It was a dull day at the office for Hiroto. Midorikawa has him buried under a pile of paperwork and is refusing to talk to him until he finishes with it. He had even gone as far as to threaten him about him ending up on the couch for tonight if he didn't finish them today.
Even though Hiroto didn't want to sleep on the sofa tonight, he was in no mood to do official work today. He wants to take Ryuuji out for a date or even kick a ball with his friends or Masaki. In short, he wanted to be anywhere but in the office. He may be a workaholic, but even he too has off days where he is usually not in a mood to even lift a finger.
He was looking at his watch to check the time until he could leave the office. He suddenly got an idea. It was almost time for Masaki's afternoon practice session. He could go and visit him there, watch him play and catch up with Endou-kun in the process.
He may have been spending a lot of time with Kogure-kun lately because what he thought of next is something that would make the blue-haired mischievous defender proud. Hiroto was suddenly filled with a renewed bundle of energy as he gathered his stuff. He was about to leave when Midorikawa stepped into his cabin.
"Where are you going Hiroto?" he asked, seeing him ready to leave for the day.
"Damn," Hiroto thought. He can't tell Midorikawa where he was going or what he had planned, otherwise, his boyfriend won't let him go at all. " I was just stepping out for a late lunch" he made an excuse.
Midorikawa raised an eyebrow on his response. "You just had lunch an hour ago" he pointed out.
Hiroto mentally faces palmed. He had forgotten about it in his excitement. "I meant coffee, yeah I was just going to get some coffee from that cafe nearby to help me through the paperwork" he tried to rectify his mistake.
"Okay" Midorikawa drawled out.
He was getting suspicious Hiroto knew that and as much as he does not want to anger his boyfriend the opportunity to embarrassed Masaki was too good to pass. He will have to remember to bring home some Matcha ice cream when he returned home with the kid.
Hopefully, he would be a good mood from the treat to punish him. He quickly pecks his cheek and left before Midorikawa could protest. Now he just needed to get some supplies before he could visit Raimon.
By the time he reached the school, the practice was well underway.
"Konnichiwa Endou-kun, Otonashi-san, Hisashiburi " he greeted his friends as he approached them.
"Konnichiwa Hiroto-san" Otonashi replied.
"Hiroto!" Endou exclaimed "What brings you here today?" he asked.
"I just thought I would come to see Masaki-kun practice today" he shrugged.
It was then both of them noticed what he was wearing. They looked at him with amusement in their eyes.
He even saw Otonashi shake her head murmuring something like "I am not responsible for stopping his antics anymore. That job belongs to Midorikawa-san now. It is none of my concern now. He has been spending too much time with Kogure-kun".
Endou was trying to stop his laughter as he focused on the field. Hiroto could see the three manager girls looking at him with a mix of horror and glee. One of the managers was even taking his pictures.
He too turns his attention on the field. Hiroto saw that his nephew was also there playing against Kariya. It looks like a practice match between two teams of Raimon. He was satisfied to see his son giving his hundred per cent to the training.
"Masaki-kun has come up a long way from his days at the Eisei academy," he thought proudly.
Hiroto is brought back to earth when he hears Endou-kun calling for a break. "It is time for some action" he prepares himself for Kariya's whining.
Kariya was tired from working hard during the practice. He was about to flop down on the floor when he noticed the guy who was standing next to his coach. His eyes widen, taking in the attired of the red head man who called himself his father.
Hiroto saw Kariya go white as he took him in, so he sent a wink in his direction in response. "He was right," he thought. This was an epic opportunity for him.
Meanwhile, the rest of the soccer team had also noticed the man and his t-shirt. Some of them looked on with delight between him and Kariya. Some of them burst out with laughter on seeing the t-shirt. Then there was Tenma and Shinsuke who were busy getting excited about meeting another ex-Inazuma Japan player to spot something else. Shuugo, however, waved at him gleefully.
The laughter snapped Kariya out of his stupor as he marched towards his guardian "What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"I came to see you practice of course" Hiroto replied messing with the teenager's hairs.
Kariya pushed him off and focused on the t-shirt that the older man wore. It had his photo on the front with a caption that said: "I am a proud dad of this little troublemaker."
"What are you wearing? Even better, why are you wearing it?" Kariya asked horrified at what he was seeing.
"I just wanted to show my support for my son. Is that a bad thing?" Hiroto replied innocently.
"It is when you do it to make fun of me" Kariya scoffed at him.
"I am only trying to show how proud I am of you" Hiroto pretends not understanding what Kariya is saying.
Kariya was already getting embarrassed by the t-shirt. He was dreading what his dad had up the sleeves. He knew Hiroto was there to rile him up in front of his teammates. He is going to tell everything to Ryuuji-san later.
"You could have told me that at home. Why did you show up here?" Kariya challenged him.
"I was done with work. So I decided that I would pick you up from practice, and see from myself, how well you are playing" Hiroto simply replied.
Kariya frown at Hiroto trying to see the lie in his reply. Just when he was about to believe him. Hiroto started with his mission.
"Masaki-kun, once you are finished with the practice we need to go pick up that teddy bear you wanted," Hiroto simply told him.
Kariya was horrified. No one in his team should have found out about that. He didn't dare look at his teammates. He heard a snicker that sounded like his self proclaimed cousin. "He would pay for it later" Kariya decided.
"What are you talking about? I never wanted a teddy bear" he tried to deny.
"Of course, you did. Remember you said you need five big teddy bears and I had said I will get them for you later" Hiroto reminds him.
Kariya had not forgotten about that. He did ask for those, but it was not for himself. He wanted to gift them to the baby toddlers that had recently came to live in sun garden. Hiroto knew that too, but he chose to not mention it.
"This was a disaster. Everyone will think he plays with a teddy bear" Kariya blushed on the mere thought. "He is doing this on purpose" Kariya internally seethed. Hiroto was trying to ruin his image.
"That's not what I was saying to you old man" Kariya mocked him.
Hiroto was having a lot of fun seeing Kariya squirm like that. He wishes he could take a picture of him right now. It wasn't often when he gets to see his son acting like a teenager.
"You don't remember that conversation, Masaki. It is alright though we can talk about it later" Hiroto tried to pacify Kariya.
Kariya continues to pout. "Hiroto needs to stop," he thought. He does not want this conversation to go ahead. Kariya then noted that Kirino-senpai was looking at him with amusement. That just made me blush even more.
"Why did Hiroto have to do this in front of his senpai? " he thought. "Baka, Hiroto" he mentally grumbled.
Hiroto was again trying to smother his hairs. Kariya removes his hands from his hairs."Oh my god, Hiroto-san please stop trying to embarrass me" Kariya whines.
Hiroto was about to reply when notice the pink-haired boy with pigtails is giving Kariya a fond look. It is almost similar to the ones Ryuuji sends him from time to time when was being an idiot. "Maybe they should keep an eye on them," Hiroto thought.
He then focused on his son. "I am not trying to embarrass you, Masaki. I was only informing you of our plans after your practice" Hiroto was still at it.
"I am going to complain to Hitomiko-san" Kariya then threaten.
Now Hiroto was a lot of things, but he was not stupid enough to mess with his big sister. The threat was enough to shut him up, alright. He kept quiet for the rest of the practice session. The kids and Otonashi had a good laugh seeing him chicken out like that.
Later even with the ice-cream as a gift, he did end up sleeping on the couch for the rest of the week.