A/N: I am alive! This is the first (technically second) thing I've written/finished in almost four months (was on writing hiatus 'cause Life(TM) and accidentally burnt myself out writing 200k+ in two years, lol)! Woo! So, please be gentle! lol.
This is actually the first installment of an AU series for this fandom, each subsequent fic highlighting a way Rei's life gets better after moving in with the Kawamotos, dealing with a different aspect of/relationship in his life that needs attention/care/healing (if not outright cutting off)! I already have around five or so installments planned, so buckle up 'cause Rei and others are going to get their healing on! lol. Though due to how FFN is set up (no series function like on AO3), not sure how that'll work But I'm gonna try anyway, and anyone who wants to read the series as it should be read is welcome to check it out on AO3 instead! Here's a link: / works/ 42633099 (Can also use Google to find me or the series there if links are bothersome - my user there is Shizuku749! :D)
Rei recognizes the hollow, lead-heavy feeling the moment he wakes.
It's the same every year.
He drapes an arm over his eyes, needing to block out the too-bright morning sun, the too-gentle breeze from the cracked balcony door, his too-empty apartment. His body, his breath, his heartbeat. Everything. Just for a little while.
He should be used to it by now, he thinks, but somehow, it manages to sneak up on him every time.
Today is the anniversary of the worst day of his life.
The day he came home from a school trip to find his parents and little sister dead and gone, taken from him when he should have been with them. Left behind, all alone in the world at just seven years old, set adrift as his anchor was torn from his grasp without warning, never to return.
Rei purses stubborn, trembling lips against tears, but they come anyway. He doesn't have the energy to try to stop them. He never does on this day. He just lets them come, soak his sleeve and stream down his cheeks to slide down his neck and drip off his chin. It's even more uncomfortable than usual lying down like this, moist warmth soaking his pillow, but it's fine.
It's what he deserves.
He only contemplates reining himself in when his alarm goes off a second time. If he doesn't get up now, he'll be late… For a long moment, he hesitates, not sure what to do.
Chairman Jinguuji is a kind, good man, and he knows what day it is. He knows how today affects Rei, always lets him decide whether he needs space or the distraction of shogi to help him cope. If he doesn't show up, the Chairman will know why and won't question it, and he knows none of the others will either, not even (or especially) Nikaidou. They all know what today is for him.
His shogi-mates treat him as normally as they can on this day every year, just…gentler. And while Rei would usually protest that sort of thing, on this day only, he appreciates it like nothing else. He's always lost in a fog of memories and old pain that leaves him achy and pale and slow, like he's moving underwater in all the ways that matter. He's not exaggerating when he says it feels like he's drowning. Which, to be fair, isn't a feeling he's unfamiliar with. He's battled it just about every day since his family died.
It's just...different on this day. Darker, heavier, even more suffocating. He has even less energy, barely speaks even when spoken to, hardly eats, goes through the motions even more than on his usual bad days. The only thing he's ever been able to focus on on this day is shogi, and that's only because it reminds him of his Dad. The reminder is painful, heartrendingly so, but it also makes him feel just a bit more grounded, a bit more aware, than anything else.
And on this day, that's all he needs.
Besides…if he goes to the Shogi Hall, at least he knows he'll be going somewhere safe, in more than just the physical sense. Nikaidou, Mr. Shimada, Issa, Smith, Mr. Yanagihara, the Chairman…all good, kind people he knows will be there and won't let anything happen to him while he's hollowed out and bled dry.
And at least if he goes there, he won't be alone…
He takes a slow, deep breath.
Staying in his apartment this time doesn't seem like a good idea. Already, even just lying here like this, it feels like the walls are closing in. The light sneaking in from beneath the curtain is blinding, the clock and air conditioner are too loud, all the color's faded to gray. It feels like his world has turned upside down. He knows this feeling well, but it's more pronounced now than the other days it assaults him.
Memories he'd rather keep locked away, that he tries and fails to outrun every year, nip at his heels as he gets ready.
