Chapter title: Daddy?
Word count: 2.637
Chapter: 5/?
Chapter summary: Yami makes a promise to the child
Chapter warnings: -
Pairings: YamixYuugi
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!
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Chapter 5: Daddy?
To say that Juudai and Yami were anxious was an understatement. The two were almost freaking out. It was almost evening and the woman still hadn't arrived. Juudai had killed most of the time by playing with the Lego's Yami had gotten him. He always used to watch other kids play, they wouldn't let him join.
Yami just had started designing some of the puzzles for the game. It was quite difficult. He had to make them hard but not so hard that the average men wouldn't be able to solve. Ryou had said that maybe he planned to have a hospital level, a cemetery level, a forest level and he was still thinking of more.
Yami had just agreed with it. He was okay with almost everything. If there was something he did not like, he would voice his opinions. He idly sipped his coffee as he typed up suggestions for the puzzles, how to solve them, their answers and the symbolism the puzzles held.
Taking a small break to stretch his arms and letting his laptop cool down, he looked around the house. It was spick and span. The dishes had been done, the fridge was filled, bathroom cleaned, beds were made. He placed his slumbering laptop on the coffee table and stretched his limbs.
"Yami… when are they going to come?" Juudai asked with a slight huff in his voice. Yami shrugged his shoulders. The woman at the orphanage had never said how late they would arrive, only that they would arrive on Saturday. Yami had cleared his whole schedule for this visit. He would be beyond pissed if they did not come.
"I hope soon… do you want something to drink? I can make hot chocolate milk if you'd like." Juudai nodded, the treat sounding delicious to him. Yami walked to the kitchen, putting water in the kettle for his coffee and heating milk in a small saucepan. The click that notified him that the water had boiled sounded. Yami turned and picked it up, just as he wanted to pour the scalding hot water into his mug, the doorbell rang.
He was so concentrating on not spilling that he jumped and dropped the kettle. The hot water spilled all over the floor. "Shit!" Yami screamed, scampering away from the liquid. The doorbell was pressed again, this time more impatiently. Yami tried wiping it up with some paper towels and burned his hand in the process.
He quickly turned on the cold water and held his hand out under it. The doorbell rang again. "Juudai!" He yelled from the kitchen. "Ask who it is!" The brown haired boy scampered to his feet and stopped in front of the door.
"Who is it?" He asked.
"I am here for to see if Sennen Yami's house is qualifying for the adoption of Yuuki Juudai." A female voice answered from the other side.
"Yamiiii!" Juudai squealed incredibly nervous. "They're here!" He yelled, running to the kitchen in panic. Yami emerged from the kitchen to meet the young boy in the hallway. His hand had reddened from the boiling water and ached incredibly.
"Calm down Juudai, we're going to get through this fine." Yami said with little confidence. With his good hand he opened the door and welcomed the woman in with a bit of a forced smile. "Welcome. Please come in."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "What took you so long to open the door." She asked as she stepped in, immediately taking in everything from the house. Yami closed the door behind her.
"Sorry about that, there was a tiny accident… nothing to worry about."
"What accident?" The woman pressed, walking through the house without asking for permission. Yami grumbled a little but answered her question nonetheless.
"You see, we were very nervous about your visit so I was making some coffee. I got startled when the doorbell suddenly rang and dropped it." He said truthfully. The woman hummed and scribbled it all down on her clipboard.
Yami took a good look at her. She was wearing a grey skirt suit, simple black rimmed glasses and a bun so tight she probably lost all feelings in her scalp. She was probably in her late forties. "Where has Juudai been sleeping last night?"
Yami showed her his study where Juudai's temporary bed stood. "If he can stay with me I'll move out the computer and bookcases to my own room and buy him a real bed, wardrobe and toy chest." Yami explained, pointing things out where needed. The woman nodded and wrote it down on the clipboard.
"Show me the rest of the house." She demanded. Yami did without arguing. He showed her the bathroom, his own bedroom and the living room. "So far everything looks mister Sennen, I am impressed." She said as she wrote down everything. Then she stopped. "Why do I smell something burning?"
