Enjoy!~


Shiro managed to stop his flinch in time when he was singled out by Ulaz, but still he was not as prepared as Kogane was when it came to the decision that was presented before him.

"I understand that it is a lot to take in, Mr. Shirogane, but we cannot delay matters. A decision must be made." Ulaz stressed after a few beats of silence and Shiro's guilt burned even more at his soul. He knew that he should be feeling the same burning conviction as Kogane, she was his daughter for crying out loud! Shiro couldn't let her slip away just because he was having trouble sorting out his feelings.

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry. I think I'm still… I'm sorry, I would like to be part of her life as well." Shiro's words sounded weak even to his own ears; and it was only his brother's silent presence next to Shiro that kept him from completely losing himself to the building sense of shame.

Ulaz said nothing to Shiro's apologies and instead nodded in what appeared to be quiet understanding. "I will go get the paperwork for you to review, please excuse me."

The doctor stood and Shiro slumped in his seat, listening to the man shuffle out of the office and close the door behind him.

"Tashi, are you sure you're alright?" Ryou sounded worried, and really Shiro couldn't blame him. Shiro was acting completely out of character, he was wired with tense energy and drained all at once and the overwhelming urge to just… wallow in his misery was so appealing to him at the moment.

"I honestly don't know, niichan." Shiro whispered in return, "But I know what I want to do… I just need some more time to process all of this."

His brother didn't look at all convinced, and though Shiro tried to give him a reassuring smile, Ryou continued to look troubled. But his brother soon relented and squeezed Shiro's shoulder in reassurance, "Of course, aniki."

"I'm sorry, excuse me." Ryou looked past Shiro and to the man who was so engrossed with the little girl he seemed to not even notice they were seated in the same room. "Would you mind if I held my niece for a few minutes?"

Kogane was less startled this time, though Shiro noticed that he was still reluctant to give up his hold on her that easily. The same scrutiny that Shiro had been subjected to was passed onto his brother next, but it didn't last as long as Shiro's own visual interrogation. Or so he thought, time perception wasn't exactly on friendly terms with Shiro at the moment.

"Sure." Kogane finally murmured and untangled his finger from the small girl's grasp while he stood and walked over to where Ryou and Shiro were seated.

Shiro could feel the excited energy that was rolling off of his brother as he happily opened his arms, waiting as patiently as he could before he could meet his niece. And Shiro couldn't help the annoying pang of jealousy that speared his heart. Because Ryou was the exact image of what Shiro should have looked like when he went to hold his daughter for the first time. But instead he had been left floundering and unable to enjoy a second of it.

"Aniki!" Ryou wrenched Shiro's earlier flinch out of him with his exited call.

"She looks just like you, you know if you were this small and still had all your baby fat." Ryou chuckled softly and looked up to Kogane, "I mean, she looks like you too man, and I–oh damn. I think we should have introduced ourselves by now huh? Sorry about that, between the news and all that names were the last thing on our minds. My name's Ryou and my more attractive half over here is Takashi."

Shiro was too enraptured in the fact that his daughter was easily falling asleep in Ryou's arms to listen to everything that his brother was saying. And the more he watched them both, the more the inkling of jealousy aimed at his twin ate at him until it shook him down to the very core. She prefered Ryou over him. Shiro would be lying if he said that he wasn't hurt by that revelation, but for the sake of his brother, he tore his eyes away from his arms and smiled briefly to the man he had just been introduced to.

"Please, call me Shiro."

Kogane's look was puzzled but he nodded all the same. "Yeah, okay sure. I'm Keith, no nickname… and um thanks?" the gratitude was aimed at Ryou and for a second both twins looked lost, before Koga–Keith–elaborated.

"For saying she looks like me?" he offered, and Ryou broke out in a smile.

"No thanks needed Keith, I was just stating the obvious, it's kinda weird though, that she looks like a perfect blend of you both, but I mean some babies do that right?"

"I guess so?" Keith offered with a shrug and looked to where the door was behind them.

Ryou left the matter at that and went back to looking at the baby in his arms, but Shiro was left with looking at anything but his child. Unfortunately that move was met by a very prominent frown from Keith.

Shiro swallowed harshly and looked away, though those intense eyes continued to burn into the side of his face until he was compelled to look in his direction again. Part of Shiro wasn't surprised at all to find those eyes still trained in his direction.

"You need to choose if you want her in your life." there was no other way to describe Keith's words other than a low growl.

"I'm sorry, wha–" Shiro didn't even get to finish his question before he was cut off.

