Love is Not Extinct
Chapter 02: The Hatchling
Tsukishima stepped into his apartment, shutting the door behind him. "I'm home," he called out as he pulled off his coat, hanging it up with his bag as he slipped out of his shoes. The warm air inside was refreshing after being outside in the cold winter night. He could smell the remnants of dinner still lingering in the air and could hear soft sounds coming from the television in the living room.
Walking down the hall, he made his way towards the sounds. His apartment wasn't large or fancy, but it was clean and well kept. It was big enough for his needs with two bedrooms, a shared bathroom, and a living space that doubled as a dinning area.
When he walked into the living room, he found two people sitting at the kotatsu watching a volleyball match. The first was Yamaguchi, who sat hunched over, resting his head on his arms, his rouge strand of hair sticking up stubbornly, as usual.
Yamaguchi turned and looked up at him with a smile. "Welcome home."
"Welcome home, otousan." Tsukishima looked over at the other person in the room. His brown eyes meeting an identical pair that peaked out under the boy's mess of wavy brown hair. "We made you dinner."
The boy pointed to the plate in the middle of the table waiting for him. He could tell it had been warmed up; Yamaguchi had probably made sure to heat it up right before he got home.
"Thank you Haru-kun." Tsukishima walked over and placed a gentle hand on his son's head before taking a seat so that he could eat. "Did you and Yamaguchi have fun?"
"Mmhum," Haruhisa hummed and nodded, resting his chin in his hand and turning his eyes back towards the television. "I helped him make dinner and Yamaguchi-sensei let me watch a movie while we ate."
"Did you finish your homework?"
Yamaguchi looked up as he straightened. "Hey, you do know I am a teacher, right?" But Tsukishima ignored him, instead he looked back at his son, waiting for his answer.
"Yes." Haruhisa replied. He shyly looked up at his father with hesitation. "Well most of it…I haven't done my reading yet."
Tsukishima raised a brow. "Should you be watching T.V. if your homework isn't done?"
"No…" the boy looked down and pouted.
"So, what should you do then?" Haruhisa looked up at his father meekly before standing up.
"I'll go get my book." The boy quickly left the room to grab his backpack.
"Tsukki." Yamaguchi spoke softly to get his friends attention. "You should take it easy on him."
Tsukishima looked back at his friend slightly annoyed. "I wasn't harsh, that's the rule. He knows it, and so do you for that matter. Weren't you just pointing out the fact that you are a teacher?"
The teacher smiled at his friend while Haruhisa came running back in the room with his backpack. "Tsukki." Yamaguchi's voice was barely a whisper. "He didn't do his reading because he begged me to let him wait till you got home. Suga gave him a new book in class today that is a higher reading level and I think he was really excited to show you and wanted you to be the one to help him."
Yamaguchi reached over, turning off the television as Haruhisa came back over, sitting down and pulling out his new book. He seemed a bit nervous but also excited as he started to read to himself, softly whispering the words to help himself sound out the ones he wasn't sure of.
Haruhisa had been a part of Tsukishima's life for almost two years now. It wasn't something he had expected, and it definitely hadn't been something he had planned on. He had just graduated college and had managed to get the job he had been wanting at the museum. He thought he had everything figured out when out of the blue he received a call from a law office …
"I am trying to reach Tsukishima Kei."
Tsukishima furrowed his brows as he tried to balance his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he was packing up his things to head home from work. "This is Tsukishima. May I ask who is calling?"
"My name is Washijo Tanji and I am an attorney at the Shiratorizawa Law Firm. I am calling on behalf of Akiyama Shimakura."
That name stopped him in his tracks. Slowly setting his stuff back on his desk, he took the phone back into his hand, more confused than ever. "Akiyama? I haven't seen here in six years, not since she graduated from high school. What is it she wants from me?"
The last thing he needed was some old fling trying to cause drama. But what on earth could she want that would require involving a lawyer? He had been sixteen and they had only dated, if you could even call it that, for about four months before she graduated and left for university. He hadn't heard anything from her since, and he had hardly cared.
