san, Hidenori-san, I hope it's not too loud for you" Asami said in a manner of greeting and Hidenori huffed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"We're old and going deaf, so don't worry about our hearing. You'll be getting a head-ache before we do" he pointed out and Akihito scoffed amused.
"Please, you're not that old" he said before turning to the raven who stepped up next to him, laying his hand on the blonde's lower back.
"And I've already prepared paracetamol enough for when we get home" he said and Asami felt his chest warm up fondly at hearing the omega talk so comfortably about 'their home'. He scratched his fingers against the blonde's back, half-way fisting his hand before stretching his fingers again, the gesture an acknowledgement to what the smaller male had said.
"Dad!" Asami heard his son call out to him, making him remove his hand from Akihito's back and turn around to catch the young blonde who launched himself towards him. With a little swing, the raven lifted Yurihiko onto his hip, allowing him to settle there as he moved his arm underneath the little monkey's body to support him, feeling Yurhiko curl his arms around his neck.
"This is awesome! The best birthday ever! No offence, mom, Jiijii, Baabaa!" the excited boy said, throwing the last bit over his shoulder at the Takabas before turning his attention back to his father.
"There are trampolines! My friends are here! Jiijii is here! Baabaa is here! Mom is here and you are here! And Jii-chan will come too! He promised me! Not to mention that mom made cake! Have you seen it yet?! It's huge! It has three levels! I already tasted it! You know, to check for poison!" Yurihiko continued to rant excitedly, seemingly forgetting to breath.
"Eish! I was the one who made that cake! Why would I try to poison you?" Akihito exclaimed but Yurihiko had no ears for it, instead hearing a soft but definitely girly voice call out for him from the trampolines.
"Sorry, gotta go. My princess is calling for me" he said, kicking his legs lightly to get Asami to put him down again. He ran back to the trampolines, taking the girl's hand as soon as he had reached her, pulling her with him.
"Hmm? I thought that Hina was his princess?" Sachiko asked Akihito who was sending his son a somewhat troubled yet amused smile.
"He has about ten of them" he answered and Hidenori barked a laugh.
"Aren't that all the girls in his class?" he asked and Akihito gave Asami a sideway look.
"I blame it on the genes" he said and the crime-lord raised an eyebrow while Hidenori smirked.
"His or yours?" he asked, prompting a blush from the blonde who turned his attention to his grandfather.
"I wasn't that bad!" he said and Sachiko chuckeld.
"Sure you were" she said and her husband had no trouble playing in on it.
"I remember you were going out with three girls at the same time, two of who were sisters. And when they found out, you suggested a threesome, which your parents walked in on. Your neighbors still haven't forgiven you for that drama at two in the morning" Hidenori said, clearly amused as Akihito buried his face in his hand, looking pointedly away from the raised eyebrow Asami was regarding him with.
"Well, you caught my attention" the raven said and greying man smirked at him.
"I've got a lot more where that came from" he assured the crime-lord, though Akihito was quick to step in between them, bodily so.
"And you will keep them there! He doesn't need to hear my history" he said, looking at his grandfather. Asami smirked as he lifted his hand, trailing his fingers up the blonde's nape that was looking just as red as his ears, earning a surprised shriek from the omega who jumped away from him with wide eyes and his hand covering his nape.
"Doesn't need to doesn't meant that I don't want to. I'm very interested in your history" the crime-lord said and Akihito narrowed his eyes.
"Too bad you'll never got to hear about it then" he said and Asami turned to Hidenori instead.
"Weren't we talking about sharing some sake last time?" he asked and the greying man chuckled, smiling like a cat who got the cream, making Akihito frown in confusion.
"Huh? Last time? Drinking sake?" he parroted and looked up at the entrance when he noticed someone approaching him, his expression freezing up at the sight of the raven haired male. Asami and the two eldest Takabas followed his line of gaze, seeing a man with short black hair and warm brown eyes walk up to them, looking only a few years older than Asami himself. There were barely any resemblances between Akihito and the man, but it was obvious that the raven was related to Hidenori.
"Otou-san" Akihito said, his voice so cold it was almost detached, much to Asami's surprise. It was the first time he had heard that kind of tone from his lover and he could already say that he disliked it. It didn't fit the blonde, though the smaller raven seemed used to it as he smiled at the blonde.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, Akihito" he said as he reached out to give his son a hug, a gesture that looked like it wasn't about to be returned until the blonde reluctantly lifted his hands. It was such a difference from what the crime-lord was used to his lover that he would almost think Akihito was a different person.