"I don't know what you're feeling Shiro, and I can't speak for you. But the sooner you sort it out the better. If your heart isn't into raising her, and you decide to go on your own marry way and leave her behind, I rather you do it now. Cuz if you do that after you sign the papers, I will personally hunt you down and bring you back." Keith was threatening Shiro, and there was no doubt in his mind that it was as much a warning as it was a promise. Keith looked small and pretty scrawny, but in that moment, Shiro didn't dare to think that Keith wouldn't make good on that vow.

"Woah, slow down there." Ryou interjected before Shiro could even open his mouth but Keith's heated glare remained on Shiro.

"Shiro's just in shock okay, family is very important to us, and of course we're going to be here for her." Ryou added on wanting to diffuse the situation that was before him.

"That's not what that hesitation said." Keith quipped back, and then to Shiro he added, "You're either in or you're out, there is no in between."


Keith didn't care if he was being fair to Shiro or not. As far as Keith was concerned, Shiro's feelings were the least of his worries. His daughter was his priority now, and Keith would be damned if he let his daughter fall down the same dark hole he did when he could personally see to it that it didn't happen.

Shiro didn't have to stay if he didn't want to and though Keith knew all too well that kids needed both parents in their lives, he also knew that having an uncommitted parent was nothing but an inconvenience in the end. If Keith had to, he would raise her on his own as a single but present parent. Keith wouldn't run away from her, nor would he neglect himself to the point of incurable illness like his parents. Keith would be there for her, no matter what it took.

And it was with that resolution in mind that Keith gave Shiro an ultimatum, and there was no going back once he agreed to raise her. Keith could see the uncertainty in his gray eyes as Shiro weighed his options, but just as he opened his mouth to meet Keith's challenge so did the door across the room Ulaz strode back inside.

"I apologize for the wait, someone didn't replace the toner after they used the machine so I had to wait for it to be replaced. But since I was already there, I took the liberty of making copies of the reports. These of course lack all classified information." Ulaz rounded to his side of the desk and Keith took his seat again. He had decided that he needed both his hands for the next step in the process, even though he was already missing the warmth in his arms.

"In these documents you can find the date of your child's birth; blood type, weight, and overall progress. Additional to that you can review the immunization records and paternity tests at your leisure. The latter of course is to remain confidential… that being said, I need you both to understand that while all of us here are aware of her legitimate parents—unless custody is renounced before the deadline specified on the documents in your hands. On paper it will state otherwise. The papers you are about to sign will say something entirely different for one of you. To everyone not aware of the ongoings here, oneof you will be the adoptive parent while the other will be assigned as the biological father."

Keith's eyes narrowed at the news being presented to them as annoyance began to make itself known. "That's not what you said earlier, you said that we would both be signing this as a joint adoption."

Ulaz held up a single hand and it took everything Keith had in him not to growl back in response. "I know what I said, Mr. Kogane. But I need you to listen to me now, as I tell you that our next step will have one of you named as the adoptive parent, while the other will sign as the biological parent. And before I am interrupted again." Ulaz looked pointedly at Keith who only glared back at him.

"I apologize for not being straightforward with you before, but it was a necessary evil since I wanted to make sure that you were both willing to be the adoptive parent on paper. And now that I have that answer we can proceed onto the next step. As you both are aware, this is a very delicate situation. In the unlikely, but possible, event that your daughter is in need of a blood transfusion, or medical lab work, or someone questions why she happens to look like the adoptive parents; there needs to be a link back towards parentage."

Ulaz paused to let that sink in, and though Keith didn't appreciate being misled, he had to admit–albeit begrudgingly–that the doctor had a point.

"So then how is that position decided?" Keith was surprised that Shiro asked the question before he had the chance to.

"I mentioned blood transfusion for a reason, Mr. Shirogane." Ulaz sounded tired by that point, though no less in command of the conversation. Nevertheless, Ulaz continued to explain to the three men. "The reason behind that is because the child shares her blood type with only one of you."

Keith furrowed his brow as he looked over the report he had been given in order to search out the section containing that particular source of information.

O Negative.

Keith was AB positive, which basically meant that he could receive blood from any donor. But he could not give it to someone who was O negative, much less be the father to someone of that blood type. Keith could already feel the edges of his mouth pulling down into a scowl as two realizations settled in his mind. Though instead of voicing his displeasure of not being the on paper dad, he settled on stating his other concern, "This shouldn't be possible."

"No, it shouldn't." Dr. Ulaz agreed.

"All scientific laws state that a parent with AB blood will pass down that same gene down to their children in either A, B, or AB. Thus, in order for a child to have type O, both parents are required to have O blood type. But your child was not created through… excuse my terminology, natural means. So it isn't entirely surprising that she managed to defy many of the laws we know, and as such she bypassed the blood rule. Though I must assure you," Ulaz's features softened some as he looked at Keith.