His family's cold, lifeless hands in his, the stifling loneliness that cast a pitch-black shadow over his life.
The shock, pain, and terror he felt when Kyouko slapped him for beating her at shogi, only to come after him again with her fists later.
"You don't have a home, you don't have a family, and you don't go to school. You don't have any friends either. You don't belong anywhere. There's no place for you, is there?"
He steps out into the morning sun, but he just feels colder.
He makes it to the Shogi Hall without incident.
Every step feels like he's trudging through water as thick as sludge. He barely notices the people around him. He's moving purely on autopilot.
He's definitely late, but all things considered, it's not by very much. Stumbling slightly out of his shoes, Smith and Issa pass him on their way back from the vending machine. They smile at him, warm and kind, greeting him, he's pretty sure, but Rei can only just barely make it out, their voices muffled like there's cotton in his ears. He answers with a tiny bow, all he can manage right now, and as he passes, Smith gently cards his fingers through his hair, Issa squeezing his shoulder more carefully than he normally would.
Not five seconds later, Mr. Shimada and Nikaidou are moving toward the viewing room down the hall when they spot him, and they soften and brighten, respectively. Their greetings are clearer than Issa and Smith's, but not by much. Nikaidou reaches forward to take Rei's hand in both of his, his grip softer than usual, his smile and eyes sunny and encouraging, and Mr. Shimada fixes Rei's flipped collar and smooths the wrinkles in his shirt.
And Rei…Rei wants to slap himself. He wants to shake himself by the shoulders and yell to snap out of it. He hates that he's so weak. He hates that he's such a burden. These people are good to him, always have been, and even though he messes up and has a hard time expressing it, he appreciates that more than he can say and does his best not to take them for granted. Even when Nikaidou's being overbearing and verbally slapping sense into him, Issa and Smith lecture him when Nikaidou's efforts go over his head, and Mr. Shimada sighs heavily and explains why he can't just have his nose buried in shogi notes while he walks through a busy city…Rei is still so damn grateful for them.
So many people in his life have treated him poorly, even or especially his own foster family, but not them. Never them. They don't shy away from him. They don't toss him aside like garbage when he loses a match, don't call him names, ridicule him, or beat him up, don't give up on him.
They stay.
And that's…it means everything to him.
He wishes today didn't affect him so much. He wishes it didn't incapacitate him like this. He wishes he was better than this. He feels he should be better after so long. It's been almost twelve years, damn it…!
And yet, he knows they don't see it that way. They don't see him that way. All they see when they look at him on this day, however impossible it may seem to Rei himself, is a friend in need, one they're going to help in any way they can. He wishes he could offer the same, but…he doesn't know how. He's never been any good with people…
PUSH!
Four warm, strong hands give him a gentle push toward his match room. Rei looks back to see his friends smiling at him, their mouths moving with well-wishes. His eyes widen, and he feels a lump form in his throat, heat flare behind his eyes.
They're so bright, so warm. They're the best. He doesn't deserve them, not at all.
As he bows his head low and heads off to his match room, he thanks everything for them anyway.
He bows to the match overseers on his way inside, and they bow back without a word. They don't call him out for being late. The Chairman most likely warned them without getting specific, and Rei appreciates it like nothing else.
For once, it seems that luck might just be on his side. His opponent is running late, too. Eijirou Tanaka, 6th-Dan. Rei doesn't know him personally, but he's heard he's a rather aggressive player, so he's sure their match will be interesting. He wishes he'd remember it afterward, but he knows better than to hope for the impossible.
About thirty seconds later, Mr. Tanaka spills through the door with what's probably an apology, but Rei can't hear anything anymore.
He's slipped further down, deeper under the water.
In the end, Rei wins his match.
He still doesn't really know how. He was lost in memories the whole time, could barely even see the board through the haze. He saw Mr. Tanaka's mouth move here and there, but he never actually heard or replied to a word he said. He feels a little bad about that, especially since he was raised to be respectful of his elders, but Mr. Tanaka didn't seem to mind. He probably just thought he was focusing on the game, and any shogi player worth his salt would understand that and take it as a sign of respect. Thank goodness...
