Disclaimer: Slam dunk is not mine.
Author's notes: Sorry, people, still no pairing.
"Okay, Akira," Rhine Sendoh told his son. "What the hell happen this time?"
Akira shook his head at his father. He called his father's office as soon as he got inside the apartment. He met his landlady in the lobby, and it took all his will not to pummel the grin off the woman's face. He was pissed off big time.
Rhine studied his son closely. It didn't take a genius not to know that the young man was not in a good mood.
"Is it about Hana again?"
Akira stared sharply at his father.
Rhine shrugged. "The last time you called me was when you accidentally made your coach's voice disappear, and your poor housekeeper took the responsibility of your actions." He paused as he saw his car. He immediately opened the door and entered. He briefly glanced at Akira as he took the seat beside Rhine in the car. "So what is it this time?"
"I turned Kaede and Hana into babies."
Rhine whistled. "I think we should ask your mother for assistance in this one." He turned the ignition and pulled out of the curb.
"Later." Akira stared at the road in front of them. "We have to get them out of the social welfare house first."
Rhine maneuvered the car haphazardly; making the car behind them honked its horns in annoyance.
Akira grabbed the dashboard. "SHIT, DAD! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU LEARN TO DRIVE!"
Rhine grinned at his ashen son. "Hogwarts."
Akira glared at Rhine. "I want Kaede and Hana out of there before the day is through," he demanded.
"Tsk! Tsk!" Rhine mocked his son calmly. "Don't be such a spoiled brat, Akira."
The younger man took a very deep breath. "Dad," he started again. "You didn't see how heartbreaking the two look when those strangers took them away. Even the stoic Kaede cried."
"And whose fault was that?" Rhine swerved the car to overtake a car in front of them.
"Dad!" Akira clung to the dashboard again. "SHIT!"
Rhine frowned. "Where is the welfare house?"
"13th Block, Shino Avenue."
Akira couldn't help but scream as the car made a sudden U-turn. Tires screeched as the drivers around them hit their brakes.
The young man prayed in all gods in heaven as their car accelerated from 50 to 120 kmph. Rhine just sang campsite songs as he drove.
Airbags automatically inflated as Rhine hit the brakes in front of the welfare house. Akira got out of the car in legs that felt like jelly. Rhine calmly followed.
"You okay?" Rhine asked his son.
Akira balefully stared at his father. "Once we got the kids out of there, I'll be the one driving." He straightened his rumpled clothes and walked shakily to the door of the welfare house.
Rhine just shrugged his shoulders as he trailed behind Akira.
Akira immediately plastered his most lethal smile and went to the lady in the reception area. "Good afternoon," he greeted in a sing-song voice.
The lady blushed when she noticed the attractive man in front of her. She consciously straightened her hair. "Good afternoon. May I help you?"
Akira's smile widened dramatically. But before he could utter a word, Rhine stepped up and grinned at the lady.
"Don't listen to him, I'm the lawyer."
The lady's eyes dilated in surprise. "Good afternoon, sir. May I help you?" she asked politely after she gained her bearings.
Rhine waved at Akira to move on. Akira nodded, smile all gone now. Rhine watched his son for a minute before turning his full attention to the lady.
"I would like to inquire about two children; one is a redhead with big brown eyes that can make you reach out to the closest chocolate bar and one is a black haired boy with blue eyes that can freeze hell." Rhine looked straight into the eyes of the lady as he inquired.
Akira, in the meantime, walked along the welfare's corridor looking for his babies. He paused in a big glass window when he spotted a familiar head. He smiled in relief then opened the door.
"Excuse me," a small man in white, called Akira's attention before he could enter the room.
Akira looked blankly at the man.
"I don't think you should be here," the man said bravely. Akira's height made him intimidating.
"I'm looking for my son," Akira said coldly.
"I see." The man nodded his head in understanding. He looked around the little children. "What does he look like?"