"Although she does not share your blood type, she was created not only using your chromosomes but also your quintessence, her genetic makeup will always speak of her ties to you as her parent. Regrettably, I am not in the liberty of releasing the full report to you, but what you have in your hands does give you enough information to relieve any doubt about her being your child." As Ulaz explained this, Keith continued to read the sheets provided to him, until sure enough he reached the page where his name was.

Keith Kogane, 24, Male… first donor towards the creation of Subject #017… Keith felt his stomach drop. Just how many children had these people tried to make?And how many more would they have attempted at if they hadn't been discovered? Had there been more children made with his DNA?

"Why are you doing this?" Keith was unable to hold himself back from blurting out, his hands tightening on the report in his hands and ensuring the pages would never be flat again.

"I am informing you of—"

"Not that!" Keith's anger had finally pushed to the surface, "This! Her!" Keith gestured to the papers and then to the sleeping child in Ryou's arms.

"You've stressed the secrecy of this so called project so many times. You're telling us the bare minimum here and while I don't doubt that she is my daughter, I just—it doesn't make sense! As illegal and wrong as this all is, you didn't have to tell us jack shit. So then why? Is all of this part of the experiment too? Add the parents into the mix and spend the next ten years studying them before you take her away?"

Keith was off his chair and hands on the desk before he even knew what he was doing, the report suffering further in his grasp. "Cuz if that's what your plan is, you better rethink it now." Keith was full on threatening the doctor before him, and the man before him hadn't so much as flinched under Keith's gaze.


The fierceness that suddenly overtook Keith was a surprise to Shiro. Even though he had been subjected to the same fiery scowl and narrowed eyes earlier, this was something completely different. The display both warmed and scared Shiro, not because he feared Keith, far beyond that actually. Shiro respected Keith for being quick to catch something that Shiro hadn't even considered. But his reaction made Shiro even more repulsed with himself, because he should be as equally suspicious and just as protective of the little girl in Ryou's arms. He should care more about the situation brewing around him. But he just couldn't muster up the same protective streak Keith was displaying.

If anyone had threatened to take Ryou away from him in the way Keith was insinuating they would do with his daughter, Shiro would be furious and just as protective of his younger brother. So then why was he not doing anything? Why was Shiro so indifferent to what was happening around him?!

"Mr. Kogane." Ulaz's impeccably calm voice seized Shiro's attention and turned him in his direction as well.

"Keith, call me Keith; no more of that Mr. Kogane bullshit!" Keith raged on, "Actually, cut every single line of bullshit from your speech and just spare us all your fancy words. You said that she was one of three successfully made children at this facility, and the only one to have been made from two dudes. I've seen enough sci-fi movies with my idiot of a roommate to know that she is someone you scientists would gladly dissect. So then why are you bringing us into this?"

If Shiro hadn't been stunned before, he definitely was now. Though what Keith was saying may have—under a different circumstance—sounded farfetched and impossible, the truth in his words was hard to deny. Shiro had just been too slow to pick up on it, but a glance in Ryou's direction told him that his brother had the same questions in mind. All three of them had a reason to be suspicious of the approach the lab was taking. Why were they choosing to involve Shiro and Keith, what did they have to gain from that move exactly?

"Because there are boundaries which should never be crossed." Ulaz stated simply, and only then did Shiro see the doctors shoulders sag in defeat.

"I know it sounds like a manufactured lie. But what we are discussing is the truth, there is no hidden agenda. The department head of Quintessence Lab's Bioengineering unit was mad, she began to conduct experiments on people a few years ago. Fortunately, they were volunteers; but that was the first few candidates, and then it escalated onto children. She managed to pass off her sample collecting to other projects, such as the one you signed up for Keith; but you know what they say: the truth always manages to come to light.

"As a direct result, the bioengineering unit is being shut down while the Garrison probes further into the matter. Haxus and I, along with another handful of staff are the only remaining members of the department after their sweep. We were questioned and cleared on the worst of the offences, but that doesn't mean we get to keep our job, rather a lesser sentence. But after that, the other staff members and I spoke with the Garrison and we mutually agreed that it was in each child's best interest to be united with their families. There is no ulterior motive, believe me. If there was, we'd be asking for regular checkups and making you sign contracts instead of legal custody."

"Fair point." Ryou muttered, though he looked about as pleased about the situation as Keith did, and Shiro could honestly not blame them for their varying degrees of hostility and suspicion.

"And we're just supposed to believe that?" Keith quipped back, relentless.

"I don't expect you to just take my word for it, no." Ulaz bridged his fingers once more. "But I do hope you come to accept it for the truth that it is."