Their match took up most of the day, and by the time Rei stumbles, dead-legged, out of the Shogi Hall, it's sunset, nearing dusk.
"Good evening, Rei!"
"Hi, Rei!"
"Rei-Rei!"
Rei stops dead.
He looks up to find the three Kawamoto girls standing just inside the Shogi Hall's hedges, and with them, he finds light and color and warmth. It's like his world's been switched back on all at once.
Those three dearest voices are the first and only he's heard loud and clear all day—a first for this day. This has…never happened before...! Not even father with his weighted (conditional) praise or Kyouko with her words like knives and fists like steel have ever managed to get through to him on this day.
And yet…
His body takes a half-step toward them without his say, and he nearly trips in shock at the feeling. It's…light, not heavy at all. It doesn't feel like he's…wading through quicksand, and when he looks around…the fog is clearing. It's still there, and he expects it to stick around no matter what, but… This is all new. This is the stuff of his dreams, an anomaly he thought impossible.
Wide eyes rush back to them. How are they doing this? They must know what today—!
There! On Akari's face! Hina's, too! Empathy, the kind only someone who's lost immediate family could possibly feel, written plain as day on their faces and pooling in their eyes, gentling their smiles.
"Come home with us, Rei," Akari says, holding out a hand, and though her voice is as soft and kind as always, Rei can tell it's more of a plea than an offer. She could never leave him alone, not today. Not unless he asked.
"We don't want you to be alone today, Rei!" Hina bolsters, holding out a hand, too. Unless you need to be, Rei supplies in the empty space after, knowing that's what she's thinking. If he really did need to be alone today, she'd let him. They all would. But after around a year-and-a-half of knowing each other (hell, since shortly after meeting him period), they've gotten scary good at reading him, like he's a book they're determined to read cover to cover. He's still not sure how they do it, and part of him isn't sure he wants to find out.
Momo, always one for physical contact, races to close the distance between them. His hands automatically move to steady her as she steps up on his shoes to curl tiny fists in his pant legs and tug on him the way she always does when she wants something, peering up at him with bright, piercing green eyes and an even starrier smile. "Yeah, Rei! Momo wants to sit on your lap while we eat!"
Rei stares at her for a long moment, then Akari and Hina after that. He can feel the warmth of the setting sun on his back, his shirt billowing in the breeze. He feels his lungs expand as they fill with air, his heartbeat a steady rhythm in his chest.
It's the first time he's truly felt anything (that doesn't cause him pain) all day.
Rei doesn't believe in signs, but he doesn't believe in coincidences either. He believes in what he knows to be true, even if that ends up being turned on its head somewhere down the line.
And if there's one thing he knows in this world as an unshakeable truth, one thing he couldn't deny even if his life depended on it, it's the way his heart wants when he's with them. Even if it makes him feel guilty, even if it makes him second-guess himself and worry that he's imposing, even if it makes him consider distancing himself like all the times before…
In the end, he can't help it, the way he gently maneuvers Momo off his shoes to the walk beside him so they can rejoin her sisters, the way his heart breaks and beats something fierce when he sees the depth of their empathy for him, the way the warmth of all three sisters' hands in his instantly throws his fragile heart into overdrive with all he's lost and gained.
And most importantly, the way he takes a breath, nearly choking because it's deeper than any he's been able to take all day, and manages in a voice that's raspy and cracked from disuse and that morning's tears, but real in all the ways that count:
"O-okay."
Just like she said she would, Momo sits in his lap at dinner.
Rei barely touches his food. He just doesn't have the stomach for it. Luckily, the girls planned for that and don't seem to mind in the least. Knowing Akari, she'll just send it home with him later.