Yami pondered what it could be. The water that had spilled out of the kettle wasn't enough to produce the burning smell. The milk on the stove however, could. He gasped and sprinted into the kitchen. He grabbed the saucepan off of the stove, by his already burned hand by accident, and dumped it into the sink, immediately turning on the cold water.
The cold and heat clashed, making steam rise from the sink and fill the kitchen. The woman and Juudai joined him in the kitchen. Once he was sure that the pan wasn't hot enough, he examined it. The bottom of the pan was pitch black.
Juudai looked worried. Yami looked relieved and worried. Relieved that his house didn't burn down and worried that this chance to adopt Juudai may have been ruined by his stupidity. "I-I swear! This has never happened before." Yami tried to salvage everything.
"Come back to the living room." She said.
"Juudai you go, I will follow you shortly." The little boy nodded and followed the woman to the living room, where he sat on the couch and waited patiently. Yami held his burnt hand under the cold water to try and sooth the prickling ache. After it had cooled down, he grabbed his first aid kit and smeared some aloe vera gel on the burn to keep it cooled.
He returned to the living room with a heavy heart. The woman started talking to moment he sat down next to the kid. "After my inspection, I can see that your house is child friendly." She started. "However, it is you that concerns me Sennen-san." Juudai grabbed Yami's hand and squeezed it. Yami squeezed the smaller hand back in comfort. This did not go unnoticed by the woman.
"Like I said. This is a first. After you came to visit I just completely forgot it. I never leave the stove unattended." The woman pursed her lips.
"Still, I cannot take any chances. I am afraid Juudai will have to go back to the orphanage."
"No!" Juudai screamed jumping up from the couch. "I will never go back! I'll live on the streets!" He screeched as he threw a tantrum. He was on the ground and flailing with his arms and legs. The woman looked annoyed at the noise the child was making.
"Juudai!" Yami called with a raised and authoritative voice. The boy stopped the kicking with his legs and looked at Yami with tears in his eyes. "Stop that this instance." Juudai sat up and sniffled, afraid of Yami screaming at him some more. "Now go to your room and come out when I tell you to."
The boy stood up and trudged to his room, afraid that if he didn't listen, Yami wouldn't adopt him at all. Not that the woman was going to let him stay. She was impressed by how Yami handled this situation.
"I must say Sennen-san, I am quite impressed." She said, writing that down. Yami sighed and sat down.
"Inoue-san, let me tell you why I want to adopt Juudai. It's not because I want a son. It's to help Juudai." Yami started telling her about how he found him on the streets and how horrible he looked. That he left his jacket for him at night and how Hirutani had beat him. He even went as far as to remove the foundation he used to cover up the bruise. He was never one to stand in the center of attention so he covered it up. He hadn't even told Jounouchi yet.
Then he told him at what transpired at the orphanage, showing her the video. The woman was perplexed. He finished by telling him that he demanded Juudai staying with him till her visit and what he had done for the child.
"I plan on buying him a real bed and new clothes once his stay here is official." He finished. The woman sighed. The man had been very convincing.
"Alright then, I can see that you are a very responsible man Sennen-san…. I am going to ask you a couple of questions now. First, are you in a relationship?"
Yami blushed a little. "I… think I am…. We just started going out."
"You do realize that with a child to take care of, you will have less time for such activities as dating?"
Yami nodded. "I know. He has a little brother around the same age as Juudai so I figured we could just plan play-dates for those two and we could hang out together either by his or my house."
"Him?" The woman asked. Yami nodded, head held high.
"Yes." He answered. Again the woman wrote this down.
"What is your yearly salary."
Yami had to think about it for a little while. "I used to earn 4.300.000 yen a year. But I recently got promotion." He stated proudly. The woman scribbled it down. She placed her pen down on the clipboard.
"I am going to ask your neighbors about you now. Please do not leave your house until I get back." Yami nodded and showed the woman out. He leaned against the door and breathed out a sigh of relief.
He walked to the kitchen to clean up the mess he had made. The pan was beyond rescue so he just threw that one out. The water he mopped up from the floor, no doubt that the laminate in his kitchen would be damaged already. It would have to wait to get repaired if it got damaged too badly. He just hoped that it wouldn't creak when stepped on. That would grate his nerves.