"If this is the truth, then why are you still keeping half this shit classified then?" Keith was relentless in his search and Shiro was left with a sense of admiration for the man.

"Because the less that you know, the better it is for the girl."

"Oh c'mon–"

"I believe him." Shiro said, not really meaning to cut Keith off, but unable to keep his opinion from being voiced.

However, the opinion did him no favors when Keith whirled on him and pinned him down with burning violet eyes.

But before Keith could snap at Shiro next, he added. "You said it yourself, they could've kept her for all of the reasons you said. Dr. Ulaz didn't need to reach out to us, but he did. Besides…" Shiro worried at his lip and after a second he decided that secrecy was the least of his worries.

"Ulaz was the one to reveal the project to the Garrison. He's also the one who tracked us down, so yeah, I believe him."

His words caught Ulaz's attention, and Shiro merely shrugged. "Word gets out fast amongst the higher ups. And it wasn't like they mentioned you by name but your surprise tells me that I was dead on, right?"

Ulaz didn't nod, but he also didn't deny Shiro's words and instead turned back to Keith who was beginning to even out his breathing and unroll the tension from his shoulders. "The less information you have on the process is better for everyone involved. We hope that what was done here is never repeated, so all extensive reports were destroyed and the files on the experiment corrupted. You are right to have little trust in us, but we have taken every preemptive available to us in order to make sure that this can never happen again."

Keith looked less than convinced, and even Ryou huffed in discontent. But for the moment, it seemed to be enough and Keith finally yielded, returning to his seat.

"Fine. But what I said earlier still stands, she won't be taken from her family not by force and definitely not by choice."

A smile was sent Keith's way. "Of course. So now that we're in agreement. We can go over the documents, give you some time to ponder on the name and reconvene for signing."

Shiro honestly tried to listen to everything being explained to him by Haxus. The words that the doctor said did make sense, but at the end of the day, Shiro was even more lost than before. And as they shook Ulaz's hands again, Shiro realized that the mutual territory he had found himself on with Keith was about to be shattered, and he had a decision to make.

Right after their parting words, Keith had reclaimed his daughter in his arms and was resting her head on his shoulder when Ulaz caught up to them by the elevator and pressed a sealed envelope into Shiro's hands. "Our funding was decimated three days ago, but we were able to pool together what remained of the budget. And while we know that this fixes nothing, some of the parents on the team hinted that this would be of more use to you than any government project; be it for baby supplies or to kick off a college fund."

Perplexed and completely at a loss for words, all Shiro could do was nod as the elevator chimed softly behind them and the three of them stepped in.

The first few floors on their way down were filled with a tense silence that had Shiro's skin crawling until Keith broke it. "So, do you live far from here?"

"Huh?" Shiro could feel his confusion twisting up his features and that earned him a scowl from the shorter man.

"I live about 40 minutes from here walking distance, I brought my bike but," He shrugged his unoccupied shoulder. "not really prepared with a baby seat."

Probably sensing Shiro's discomfort, Ryou picked up the conversation. "So you live in Daibazaal? That's cool, we have a friend that lives in the city, too. Aniki and I both live in Arus, so it might be easier if we head back to your place; I mean if it's okay with you, and since we were… you know given a heads up we picked up a car seat on the way."

Keith mulled over the information given to him, his lips forming a thin line before he nodded. "I don't mind."

The elevator chimed again, notifying them that they had reached the basement garage. "So which one's your car?" Keith asked as soon as they stepped out.

"The white sedan over there, I take it that's your bike?" Shiro followed his brother's gaze where a sleek silver and red motorcycle was parked, the body accentuated here and there in ink black. It was a strange feeling, but Shiro had a feeling that if Keith could reinvent himself as machinery, then that bike might as well be him.

Shiro pulled his eyes away from the bike after taking note of the matching helmet and glanced down at Keith who looked over to the bike with a soft fondness to his features. "Hm, yeah. She's an '09 Honda Shadow Phantom, I've been working on her since I was 19, Red there used to be my pride and joy."

"Used to be?" Ryou asked, right before Shiro even got the chance to open his mouth.

"Yeah," Keith hummed softly, and Shiro saw his eyes shift down to the little girl nestled into his neck. "Red'll understand though."


I love Keith someone please love him look at how soft he's being!~

Now I know I said that the baby's name will be revealed in this chapter, but then well all this happened lol and to avoid making the chapter too long, well Imma leave that scene for the next installment.

Also, quick note. Ryou calls Shiro "Tashi" at times, because when he was a kid, Ryou couldn't really say Takashi lol, so childhood nickname bitches~

Is my excitement for this visible yet? Anyone wanna fuel this excitement with a comment or two? Pls come talk to me about this AU T^T/

Till next time!~