Momo is humming to herself, a happy little tune Rei doesn't recognize that she must have picked up at daycare, bouncing along to a rhythm only she can hear. She's gotten better at using her little training chopsticks, cute half-blue and half-pink ones with Bodoro's face molded on top, making a game out of how many yummy things she can eat before she gets too full.
And just like that, out of nowhere, Rei's remembering a very different dinner. A lot of them, actually. Seven whole years' worth.
Chihiro used to sit in his lap like this all the time. It was a little awkward since he was a lot smaller then, not too much bigger than her, really, but they made it work. Dad always laughed at their antics, reaching to rest a hand on Mom's because she'd always fret about how impractical it was, reassuring her that they wouldn't do it when company was over, that it was cute and sweet and just for fun.
The sensation hits him all at once, and Rei can't honestly say he's surprised when warm tears start to fall. Just a few at first, and they mostly splatter on his jacket and Momo's thick hair, but more and more keep coming, and it's only seconds before Momo looks up.
When she sees him crying, she gasps, empathetic tears filling her eyes. "What's wrong, Rei? Why are you crying?"
Even if Rei could speak around the painful lump in his throat, he wouldn't know how to put what he's feeling into words. His shoulders tremble in earnest, and tiny sobs escape no matter how hard he fights to keep them back. He buries his face in Momo's hair, curling gentle fists in her clothes as he holds her as close as he dares.
The girls and Grandpa wrap their arms around him from all sides.
It's so warm…
It just makes him cry harder.
Once Rei's calmed down enough to head home, exhausted and drained after his breakdown at dinner, he pauses with his hand on the entryway door. He tells himself to just open the door, get it over with already, but...he can't get his hand to move. He can't move anything at all. It's like he's frozen in time.
"I don't want to leave."
A heartbeat.
"I never want to leave this house, this warmth."
Another.
"Whenever I'm here, I always feel so warm and welcomed, so at peace. It's comfortable. It feels…so right. This house is like…a warm kotatsu. I'm afraid I'll never be able to leave again. That's why I always think I should stay away for a while… But here I am again."
In his head, Rei's insides have turned to ice. What is he saying?! Why is his mouth moving without his permission?! He didn't mean to say that! He may have been thinking it – it's what he always thinks when he's about to leave this house, it's like a mantra on repeat in his head, playing in time with the beat of his heart – but he's never meant for any of them to hear it! What kind of selfish, ungrateful brat is he?! This isn't how his parents raised him! They'd be so embarrassed and ashamed! But how can he take something like that back? Can he take it back? Would that be even more of a slight than what he just said? It's not like he didn't mean it! What's he supposed to do now?!
Meanwhile, the Kawamotos are all in shock. They never expected this, that Rei would be so honest about his feelings like this. They can only imagine it's the toll today is taking on him, making him voice desires he normally would keep locked up tight (as much as they wish he wouldn't).
Hina, in particular, can't tear her eyes away. Rei looks so small and sad and broken standing in their doorway, and he's about to go out into the cold, dark night to walk back to his empty apartment all alone, where there's no one to leave lights on or wait up for him or welcome him home with a warm smile. The thought, as always, makes tears sting her eyes.
She grits her teeth, clenches her fists. No! Not anymore! Never again if she has anything to say about it! This is Rei they're talking about! He's family!
A well of emotions so strong and so full she can't even name them all surges to life inside her like a geyser, and she can't stop herself from bursting—
"Come move in with us!" Rei's eyes blow open wide. All the breath in his lungs leaves him in a rush. "Let's live together!"
Akari and Grandpa are just as caught off guard as Rei, snapping to look at Hina with wide eyes and gaping mouths. But a moment later, Akari smothers a giggle behind her hand, and Grandpa shakes his head, an amused smile on his face.
"She's not wrong, you know," Akari tells Rei. "We've actually discussed it a thousand times. We just didn't want to offer unless we knew for sure the feeling was mutual." The sheer love in her expression is enough to make Rei's cheeks color and heart skip a beat. "But it looks like we just got our answer."