After the kitchen was presentable again, he plopped back down on the couch, drained of energy. He thought about letting Juudai out of the room but decided against it. The silence was concerning him though.
An hour passed and the woman was still not back. Yami got up from the couch and slowly made his way to the door of his study. Faint sniffling was coming from the other side. Yami placed his hand on the door handle and hesitated. He did not want to make Juudai think that he was going to get away easily from trouble because Yami pitied him.
He retracted his hand and went back to the living room, letting Juudai sit alone in his room for a little while more. Half an hour passed before the doorbell rang again. Yami opened it, already expecting the inspector to be back. "Come in." He said, showing the lady back to his living room.
"Where is Juudai?" She asked, looking around.
"He is still in his room."
"Ah." The woman wrote that down too. "Anyhow, I have asked your neighbors about you like I asked. I trust that you didn't leave the house?" Yami shook his head.
"I was cleaning the kitchen."
"Good. According to you neighbors you are calm young man and that they barely have any trouble with you, which is good. Then again, you are still quite young… I'm not sure."
"I can do this." Yami said with confidence. "And I am not alone. That person I am dating has a little brother like I said earlier, I am sure he will help. And I have a co-worker who has a son, a couple years older than Juudai I think. A-also! My best friend has a little sister, I'm sure he has some experience as well." He said to try and convince the woman.
He had initially thought that she was going to be mean like the people from the orphanage but she was actually quite honest. "You really want this don't you?" Yami nodded without hesitation. The woman sighed. "You are going to have to take educational classes, undergo a physical examination and we will do a thorough background check. Would you agree to this?"
There was nothing that Yami was hiding so he was okay with it. "I agree."
"Okay then." The woman flipped a couple papers on her clipboard and scribbled away on her clipboard again. After she was done, she ripped off the piece of paper and handed it to Yami. "Please go to the orphanage with this and sign the transfer. Yami took the paper with care, as if it was the most delicate thing in the world. "I have signed that Juudai can be taken in with you immediately, but it is not definitive yet." She told.
Yami nodded, looking over the paper. It said that the social worker has passed his home study and that he was to keep the child in his house. It also said that it was not definitive yet but that he was to get Juudai's documents anyways. The kid had to go to school while he was at Yami's so they were needed.
"Alright then. We will see how it goes every couple of weeks and then we will make the definitive decision Sennen-san. It was nice meeting you, certainly one of the most interesting people I have met." She stood up from the couch and held out her hand. Yami took it and they shook. "I suggest you go to Domino Orphanage as soon as possible."
Yami had stood up as well. "Thank you very much. I won't let you down." He promised.
"You better not." The woman said with a smile.
"Let me show you out." Yami said with a smile of his own. He watched as she walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner before he closed the door. He made a beeline to Juudai's room and opened the door. The boy was sitting on the bed, head bowed low.
"Juudai? Have you been sitting there the whole time?" The boy looked up and nodded, his eyes red from crying. Yami smiled at him softly. "Come, let's fresh up and make a little trip to the orphanage." Juudai gasped, why was Yami so happy about that?
"W-why?" He asked afraid. Did he have to go back to that place?
Yami's smile, widened. He showed the piece of paper he was given. "You're staying with me. We just have to do some stuff there and then were good to go." Juudai jumped up and his face brightened tenfold.
"S-so I can really stay?!" He asked.
"It is not official yet, I have to take some classes and have an examination but I should pass those without much difficulty. The lady was nicer than I thought. Your tantrum kind of helped too."
Juudai was grinning brightly. "But don't think they will go unpunished! You are getting off easily this time since it helped us!" Juudai nodded obediently.
"S-so… can I call you daddy now?" He asked eagerly. Yami smiled slightly.
"Yes you can." Juudai flew into his arms, hugging the man's torso.
"Promise me you won't leave me?"
Yami wrapped his own arms around Juudai.
"I promise."
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Author Notes: Sorry for the lateness of this update. My beta was a little busy so we had to delay it a couple times. Hopefully the next chapter will be out faster.
Next chapter: Yuugi