The day they got the call, Nanako couldn't stop crying.

The day he walked out of the hospital, Nanako couldn't stop crying.

That night, when he lay in his room in the Dojima residence, he couldn't stop crying. Nanako came upstairs to console him. And then, soon after... Dojima came to console them both. All three of them couldn't stop crying.

They woke up the next morning passed out awkwardly on Souji's bedroom floor, dried tears and snot staining all their faces. Every morning he woke up, he expected to be in Hamasaki's house. He expected to go to the hospital every Tuesday and Thursday evenings. He expected to stare at his uncle in a hospital bed, helpless and hopeless. He expected to understand once again how his uncle must have felt when Souji went through all of his traumatic hospital stays.

But, his expectations were always dashed. He woke up to the smell of coffee and toast and eggs. He woke up to Nanako knocking on the door, proudly cheering that breakfast was ready. He woke up to go downstairs and see his uncle and niece at the table, waiting for him.

"I set your plate for you," Dojima said every morning, gesturing to the seat beside Nanako's while he looked at the morning news.

"I helped!" Nanako would claim proudly.

"I know you did." He would smile and take a seat.

He expected to wake up from this dream. After everything they went through, there was no way everything was just... back to some form of normalcy. But... it wasn't a dream. He pinched himself at least once every day. He got Chie to pinch him, too. She was starting to pinch his cheeks now. It was his nose next time, she threatened.

Yet, even still, he expected to wake up one morning and have it all be gone...

He rubbed his eyes where he sat at his desk. He'd re-read this paragraph in his book three times but wasn't retaining any of the words. Maybe it was time to go to bed... What time even was it? He pushed himself out of the chair, yawning, and ready to fall asleep to the lull of the rain outside. He squinted at the clock ticking on the wall.

It was close to midnight.

A chill ran up his spine, and he stood frozen in place. The only thing that turned was his head, looking to stare at the small TV in his room that was turned off. He could see his reflection in the screen, see how pale he got as the clock tick tock'ed.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

It felt like hours as he waited for something to happen on the TV. He waited for the static, waited for the visions, waited for anything. He stepped forward and around the table, shakily touching a hand out to the screen. All he saw... was the reflection of himself. All he felt... was the cold glass touching his skin. He stayed like that for a long moment, before, slowly, he looked back at the clock.

12:03.

He let out a shaky breath, clenching his hands at his side. A tear rolled down his face.

It... was over.

It was actually over.

When he finally crawled into bed, he didn't expect to wake up and have it all be gone. He knew where he was. He knew everything was here. Everything was where it was supposed to be...

He finally slept peacefully...

Nanako was kicking him excitedly under the kotatsu. "It's on soon, Big Bro!" Her eyes gleamed with excitement, her tiny fists slamming onto the table.

"I know, I know," he laughed, playfully nudging her back with his foot. "You're gonna give me a bruise if you keep that up."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened with shock and guilt, her kicking stopped. "I'm sorry, Big Bro! I won't do it again... Don't be mad..."

He smiled and leaned over to ruffle her hair. "I'm not mad, don't worry."

She seemed unconvinced, before the jingle to her new obsession started, and her guilt of kicking him was immediately forgotten. Souji took a sip of his hot chocolate as the theme song to the show ended, and a familiar character bounced on screen.

"Hey, everybody, and welcome back to the Teddie Corner!"

"-Teddie Corner!" Nanako raised her hands in excitement, before she turned to look at Souji. "Who do you think will be on today?!"

"Shh. We'll see soon."

"Mmhmm!" She turned back, giddy in her seat.

The television show had a gorgeous set, filled with lush greenery, foliage, waterfalls, and the works. In some areas, there were places that looked straight out of the history books. Others were more modern cities.

Today's episode looked like it featured a laboratory of some kind. Teddie was walking around it with a man, who was slouching and had sad eyes. Teddie's squeaky shoes echoed through the lab.

"So, what kinda stuff did you do here, Mr. Takeba?"

"Oh, uh, well, you see-"

"Ooh. Was it science? I bet it was science!"

"Well, yes, but-"

There was a knock on the wall, and Souji looked up to see Dojima. Nanako didn't even look away from the TV.

"Souji, come with me a moment," his uncle motioned to follow him. He slid out from under the kotatsu, leaving Nanako to the show, and followed Dojima upstairs. The man looked between his room and Souji's room before opting to head into Souji's room, sitting on the couch and patting the cushion next to him.

When Souji sat down next to his uncle, he could see his uncle was tense and nervous. Was something wrong?

Dojima laughed shortly, "Well, I wanted to do this when everyone was paying attention, but nobody can take Nanako away from that show, huh?"

Souji smiled, "Sure can't."

Dojima shook his head in amusement, before the smile fell. He looked down at the floor, bouncing one of his legs. His brow furrowed in thought, as if he were trying to figure out the words.

Souji felt unease grow in the pit of his stomach, "Uncle? Is everything all right?"

Dojima jumped, as if he forgot Souji was there. He looked away briefly, coughing lightly and brushing something out of his eye. "It's—it's fine. Everything's fine."

The unease didn't leave. "Uncle..." He was scared. Was something going to happen? Was Souji going to go back to the city? Where would he live?