Washijo cleared his throat before continuing. "I apologize. I assumed you would have been informed." He paused in hesitation before he continued. "Akiyama was involved in an accident last week and she didn't make it."
Tsukishima sat down in his chair, too shocked to speak. This was the last thing he had expected to hear, and he didn't know quite how to process it. It wasn't like losing her would make a difference in his life. He hardly ever thought about her. Yet still, hearing of her passing made him sadder than he would have imagined.
"I…I'm really sorry to hear that. What did you need from me?"
"Well we at Shiratorizawa were placed in charge of handling her will. She doesn't have any known living family other than her son, who she left everything to. But as her son is still young, her will instructed us to contact the boy's father."
"She has a son?" Tsukishima asked, trying to wrap his head around all the information that had just been dumped on him. "Wait, I am confused. If her will says everything goes to her son than why are you…" The realization hit him like a brick.
Tsukishima was quiet for a long time as he tried to recover from the shock. Akiyama was dead? She had a son? The son was his? The facts just didn't seem to make sense. It was like his brain couldn't compute the facts. He was a father?
Washijo waited patiently for Tsukishima to continue, allowing him the time he needed to process everything. "How old is he?" Tsukishima finally asked, his voice sounding small and unfamiliar to him.
"He is five. His name is Akiyama Haruhisa."
Tsukishima had never wanted kids. He really didn't like them either. And he most definitely had not asked to be put in the situation he was now in. Only two days ago he had found out he had a son and now here he was, standing in a social worker's office with the attorney Washijo, looking through a large window into a playroom with about half a dozen children.
Sitting in the middle of the room at a small table was a boy with messy brown hair and sad brown eyes coloring by himself. Tsukishima had told the attorney he wasn't really fit to be a father and that he was sure the boy would be better off in foster care. That way he could find a good family to take him in. The boy had gone his whole life not knowing Tsukishima and he didn't think suddenly having a father in the picture would make what he was going through any easier.
But Washijo has insisted that he at least meet the boy first before making his decision. So here he was, standing outside the room where his son sat, feeling like a nervous wreck.
"Go on in and say hello." Washijo encouraged, nudging Tsukishima towards the door.
Tsukishima reached up rubbing the back of his neck before reaching out to open the door and stepping into the playroom. The room smelled like an old, musty classroom and, with all the children running around, it was louder and more chaotic than Tsukishima cared for. But, with resolve he strolled over and knelt next to the small table where Haruhisa sat. The sooner he talked to him, the sooner her could leave.
The little boy looked up at him with big, curious eyes. The intensity in them made Tsukishima feel slightly uncomfortable. "Hello," he said lamely. How do you talk to children anyway? He was not equipped to handle this.
"Hello," the child responded. "You're really tall."
"Uh…" Tsukishima didn't know how to respond to that unprovoked assessment. "Yeah, thanks. Uh, do you mind if I sit next to you?"
The boy seemed to consider this for a minute before nodding and turning his attention back to his coloring. The following silence was awkward, for Tsukishima at least. Little Haruhisa didn't really seem bothered by the silence or Tsukishima's presence as he continued to draw.
"What are you drawing?"
Haruhisa reached over to grab a green crayon, not even looking up as he answered. "Rex-chan."
"Rex-chan?" Tsukishima echoed puzzled. The boy looked up at him, setting down his crayon, and pulled up a stuffed animal that he had been holding in his lap, showing it off proudly. It was a green cartoon-style tyrannosaurus-rex that was clearly well loved by the boy.
"Rex-chan," the boy repeated.
"I see." Tsukishima responded awkwardly. How did you have a conversation with a five-year-old? He racked his brain for something, anything to say. "Tyrannosauruses were amazing hunters. Their senses were much stronger than ours to make it easier for them to hunt."
Haruhisa looked down at the stuffed Rex-chan curiously. "T-rexes can smell better to find their food?" he concluded with a question.
