Disclaimer: I don't own Fate/Grand Order or any other referenced material.

Chapter 2

Coming Home

It was not much of a surprise that the …incident made the news. Actually, "made the news" was a bit of understatement. It made national headlines.

"Abandoned infant set on fire in a trashcan, rescued by a local man" was practically all the news would talk about for the next month. It was one of those incidents that made the entire public froth in the mouth with rage, the kind of news that had the police kicked to high gear in search of the perpetrator and even had government officials make a statement or two about it.

However, Dhir was not aware of much of that. What he had in mind were the hospital reports, and the child's future.

Aditya's DNA test had come back, and was almost immediately sent to the police for examination. He was indeed a boy, a full-blooded Indian, with albinism, and no other obvious disorders – at least not genetic ones. According to the police, his DNA did not match anything in their databases, and there were no traces of DNA left on the crib either – if there were any, they were long since burned.

There were so many theories on who could have done this and why. Did a psychopath take him from his house? Did his parents abandon him? There were no missing persons reports that matched Aditya's description, and all people near the area knew nothing about it. Everyone claimed that they had not realized something was wrong or off that night until the fire. Nobody had come forward to claim the child as theirs either. Dhir was pretty sure the police had gone as far as to check various hospitals for any records matching him – he had no idea how legal that was – but apparently they found nothing.

The child had nobody to take care of him, and there were no suspects at all.

At the very least all the media attention had brought a good thing; most of the medical expenses were now covered by the government and donations, so at least he did not have to be troubled by that.

It also brought many offers to adopt him. Of course it did. So many homes that Dhir knew would be better for young Aditya, with parents more qualified to take care of him. Homes that could give him what he needed and what he deserved. He knew the right thing to do would be to give him elsewhere, but…

Dhanvin certainly treated the kid like his brother already.

"AAAARGH a monster look at my claws! Oh, what, you're flexing your claws too? Those tiny little things!? Hold up- HEY, let my hair go! Adi- ADI! Wha-LET GO! When did you get so- MY HAIR ISN'T FOOD!"

Wait, what?

"Dhanvin, did you open the incubator!? Aditya is still healing-"

"He looks fine to me! Come on, let go of my hair! What, no don't grab my finger- woah your hands are tiny – wait, why are you so strong!? Dad, he won't let go!"

Dhir could not help himself. He burst into laughter. "You're on your own, kid! That's just what babies do!"

"I'm not losing a fight to a baby!"

"What is going on over here!?" Oh no, the nurse. Her eyes fell on the red-haired boy halfway inside the incubator. "What are you doing!?"

"Trying to – DON'T PULL – get away!"

All the hot air blew out of her as she saw the infant – still mostly covered in salves and tubes, though not quite as much as before – "wrestling" with a boy four times his size and winning.

"…He can move around?"

"Not sure about moving, but he can sure grab" replied Dhir.

"… No mobility issues… Seems like we can cross fourth degree burns out, at least in his hands…"

Dhir had a smile so wide it almost did not fit his face. Even when the nurse had to wrestle down Aditya to let go of Dhanvin.

"You want to file for adoption papers?"

"Yes." Dhir felt like he should add something, but he had no idea how not to sound like a fool.

"I'm certain you realize, Mr. Kahtoon, we cannot simply hand over the baby to you…"

Of course it would not be simple…

Over the course of the next few days, he filled paper after paper. Everything from his occupation to family status to savings to his reasons for wanting to adopt… The more papers he filled the more disheartened he felt. He was just a widower running a gym in a poor neighborhood. There was no way he would be allowed to adopt the kid.

However, Aditya had captured his and Dhanvin's hearts. He had to try.

When Dhanvin got back home from the hospital that day, he saw literally the last person he ever wished to see.

"Oh…? So you're getting a little brother… How interesting…"

Dhanvin really, really hated that girl. Or maybe it was a guy. He had no idea, because the kid would always show up in "whatever" clothes and never even gave him her(?) name. For all he knew it could be some twins messing with him. The point was that this short purple-haired butthole would always show up out of freaking nowhere with that smug look that said "I know everything and you are trash" that SERIOUSLY pissed him off.

Some part of his mind wondered if he pissed off a god or three in a previous life because he had no idea what he had done to deserve having to deal with that brat. Purple butt just seemed to hate him from day one. It was SO annoying.

"What's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing… But you know there's no way they let your dad adopt him, right? You are poor, without a mom… how can you give him the love he deserves? Fufu… surely someone who's rich can love him better… that's what they all think, you know?"

Dhanvin saw red.

"SHUT YOU MOUTH! DON'T TALK SHIT ABOUT MY DAD! DAD SAVED HIM! WE BOTH DID! EVERYONE DID! THE WHOLE NEIGHBOR DID!"