"Almost two years" the priest answered as he separated from his father, leveling him with a blank look that didn't fit his usually feisty hazel eyes.
"Mom, dad" the raven said as he turned to his parents who greeted him with a warm smile and a welcoming hug, though not as warmly as they treated Akihito who lowered his gaze to the ground, his brightness seemingly fading away in a way Asami already disliked, even when he didn't know what the reason was.
"Otou-san, this is Asami Ryuichi" Akihito said, unexpectedly taking the initiative to introduce Asami, unlike what the raven expected. The smaller raven turned to the crime-lord, recognition lighting up in his warm brown eyes for several reasons.
"You must be Yurihiko's father. I'm Yoshio, Akihito's father" he said, reaching into his back-pocket to retrieve his business-card holder, taking a card out to hold out towards the bigger raven. Asami reached into the inside pocket of his blazer to retrieve one of his own cards, his eyes landing immediately on the contents of the man's card. A criminal photographer.
"Asami Ryuichi" he said, as he exchanged the card despite being introduced by the blonde just seconds before.
"What about your wife?" Asami asked, having taken notice of the silver band on Yoshio's finger. His question however, made Akihito's face pale almost instantly.
"That bitch isn't welcome here" Sachiko answered in an unusual display of sharpness before her son could. Yoshio seemed to flinch as Akihito swallowed thickly next to the crime-lord.
"Obaa-sama" the blonde said in an almost weak tone at his grandmother's harsh language, the way he spoke and referred to his grandparents completely different from the way he acted towards his father. However, it seemed like the mention of Akihito's mother had set something off inside the normally bubbly old lady, something Asami had the feeling he needed to hear.
"No, Aki-boy, I can't stand that woman and Yoshio knows it. I can't believe she even once called herself a mother when she threw you out when you needed her most. That's not what a mother does" she said and Yoshio frowned at her.
"Mom" he said, a little sharper than Akihito but flinched back when Sachiko leveled him with a glare.
"No, Yoshio, I'm not changing my mind about her. Our Aki-boy needed her to support him and she called him a whore before telling him that he was no longer her son. She doesn't deserve to call herself a mother if she's just going to throw her son away when he makes one mistake and is prepared to take responsibility for it. Our Aki-boy is more of a mother than she has ever been. How dare she act like she is in the right, keeping even you away from your grandson" she ranted and Akihito kept his head down as Hidenori laid his hand on his wife's knee to calm her down.
"That's enough, Sachiko. Yoshio knows how we feel and he's trying his best too. Let's not sour the little monkey's birthday party by digging up old skeletons" he said and Yoshio gave a troubled smile.
"He's right mother. You're almost as good as digging up skeletons as Akihito is" he said and from the corner of his eye, Asami could see his lover tense up, his eyes widening slightly as his face paled even further.
"Though Akihito always claimed that those skeletons were real" the smaller raven said before turning to Asami, his tone of voice making it clear that he was trying to lighten to mood.
"He's always had a lively imagination when he was young. He used to have crazy imaginary friends with even crazier back-stories that so detailed, it seemed almost real. Akihito firmly believed that they were up until he turned thirteen" he said with a chuckle as he shook his head.
"I was glad when he stopped acting as if everything he imagined was real, but then the real trouble started when he was caught with his school-nurse. I almost wanted hi to go back to being so obsessed about his imaginary friends, claiming he could see ghosts" he continued and Asami narrowed his eyes slightly at the man in confusion, remembering the odd things Yurihiko said or did at times. However, before he could question anything, his attention was drawn by the blonde next to him as he turned away.
"Akihito?" Yoshio asked surprised as the priest walked away as fast as he could without actually running.
"Good job, Yoshio" Hidenori commented dryly as Yurihiko looked up in confusion where he was jumping in circle with his friends, moving his gaze from his mother's back to his father.
"I'll-"
"I've got it" Asami said, cutting the smaller raven off before he could take a step forward.