"We have the same coloring. Black hair and blue eyes. Though his eyes are much darker in color than mine."
The man laughed nervously. "You have to be more specific. There are about a dozen boys here that have the same description."
Akira frowned. He looked around the room. Spotting Kaede, he pointed the boy to the man. "There he is."
The man looked at where Akira was pointing. He then turned to Akira with suspicion. "I'm sorry, but do you have a birth certificate of the boy?"
Akira loomed threateningly at the man, but the man didn't even cower.
"Here's a certificate," Rhine butted in before Akira could lose his temper.
The man glanced at Akira with narrowed eyes before he turned to Rhine. He studied the certificate thoroughly then nodded. "I'll go get the boy now." He bowed respectfully at the two tall men prior to entering the room.
Akira gazed at the glass window and saw the man talked to Kaede. The man pointed to the window and Kaede followed the finger. Akira waved and smiled in greeting.
Rhine was looking at his son rather than looking at the window. He smiled as his son beamed at the glass window. The joy that his son emits was enough to make him feel warm inside. The two of them rarely share a quiet time together now ever since Akira became a university varsity basketball player. Rhine had to admit that he misses his son.
The door opened and Akira excitedly waited outside. He instantly enfolded the boy in his arms as soon as he stepped outside.
Kaede retaliated with a knock on Akira's head. "Don't get too cozy with me," he said coldly.
Akira and Rhine sweat-dropped. Young or old, Kaede would always be cold and distant to people.
Rhine coughed delicately. Akira automatically straightened.
"Where's Hana?" Akira asked as he looked down at Kaede.
Kaede was not happy to stare up when he was so used to looking down. "They took him somewhere," he replied then turned his head towards another corridor.
Rhine nodded. He immediately walked along the corridor, followed by Akira and Kaede. Akira kept looking at Kaede, thus annoying the boy.
"What?"
Akira grinned. "Daddy Akira just has to look after his baby, Kae-chan," he joked.
Kaede glared at the young man. "I'm not your baby."
"For now you are," Akira retorted casually.
Kaede directed his gaze away from Akira. He frowned as he remembered what happen that morning.
Rhine glanced at the two in the corner of his eye. "Don't worry, Kaede. We'll get you back to normal soon."
"I'm fine," Kaede told the older Sendoh. "I'm more worried about Hanamichi. He's only three months old, you know."
Rhine froze. He slowly turned around and glowered at Akira. Akira sweat- dropped at his father's expression.
"He drank the whole glass," Akira cried defensively.
"You shouldn't have potions lying around the house in the first place," Rhine growled menacingly.
Akira rubbed his thumbs together with a guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry."
Rhine sighed in defeat. "If you wanted to learn potions, maybe you should have gone to Hogwarts."
Kaede winced. And Akira paled.
"No way!" the spiky-haired young man cried.
Rhine shrugged his shoulders and returned to tracking down a baby redhead. He stopped in another glass window, and stared intently at the rooms occupants. Akira stood beside him to search for a redhead too.
"There he is!" Akira cried excitedly.
Kaede jumped to see. He was getting frustrated of being too small to look at the window. Akira grinned at him before picking him up to stare at the window. His face glowed in joy when he saw a redhead on a woman's shoulders but it was soon gone when he noticed something amiss.
"He's crying," he stated with a worried frown.
An eyebrow rose at the statement. "What makes you say that?" Rhine asked.
Kaede shrugged. He was staring at the window with a glare now.
The young man couldn't help but have the same thoughts as his father, but Kaede knew Hanamichi's actions and reactions too well since the two were close friends for years. Akira looked at his father. Rhine could only nod his head.
Kaede looked up at the two adults when he was put down.
Akira messed up Kaede's hair then followed his father as he entered a door beside the window. He held out his hands for Kaede, which the boy took to Akira's surprise.