"It'd be good for you to have people to come home to again," Grandpa agrees. It goes without saying, just from what little he's been told without meeting them himself, that Rei's foster family doesn't count. He rolls his shoulder. "It'd help me out, too, knowing there's another man around to keep an eye on things."
Rei stares at them all like he can't believe what he's hearing, feeling like he's stepped into some kind of alternate world where nothing makes sense. This can't really be happening, can it? Maybe he fell asleep at the Shogi Hall, and he's dreaming right now. Maybe he wasn't paying attention and got hit by a truck like Mr. Shimada is always worrying about. That's the only explanation, right? It can't actually… He can't be that lucky…
Can he?
It's only when Momo absolutely squeals with delight and bounds over to throw her arms around his legs in the tightest hug she's ever given him that he even dares to hope. He feels her precious warmth through his clothes, hears her excited cheers loud and clear. Those can't be anything but real.
He keeps tight hold of his heart, though, just in case. He can't let it leap like it so dearly wants. Not yet. (Maybe never.)
"B-but I…"
"So that's the next home, huh? I bet you put on the whole 'woe is me' act for 'em. Trying to screw up another family?"
Kyouko's words play in his head, forever mocking him. The hurt and anger he felt that day come swirling back, but also…the intense fear that she's right. After all, like she's never been afraid to point out, his birth family's gone, and he tore his foster family apart just by existing. Who's to say he won't destroy the Kawamoto family, too? He hasn't yet in the year-and-a-half or so he's known them, but…there's a difference between living together and spending time together like they do now. A big difference.
What if…he accepts, and things go wrong? What if they end up hating him like Kyouko and Ayumu (and he knows, in many ways, his foster mother)? There's a reason he's lived alone ever since leaving the Kouda house, after all. (Everyone he lives with, everyone he loves, always seems to suffer in some way.)
And more than that, if…if he accepts their offer like he desperately wants to…won't he just be running away again? Just like he ran from his aunt's orphanage threat to the Koudas, from the Koudas to his lonely apartment, and now, from his lonely apartment to this house…this family…
"Don't you dare!"
Rei snaps up at Hina's stubborn shout, her brown eyes alight with fire. "I know that look, Rei! Something mean your foster sister said is making you doubt yourself, isn't it?" She sneers at Kyouko's mention, something hateful that Rei's only ever seen when referencing her and Chiho's bullies muddying her expression. Rei opens his mouth to defend Kyouko on reflex, but she doesn't give him the chance. Of course not. "I don't know what she said, and I don't care! Forget it! She doesn't deserve you anyway!"
She's so bright. He wants to look away from her vibrant intensity, but he can't. His hands shake at his sides, and he clenches them into white-knuckled fists until they crack, lips pressing into a thin line. "I already impose on your family enough, Hina. I've been barely more than a burden since the day we met. You know some of what happened with my foster family, how I ruined their lives. I can't—I won't do that to all of you. I can't let anyone else suffer because of me. Least of all you."
And yet, for all of that, for all that he means it more than anything, Rei still can't ignore the painful yearning in his chest, the absolute truth he's killing himself to temper. It's better this way…
"It is not better!" Hina shakes her head vehemently, and Rei's heart freezes in his chest. Did he say that out loud? She lurches forward to take up one of his fists in her small, soft hands that only ever want to heal instead of hurt. "It's not imposing if we want you here just as much! You're not a burden if we want to take care of you!" Rei's eyes widen. Hina just squeezes his hand. "Did you ever feel like your parents and little sister were burdens? When Chihiro wanted to spend time with you, did you feel like she was imposing? Of course not!"
Rei feels like the wind's been knocked out of him. He's never…thought about it like that before…! It's been so long since he's thought back to that, how it felt to take care of Chihiro and his parents... It's painful (it's always extra painful on this day), but when he really thinks about it, it really does remind him of how he's always felt picking Momo up from daycare, helping Akari run errands, being there for Hina with her bullies, helping Grandpa at the sweets shop, and so many other times. In every instance, he wanted to be there, wanted to spend time and do those things, to help in any way he could. It always felt like what he was meant to do, like being there with them was where he belonged…
His chin wobbles with emotion, but he stubbornly forces it back. Not yet… He doesn't know yet if... Does that mean…? Could they really…?