"Yurihiko was excited about being able to see you. Leave Akihito to me" he said, turning away from the man who apparently, couldn't read the mood. He followed after his lover where he had gone to the rest-rooms, opening the door to see the blonde lean onto the sink counter with his arms spread, his head hanging down in between them as he supported most of his weight on one leg, the other bend. At the sound of someone entering the room, the blonde looked up, relaxing when he recognized the crime-lord who locked the door behind him to give them a little privacy.
"You didn't need to come, you know" Akihito said and Asami walked closer to him, stopping next to the priest.
"Think you can calm down?" the raven asked and the younger male looked up at him, the hurt and stress clear in his eyes even when he tried to hide it. He straightened up, reaching out for the crime-lord's nape to pull him down. Asami didn't resist as the blonde connected their lips but he didn't make any move to wrap the smaller male up in his arms like he usually did either. He calmly responded to the omega's kiss, keeping his eyes open to look into the priest's half-lidded ones, holding his gaze even when they separated.
"How about you help me calm down?" the blonde asked, extending an open invitation that Asami would have accepted in any other situation. He was sure he could give the blonde and himself a quick trip to heaven and they wouldn't exactly miss them for ten minutes after Akihito's dramatic exit. However, Asami didn't want to use sex as a way for Akihito to punish himself.
"Your mother called you a whore when she found out you were pregnant from me?" the alpha guessed and Akihito sighed deeply as he let his hands slide down from the man's neck, moving to take a step backwards but prevented from doing so when the crime-lord's arms wound around his waist. He went willingly as Asami leaned back against the sink, pulling the blonde in between his spread legs.
"No, it wasn't like that. I didn't even know I was pregnant until I was delivering Yurihiko in a stall of a public restroom" Akihito said and Asami regarded him, entwining his fingers against his lover's lower back, feeling the blonde's hands settle on his side in response.
"I was already holding him in my arms when the ambulance nurses arrived, but they took him away immediately when we arrived at the hospital. I was left in a room alone without knowing how he was doing after I gave birth to him in such a unhygienic place. My dad fainted when he heard the news, but he was a lot more openminded than my mother. By the time she arrived, I had barely named him and Ojii-sama had just gotten to hold him. From the second I told her that Hiko was mine, she asked me who I spread my legs for and flat-out call me a whore before throwing me out of the house" Akihito explained and Asami felt a sense of guilt that the blonde had gone through that alone. However, he wasn't sure how he would have reacted back at that time, if things had been different and if he had known. He wasn't going to lie and say that he would have been there for Akihito like he was now, because he didn't know how he would have reacted.
"It's a bit of an understatement to say that the bond with my mother is bad. It had been bad before that, but now she won't even look at me anymore, unless it's to vent her anger on me when she accidentally walks into me on the street" the blonde said, fisting his hands in the fabric of the crime-lord's expressive blazer as he lowered his head.
"I don't want her to react this way to Yurihiko. I don't want her to make him feel guilty for being born. I don't want him to hear her call him the son of a good-for-nothing whore like she does to me in the rare times I see her" he said and Asami pulled him closer, allowing him to rest his forehead against the older man's collarbones as he fought to hold his tears back.
"If I hear her call him that, I will put her in place. If you want to rant about it later, when we're alone, I'll listen to you as much as you want. But for now, pull yourself together. This is Yurihiko's birthday and he loves you too much not to notice and be affected by it if you're anything but happy" Asami said and both heard and felt the blonde inhale a deep breath, knowing that the raven was right. The alpha gave his lover a few seconds to pull himself together like told before he lifted his head to look at the older man. Instead of saying anything, the priest pushed himself up to the tips of his feet, pressing his lips against the crime-lord's who welcomed the gesture with more eagerness than previously. Much too soon for his liking, they separated again, looking at each other before Akihito averted his gaze.
"Thanks" he said before stepping away from the raven to straighten out his clothes as Asami reached into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes, shaking one out of it.
"Is an active imagination and ghosts genetically hereditary?" the raven asked, making the blonde tense up before looking up at him, meeting his gaze head-on. He placed the cigarette between his lips, lighting the end without looking away from his lover.
"Remember the deal we made when I agreed to let you meet Yurihiko? About not asking him anything about the things that confuse you? This is one of those questions" Akihito said firmly and Asami hummed as he narrowed his eyes slightly, exhaling the smoke from his lungs.
"I suspected as much. You did say that I would recognize them when I got them. But I do want an answer to them" he said and the blonde looked away.