The woman holding Hanamichi was having a hard time quieting the baby. The redhead was making too much fuss and had been crying since he got to the welfare. The rest of the children in the ward were crying too, therefore making the nurses in the ward extra busy to notice the strangers.
Rhine cleared his throat to get the woman's attention. He wanted this business over and done with for his head was drumming in a promised headache due to the crying.
"Miss, I'm Rhine Sendoh of Sendoh-Rukawa Ltd." Rhine offered his calling card to the woman. But he tucked it back to his pocket when the woman barely glanced at it. "I'm here to take that baby."
The woman danced when Hanamichi made another heartbreaking cry. "I'm sorry, but do you have any documents?" she asked politely.
"Here." Rhine produced two pieces of paper. "One is the baby's birth certificate and the other is my power of attorney."
The woman glanced at the papers but kept on dancing to calm Hanamichi. She gasped in surprise when Akira suddenly popped his head near her.
"Miss," Akira said with a charismatic smile. "I think it would be better if you let me hold him."
The woman studied Akira skeptically. "Who are you?"
"I assure you I'm not a crook." Akira beamed at the woman. "I just want to hold him."
The woman looked at Rhine then at Akira then to Kaede. "Okay," she agreed. She then placed Hanamichi in Akira's arms. She visibly sighed with relief when her burden was removed.
Hanamichi opened his tiny mouth to scream again but stopped when he recognized Akira's scent. He twisted violently in Akira's arms to make sure. The tiny face brightened when he saw Akira.
"Dada!"
Akira chuckled but suspicious moisture could be seen in his eyes. "Missed me, Hana?" he crooned as he held the baby close. He was so relieved that Hanamichi acknowledged his presence that he could only cuddled the baby close to him. He didn't want to part with Hanamichi again after what had happened in the course of the day.
Hanamichi made baby sounds as if he wanted to tell Akira something. He began playing with Akira's shirt as he was being hugged protectively.
Akira kissed the chubby cheeks happily and he kept on crooning at the redhead. He gently wiped the tears off the cute face. Subsequently, he felt a small tug on his pants. He looked down at Kaede.
Kaede held his arms out for Hanamichi.
Akira frowned. He didn't want to relinquish his hold on the redhead. But Kaede wanted to hold him close too, so the spiky-haired man placed the cooing baby in Kaede's care.
Kaede became happier when Hanamichi smiled at him toothlessly. He tightened his hold protectively when Hanamichi leaned back and nearly fell down.
"Don't drop him, Rukawa," Akira warned.
Kaede ignored him. He cooed back at Hanamichi as the baby made bubbles out of his saliva. Hanamichi giggled happily and touched Kaede's face in small pats. The two looked like two misplaced siblings.
Rhine smiled at the two children. He then turned to the woman. "Miss, can I now take Hanamichi out of here?"
The woman reverted her eyes at the two tykes and bestowed Rhine a shy smile. "Yes, you may take him. Your papers were legal, and the head signed the permits."
Rhine nodded and smiled at the woman. "Thank you. We'll be going now." He motioned for Akira to follow him as he walked out of the building.
Akira cradled his two babies, and instantly trailed behind his father.
Kaede was not comfortable with his place but bore it when he saw Hanamichi giggled cheerfully. He reached out his other hand for Hanamichi as he held Akira's shoulders with another. Hanamichi caught the hand and put it in his mouth.
"I think he's hungry," Kaede told the Akira softly.
Akira glanced at Hanamichi, who was busy sucking Kaede's fingers, and chuckled.
"Yeah, you're right," he agreed.
"Gerber's are good food for babies."
"Oh? How'd you know?"
"Hanamichi told me last year, when I had my biology class."
Akira grinned at the stoic boy. "Hanamichi will be very proud that you remembered his lectures."
Kaede shrugged his shoulders. "I always listen to him."
Akira gazed at the redhead again. He couldn't help but have the same opinion as Kaede. Both of them listened to Hanamichi.