"That's how it is for us, too! That's what families, good ones, do, Rei, and you're family! You have been for a long time!" She takes a deep breath in through her nose and looks him dead in the eyes. "It's not running away if it's what you need, if it makes you happy! Especially not if it makes us happy, too!" Rei feels like she's just sucker-punched him in the gut, and he's not surprised at all when his eyes shine with unshed tears. Hina squeezes his hand a little tighter. "So, if you want to say yes, you can! We give you permission to be happy!"
Akari takes his other fist and meticulously uncurls his aching fingers with a warm, gentle smile. Proud eyes slide from Hina to soften on Rei. "We only want you with us if you want it, Rei. We'd never want to pressure you," she reassures. A tiny laugh escapes. "But I was serious when I said we'd discussed this before, more times than I can count. It's even kept us up a few times because we got excited figuring out everything. So, if you want to live with us, we'd love to have you." She melts. "We love you so much, Rei."
Grandpa nods and reaches out to ruffle Rei's hair tenderly. "Frankly, kid, you're the grandson I never had. You've been nothing short of a blessing for this family. I want you to be happy," the empathy in his eyes steals Rei's breath, "and I know for a fact your parents and little sister would, too."
Momo squeezes Rei's legs tighter, nuzzling into his thigh with another eager trill. "Rei can be Momo's big brother for real!"
Rei can't do anything but stand there and stare at them, throat painfully tight. A tear or two slips past his defenses.
Being wanted isn't…something he's used to. It's practically foreign to him. He hasn't known that feeling in all its warm glory since he was seven years old (and even then, in some ways, compared to this, he thinks even that wasn't quite right). And yet, this family he's found, these girls and their grandfather…they're all looking at him like…there's no one else they'd want more in the entire world.
He looks back at Hina, remembers how she lit up when she asked him to live with them minutes ago, remembers a similar moment just months into their friendship when she asked him to come over for dinner, and he can't help but think about how far they've all come in what feels like such a short amount of time.
Because before, he wouldn't have even considered taking them up on this offer. Would have thought he was too much trouble, too much of a risk. That there was no way they'd really want him, that anyone could ever want him.
But now…
Slowly, tentatively, he eases the vice grip on his heart, and he could never hope to deny the way it beats like it's going to fly out of his chest, sending out waves of excitement and joy and so much relief, it makes him dizzy. Seems his absolute truth still rings true.
He takes a breath.
"W-what…what would we do about the…" his face reddens, "…the bath situation?"
Hina's heart leaps like a pole vaulter, but she does her best to tamp it down. That's not a 'yes' yet, but…!
Akari tilts her head with a hum. "You're right, that is a concern," an easygoing smile paints her lips a second later, "but nothing we haven't discussed before! We'll just adjust our bath routine to your schedule, Rei! It's no big deal, and we've actually been wanting to switch it up anyway, so this is the perfect opportunity!"
Rei squeaks. "A-are you sure? I don't want to make things awkward…"
Hina nods, a few times. "As long as we communicate and time it right, it'll be fine! No worries!"
Rei hesitates before nodding. "A-all right. Then, um…where would I sleep? I don't want to be in the way or make anyone give up their room."
Hina doesn't even have to think. "You can have the guest room you slept in while you were sick! The one with the cute stickers on the dresser drawers, remember?"
Rei's eyes widen, a rush of warmth enveloping him despite the chill outside. Of course he remembers! Those stickers are just like the ones he and Chihiro put on Mom's dresser all those years ago. That's the memory he dreamed about the first night he slept here.