"Souji, please, don't give me that look. I—I promise, it's not..." Dojima took a deep breath, steeling himself. "Souji, I... Heh, maybe I should have made a speech or something first... This is not going how I wanted it to."

He looked up to the ceiling, wiping another tear out of his eye. Souji still couldn't help but be concerned. Was it something to do with him not going to school? He just... couldn't. He tried, but... Sure, Dojima said it was okay he be homeschooled now, but... was it really? Was he going back to school? He wouldn't be able to handle it...

Well... if it was good, did Dojima find another job? He wasn't able to go back on the force, and he hated his current job... but that wouldn't make him so emotional, would it? He wasn't that emotional when he found the current job, and he... was not fit to go back on the force, so what kind of job could make him so emotional?

Dojima suddenly jumped from the couch. "I forgot something. Don't move, okay?"

"Huh? I—uh—" He barely managed to stammer that out before Dojima left the room.

Well, if it was a new job, did it involve moving? That could be something Dojima could get emotional over. He bought this house with his wife, right? There were a lot of memories attached to this place. Wouldn't he be more sad than happy about that, though? What was the news? He had no idea!

He watched his uncle's every move when he came back into the room. He had a photograph in his hands now, holding it so Souji could only see the back of it. Dojima sat down next to him, taking another big, deep, breath. He looked down fondly at the photograph in his hands.

"I found this the other day. Kept meaning to show it to you, but it kept slipping my mind." He lifted the photograph and delicately passed it over. "Here, take a look."

Souji took it carefully and flipped it over. His heart... hurt in a way he couldn't describe. In the photo was a younger looking Dojima on a couch, sleeping while sitting up. On either side of him, sleeping on his side or his leg, was a very young Souji and... a very young Yu. The three of them were sleeping peacefully, not a care in the world. They were absolutely content.

"I saw that and I... I just started crying, y'know?" He looked up at his uncle, who was fighting back tears. "I just thought of all the shit you kids went through... Yu had so much life to live and... it was taken away so soon... and then you... God, I was beside myself the entire goddamn time. When we found you on that telephone pole, I... I didn't know what to do. So much... death... between you kids and Chisato, I..."

He couldn't hold back the sob that came out of his throat. Souji looked down at the picture again as he talked, trying to figure out which one was Yu. Dojima seemed to figure out what he was doing and pointed to the boy sleeping on his knee. "That one's Yu," he explained, before tapping the image of Souji. "And you liked sleeping where you could hear someone's heartbeat. It soothed you, I guess."

"Did it...?"

"Well, we assumed it did, anyway, seeing how often you did it," Dojima laughed again, before it died down as he looked back at his lap. "God, I'm such an idiot... I was trying to say something... and then I... I brought up the terrible shit..."

Souji looked up from the photo, feeling guilty. "It's okay, Uncle..."

He noticed Dojima tense. "Look, I... I know I'm not..." He coughed into his hand, avoiding eye contact. "I know I'm not your dad... I didn't... I didn't raise you, but..."

Souji watched and waited, Dojima fidgeting with the loose fabric around his knees, or rubbing the back of his neck. This was so unlike him. It was worrying.

The man continued. "I know I'm not your father, but... with everything that happened... with... um... with Nanako calling you 'Big Bro'... how... how would you feel if... if I called you my son and... you called me your dad? I-I mean we still got a whole lot of shit to deal with and... you're still recovering and... I'm still recovering but, but if you'd like... you can stay. As long as you like. Or—or not. You can leave, if you want, I don't want to pressure you or anything..."

Souji stopped processing Dojima's words past this point. Call him... dad? Call Dojima 'dad'? He blinked slowly, trying to register that into his head. Dojima saw him as... his son? Dojima wanted him to call him... dad? He... saw him as his son? He... saw him as his son.

"Souji? Are you okay? I took it too far, didn't I? You don't have to call me—look, just... just forget I said anything—I knew it was weird, I'm so—"

He interrupted Dojima by hugging him, burying his face into his unc—Dojima's shoulder. Tears were streaming down his face, soaking into the fabric. Dojima returned the hug, but his voice was solemn as he spoke, "I'm... I'm sorry, Souji. I didn't mean to upset you..."

Souji shook his head, burying his head as far as he could into Dojima's shoulder. He still had so much work to do. So much to improve himself on, to get better at again. He was a mess, a wreck of a human being, and yet, Dojima still wanted to take care of him. To... adopt him into his own little family. He never thought any of this would happen when he came to stay at Inaba for a year, but... maybe... maybe it would get better. In time, maybe, his nightmares would stop. He would remember how to focus... Maybe he could remember how to be human.

He could remember he had a home to come back to.

He could remember he was worthy of love.

"Thank you... Dad..."


I hope everyone had a happy holiday! I hope your 2021 will be better than this hell of a year. (im currently waiting for the results of a test for the 2020 hell virus myself lol here's hoping its all good).

Thanks for sticking by this story all these years. Fun fact, it was supposed to be 10 chapters originally then it just spiraled! I hope you enjoyed the journey nonetheless, and thanks for your everlasting patience. Love you all! 3