The kid looked unimpressed. "But are you happy with him? You live in a rathole over a sweaty gym… and this place is SO full of trash, ugh…"

"So? We don't go diving in it, we clean it up. And just because it looks like trash doesn't mean it is! And we don't NEED to be rich, we got all we need!"

"Your father sleeps in a couch" was the deadpan reply.

Huh!? "How the hell do YOU know that!?"

The kid only laughed. They looked at him straight in the eye, and Dhanvin could only describe that look as evil. "Now that I think about it… that's why your little brother ended up in the trash, right? He looks like a freak, like a crumbled piece of scrap paper… Nobody needs that…"

He had ENOUGH.

The next thing he knew, that freak was on the ground, blood rushing from their nose. Somehow, they STILL looked smug. "Oh, did I hit a nerve?"

"You can't call other people freaks when you ARE one!"

That smug look was instantly wiped out. Dhanvin almost fell over in surprise. He had NEVER seen that butthole NOT act smug.

No. Now that Dhanvin looked in those red eyes all he could feel was cold. So cold that it almost burned.

Maybe, he messed with something that he should have never been messed with.

"So you think I'm a freak… Why?"

Why? Why!? Dhanvin suddenly was not so cold. "You LOOK like one – I mean yeah, I also look like one – but you ACT like one! You hate everyone and everything! You show up out of freaking NOWHERE all the time and keep saying shit about everyone for no reason! I bet that nobody likes you and nobody's friends with you! You keep saying crap about my family because yours doesn't love you!"

Kids are cruel. Kids are incredibly cruel. They want to hurt other kids with their words without ever realizing that they should not. And kids are honest. Their lies are transparent but their truths are solid and brutal, and they never question it. Those were Dhanvin's unfiltered thoughts, that he shouted in pure anger because that child hurt him and he wanted to hurt back.

Many times, those childish truths dig deep into a psyche.

The child got up and dusted off their clothes, face as neutral as possible.

"I hope you do get your brother. Then you'll see how right I am."

"You're wrong! You'll see!"

"Yeah, yeah…"

The kid gave a half-hearted wave and walked off, leaving Dhanvin fuming.

A couple of days later, Dhir got the shock of his life.

"We… we were approved?" How? Why? How was this even possible?

The representative from the adoption office looked just as puzzled as him, if not even more so. "It was decided that the child would be better off with a family that was already familiar with him and his needs. While indeed we got offers from many families, not everyone is qualified to handle special needs cases. And you are the ones who found him and taking care of him for the past month..."

"That was the hospital…"

It was almost astonishing how much progress Aditya made in the past month. His burns were far from healed, but he could move around easier now, he was "eating" baby formula just fine, cried like a normal kid – mostly from the pain but also when he was hungry. The burns had healed enough for normal bandages and diapers to be used, making him look like "a tiny mummy" according to Dhanvin. He tried to grab everything in front of him – especially if that something was a bright colour like Dhanvin's hair – and his eyes slowly cleared up to a beautiful blue like the sky.

His skin would never be normal – the healed parts looked a bit like aged leather, though like a strange pink, and some of his veins had turned dark – probably a side effect of the toxin poisoning that came from the plastic components. There were still fragments of foreign material in his body – the occasional dark-looking area on his limbs or the faint traces of the copper wires that had solidified under his skin – though the doctors assured him that copper rarely caused any kind of allergic reaction, though it may turn his skin green at times. Apparently the body would reject any remaining fragments over time – especially since all the damage was at skin level.

His breathing was also normal, and his eyesight was fine as far as anyone could tell – infants did not have the clearest eyesight.

The doctor that was also in the office smiled. "True, our efforts were crucial… but babies do need care and contact with their loved ones – something that you provided. And we all know how attached you are to each other."

This could not be real. Was this the blessing of some god?

"Wh-when can we take him home?"

"It'll be a few weeks until we finalize the papers, and we have to continue monitoring him to ensure there are no complications. In the meantime, I suggest you make some room for him."

"We will."

In a daze, Dhir left the room. Outside, Dhanvin was almost running up and down the corridor, too impatient to stay in his seat.

"Hey, son."

"Yo dad, how did it go?"

"How do you feel about sharing your room?"

The boy froze in place. "Really?"

"Really."

"YEAAAAAAAAAAH!"

It was a miracle.

Author Notes: When I first thought about the premise of this fic, I certainly did not imagine Kama in it - let alone serving as a Deus Ex Machina. Maybe. But here is Kama, who is surprisingly fun to write, and poor Ashwatthama can't deal. Yet. I'm actually glada I put Kama in this, I have a feeling "he/she" and Ash are going to have an interesting dynamic.

My writing feels a bit awkward right now, but I hope you enjoy!