All of a sudden, he swears he's being wrapped in a gentle embrace from both sides, and there's a third smaller patch of warmth around his middle beside Momo. It only lasts for a split second, and it could very well have been his imagination, but once it's gone, Rei feels a few more tears escape and the girls and Grandpa's warmth stronger than ever.
He doesn't hesitate. "I love that room. That's perfect." Wiping his tears on his jacket, he squeezes the girls' hands, feeling better and braver than he has all day. Hell, in years. "I don't…want to live here without contributing. I probably make a lot more at shogi than you think, and I have quite a bit in my savings, especially for someone my age. If I'm not going to be putting that money toward my apartment anymore, I'd like to use it for you. So, if I do this, you have to let me help pay for groceries from now on, Akari, and I'd like to pay rent and help with the bills, too."
The Kawamotos are shocked for but a moment before they burst out laughing, helpless smiles on their faces. "We always figured you'd say something like that," Akari admits, resting her cheek in her hand.
Grandpa nods. "Yep! Always knew you were a man of principle!" He grins widely and reaches forward to squeeze Rei's shoulder. "You're a good kid. But it's getting late, so we can figure out a budget later. We don't want you going broke, after all. You're young, and you need to keep those savings growing."
Rei blinks, but then flushes with a nod. Maybe he got a little ahead of himself. He hasn't even given them an answer yet…
"You know, Rei, you don't have to decide right away," Akari reminds him gently, as if sensing his nerves. "Take your time, and really make sure it's what you want."
"You can tell us whenever you're ready!" Hina says, earnest fists curled at half-mast. "And whatever you decide, we'll support you, just like always!"
Grandpa nods resolutely, arms crossed over his chest. "That's right!" He breaks out into a proud grin, winking Rei's way. "You're our kid, after all!"
Momo finally pulls away from him long enough to meet his eyes and nod so quickly that her hair can't keep up. "Momo loves big brother Rei no matter what!"
Rei appreciates it—their offer, their consideration, their reassurance. Absolutely everything.
But really, after all this, he doesn't even have to think. He takes a deep breath, and it just comes pouring out of him like water from a spring, the soft, joyful smile that comes to his face through his still-drying tears like the first beam of sunlight after a string of stormy days.
"If you're really sure about this, then," he bows as low as he can, "please let me live with you!"
They can't hug him quickly enough, all of them ending up in a smiling, laughing heap right there on the floor.
Rei wouldn't have it any other way. He just pulls them closer, feeling warmer and more alive than he has in he can't remember how many years.
The next day is a hurricane.
Hurricane Kawamoto, that is.
The girls and Grandpa clear out and set up the guest room upstairs for Rei. It's a small space, but he doesn't mind. As long as it'll be quiet when he needs to study, he'll be fine. He's never needed much.
Once Rei gets home from shogi that afternoon, he's swept off to his apartment to grab his things, tell his landlord, pay his last month's rent, and before he knows it, he's back in their warm kotatsu.
That, from now on, now and forever, is his, too.
He never has to leave again, not unless he wants to.
For the first time in eleven-almost-twelve years, he has something he wants—needs—to live for again.
For the first time since he was seven years old, he can confidently, truly say,
"I'm home."
A/N: Rei's little paragraph speech to the Kawamotos starting with the 'Whenever I'm here, I always feel so warm' and such is actually an amalgamation of two different Rei quotes, one from s1e11 and the other from s1e12! I loved both quotes, wanted to use both for this fic in some way, but couldn't. Then, I realized they both fit well together, so I just cut up and rearranged them in a way I hope sounded decent/believable! lol.
The two quotes are: "Why do I feel so at peace when I'm here? Why does it feel…so right?" (s1e11, 'The New Year') AND "Whenever I'm here, I always feel so warm and welcomed. It's comfortable. This house is like…a warm kotatsu. I'm afraid I'll never be able to leave again. That's why I thought I should stay away for a while… But here I am again." (s1e12, 'Black River (Part 1)')
It feels so good to finally finish this! Been so excited about this new series of mine for months! Stay tuned for more installments! :D
Thanks so much for reading!