"Not only that but they had amazingly good vision - like binoculars. And really good hearing." Tsukishima sighed internally, wondering why he was getting into all this with a child. But to his surprise the boy's face seemed to light up as he looked down at his stuffed toy with a new fascination.
Haruhisa hugged Rex-chan to his chest looking back up at Tsukishima. "I like dinosaurs."
Tsukishima smiled softly. "I like dinosaurs too."
Tsukishima watched Haruhisa's expression as he scrunched his brows together trying to sound our a particularly difficult work. In the end, Washijo had been right and Tsukishima hadn't been able to just walk away from his son. After a lot of reassurance from his mother, brother, and sister-in-law that they would help him out, as well as Yamaguchi's encouragement that he would help get Haruhisa enrolled in after school programs to keep the boy busy while he was at work, Tsukishima finally agreed and took full custody of his son.
"Is that a new book?"
Haruhisa looked up at his father, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he lifted it up to show Tsukishima the cover. "Yes." He smiled. "Sugawara-sensei said I've been doing a good job with my reading and he gave me a new book. He said this one has a lot more big words in it."
Tsukishima smiled softly, reaching over and ruffling his son's hair affectionately. "That's good Haru-chan. Why don't you read it to me while I finish dinner and I can help you with any words you don't know." Haruhisa nodded, putting his book back down on the table as he started the book from the beginning once more, reading it aloud for his dad.
Yamaguchi ended up staying the night. Haruhisa let him sleep in his room and Tsukishima let his son sleep in his bed. It was close to midnight when Tsukishima and Yamaguchi decided to turn in for the night. They were both going to the sports center in the morning to play volleyball with the local adult club.
Haruhisa was fast asleep when Tsukishima stepped into the room. He was carful to be quiet as he moved around in the dark, so as not to wake the boy. Pulling off his shirt, he tossed it in the hamper and laid down, pulling out his phone to check it before he plugged it in. He had four unread text messages.
[20:25] Unknown Number: I'm kind of starting to actually worry. Are you just ignoring me or did something happen to you?
[21:47] Unknown Number: Are you not answering because I asked about dinosaurs? Did I offend you dino guy?
[21:51] Unknown Number: I am so drunk…save me from myself lol
[21:59] Unknown Number: This is Kuroo's friend. Sorry he had been bothering you I am taking his phone until he is sober enough to think straight again.
Tsukishima rolled his eyes, reaching over and plugging his phone in before taking off his glasses. He was comfortable, and after a long day, he was finally about to drift off to sleep when he heard the vibration of his phone on the nightstand and a pale bluish light filled the room.
He groaned in annoyance, checking his phone to find a new message from an unknown number. He flipped his phone face down and rolled back over onto his side just wanting to go to sleep. But five minutes later the phone buzzed again. Tsukishima tried to ignore it but after the fifth time it went off he sat up, frustrated. Picking up his glasses he unlocked the phone to read the messages.
[00:07] Unknown Number: Hey listen, I'm sort about spamming you with texts. I'm just glad someone took my phone away from me before I said anything worse. Really I had just wanted to make sure that you got home okay. Sorry again.
[00:12] Unknown Number: If I promise not to text so much can we start over?
[00:13] Unknown Number: Honestly I'm not trying to be creepy I just find you really interesting and just wanted to get to know you more.
[00:20] Unknown Number: You know I'm really starting to worry something happened to you on the way home
[00:42] Unknown Number: Please just text me back just to let me know you are alright
Tsukishima felt his hands shaking with annoyance. Why did this guy have to single him out as his target to harass with his unsolicited friendship?
[00:48] Tsukishima Kei: Yes I am home and fine. Now stop sending messages to me in the middle of the night or I won't hesitate to block your number.
Honestly, he was really tempted to block his number regardless. He didn't want to deal with this. Kuroo's response came back in less than a minute.
[00:48] Unknown Number: Ok. Glad to know you are okay. Talk to you later!
Tossing his phone and glasses back on the nightstand, Tsukishima fell face first into his pillow with a groan.
How annoying…