"Not now" he said and Asami took enough with that, for now, allowing the blonde to escape the restrooms. Much to Asami's surprise, the door opened again, but this time for a different Takaba.
"Am I disturbing?" Yoshio asked and Asami regarded him coolly.
"It's the restroom" he answered as the man stepped further inside. Asami continued to smoke his cigarette as the older man went through the motions of urinating.
"Asami-san, may I ask you something?" Yoshio finally decided to break the silence as he walked over to the sink next to the crime-lord.
"I don't plan on staying away from Akihito and Yurihiko, if that's what you're going to ask" Asami said bluntly and the man shook his head.
"No, that wasn't what I was going to ask. I've long lost the privilege of having an opinion on who my son chooses to see. I think I lost that authority when he was thirteen and staying over at the houses of other women half of the time, including some of Hanako's colleagues, just to escape home" he said without looking up from the water running over his hands.
"I just… He seems to listen to you, to an extent. More than he listens to me, at least" he said and turned off the water to pull his hanky out of his pocket, using it to wipe his hands dry as Asami waited for the man to get to the point.
"I want to try and mend the bond between Akihito and his mother" Yoshio said as he stuffed his hanky back into his pocket, looking up at the crime-lord whose gaze turned cold at the suggestion.
"You don't have to count on my help for that" he said, flat-out refusing the photographer's request while narrowing his eyes.
"As I hear it, your wife abandoned her own son when he only needed her support and acceptance. She didn't, meaning that she was the one to fuck the bond between them, meaning that hse is also the one who should make the effort to mend it again. Not continue to talk down on Akihito and call both him and my son names" Asami said and held the man's gaze.
"If I ever hear her call my lover a whore and my son the son of a whore, I will wash her mouth with soap" he warned and Yoshio regarded him before sighed.
"I guess it was too much to ask, after all" he said, roughing up his short hair as he looked down.
"I won't ask again and I understand where you're coming from, but I still want to try to connect them again" Yoshio said and Asami moved his cigarette from between his lips.
"As is your right to try" he said and the older man lowered his hand with a huff, as if he wanted to reenergize himself again.
"Still, I'm glad you and Yurihiko are getting along so well and that Akihito has you to fall back on" he said and Asami merely gave a nod, watching once again as the second Takaba left the restroom, leaving him alone. For a second, he expected the third one to walk in but scoffed at himself as he pushed off from the sink, reaching into his pocket for his portable ashtray to put his cigarette butt in. Since he was in the restroom anyway, he relieved himself before turning to the sink again, but this time to wash his hands. He glanced up at the round mirror above the sink shortly, forced to do a double take when it seemed like there was someone standing behind his shoulder, in the gap of the open stall-door. Confused and feeling strangely on edge, he looked over his shoulder, frowning when he saw nothing.
"Ghosts. As if" he muttered to himself, looking back in front of him, directly at the mirror. His heart seemed to stop in his chest as he saw a reflection in the mirror that wasn't his own, his blood freezing in his veins even before he could realize what or who he was seeing. He stumbled back when the mirror cracked, half a second before it seemed to explode, small shards flying out towards him, hitting his chest harmlessly before falling to the ground. His cheek hadn't gotten so lucky, but it was barely a pin-prick of a cut, a tiny drop of blood pearling up at the edge of the small line that marred his cheek.
"W-what happened?" one of the workers asked as he peeked his head inside, likely having been close by enough to heard the mirror explode. Asami mindlessly died his hands, looking at the frame of the broken mirror where it had fallen on the sink counter.
"The mirror fell from the hook and shattered" the raven lied, not sure how to explain what had happened otherwise.
"Oh no! Did you get hurt? You're bleeding" the young man said and Asami waved it off, wiping away the blood from his cheek with his handkerchief.
"Just clean this up before any of the kids enter" he said, brushing past the young man to exit the restroom, unsure if he was able to believe what had happened. He was inclined to deny that it had, preferring to focus on his son and his birthday than on the throbbing in his back. However, when he looked in the mirror that night, wondering why the water had stung his back so much, he found three somewhat light scratch-marks on his shoulder-blade that hadn't been there and couldn't have been made by Akihito. The blonde hadn't even been able to touch his back when he was being fucked face-down into the mattress.
Thank you for reading!