Recommended companion reading: No Children.

Just call me angel of the morning, Angel

Just touch my cheek before you lave me, darlin'

- Angel of the Morning, by Juice Newton

2025

Natalie had been the one to hold Aiko back in the hallway as officers swarmed their apartment. Tomaru's body was cooling quickly, and Joe was fading in and out as Ken stood over him, trying not to step in the blood.

"Joe!" Ken demanded. "Joe, tell me what happened!"

"Aiko..." Joe had only managed to mutter. "Is Aiko... safe?"

He had woken up a few days later in the hospital under a ventilator, forcing his abused body to breathe. Ken and Cody were both there, waiting for him to wake up. The office told Joe he was under arrest for Tomaru's death and as much as Cody pleaded for him to stay silent as the tube was removed from his throat, Joe whispered, "Had to protect Aiko..."

The boy himself had been taken and almost placed into foster care had Nana's mother not shown up, moving into a motel near by.

"I can take him in," she'd said upon hearing that Joe's custody was being temporarily suspended. "I don't want him with a bunch of strangers when he has family around."

Joe was certain he was going to go to jail, and he almost confessed to Ken that he'd meant to murder the man until Cody secretly clicked his morphine button to the max it would go.

"Just stay calm," Ken told him. "We're talking to everyone at the hospital who saw anything – we'll get this all figured out. Why didn't you come to me like I told you to?"

Joe told Ken that he'd tried, only to find out that Officer Ryuzaki had retired the next day, long before Ken had returned from his case. Never once had the old man mentioned Joe's complaints – he hadn't even written down that they'd visited the station!

"I thought no one cared..." Joe said, his voice slowly returning to normal. "Like usual..."

"Believe me," Cody said softly. "We care."

Talking with Brad and Jiro, and going all the way to the hospital directors, it was discovered that Tomaru wasn't even a doctor. He had been kicked out of nursing school for wanting to perform surgeries he was completely unqualified to even assist in, and had stolen his missing roommate's credentials to get hired at the JFCR. The hospital quickly denied knowledge of the falsified information, claiming that as soon as Joe was better, he could come back to his old job.

It was Aiko, however, that was Joe's saving grace. When asked about where the pocketknife had come from, he told the police, "Dad always had it in the living room. He used it as a letter opener, really." Then he'd cried, like he'd done the whole investigation. "He's the only parent I have, ever since Mommy was murdered. Don't take him away..."

Ken, with plenty of assistance from Cody, made a mutual plea for the investigation, claiming the death had been, "Self-defense, obviously." Tomaru had been without any close family, and the matter was left at that.

A social worker had been by afterward, keeping up with Aiko to make sure the boy was as safe as he could be. The carpet and couch were quickly replaced, but the stench of blood lingered well on over the months, though Joe was careful not let on how ill he felt during inspections. Nana's mother became Aiko's babysitter for a few weeks, taking him to school and therapy as Joe tried to get back into the long hours at the hospital. It was difficult for all of them, but slowly, things returned to normal.

As Aiko aged, he became his usual, independent self again. Dr. Seuss books were not only thrown away, but ripped apart and colored all over much to the father and son's delight. The scent of roses took a while to stop triggering nightmares, and the first time they both slept through the night, they threw themselves a party.

Custody was returned and Nana's mother retreated back to the slow-paced life of Shimane. "I was glad to see my grandson again, but next time, try not to make it so urgent that I need to move."

It was a few years before Joe could bring himself to date again, and only then because of Aiko's instance. "I don't want you to be lonely because of me. I'm doing my best to get over it, why don't you?"

But Joe couldn't bring himself to say it. That it wasn't Aiko, but his own inability to do anything right that scared him. What if he ended up in a situation like with Tomaru again? How would he be able to live with himself if he brought any more harm to his child than he already had.

One day, when he came home, Aiko rushed him into the shower, shouting over the water, "Grandma found you a blind date, Dad. You can't only hang out with Brad at work."

"A-Aiko!" Joe had yelped, "Where did she find me a date?"

But his son had just told him impatiently, "Hurry up or you're going to be late."

The first date had been a disaster – it was with a woman. Joe had tried to make it work, told himself that maybe a change like that would lead to better decisions. But she had been too interested, and it had terrified him into giving her a false number and telling Aiko when he came home, "I'm choosing the next one."

At first, Aiko was excited to see his father doing something so normal. He encouraged Joe's dates, and even bought him a schedule book to make sure he kept up with them. But the doctor fell quickly into his old habits of nurses and love hotels. He told himself that he wasn't still waiting for the impossible, but the only comfort he could find was in the calls that came in the dead of night from a man too long taken from him.

A chance meeting in the cemetery during Ohigan had rekindled his friendships with Tai and Izzy, the two men now fathers of twins: a girl, Jaciru, and a boy, Nakayama. Tai's cane and Izzy's glasses hadn't come as too much of a shock, as Tai was still prone to injuring himself in ridiculous ways and Izzy was always one to work late into the night on his computer while forgetting to turn on at least one lamp. Joe knew of a bar just down the street from the hospital, one he'd visited often during his investigation, and thought it would be the perfect place to play catch up with the other Children.

One visit turned into two, and then another a few weeks after. It slowly worked into a kind of monthly schedule. One or more of the Children would end up at the bar and slowly, like moths to a flame, more would show up to drink and reminisce late into the morning. One day, Kari had surprised Joe with a reprint of the photo Tomaru had destroyed, framed in sturdy silver plastic. Joe had been sure to leave early that night to hang it up before Tai could get drunk and break it.

"Kids are resilient," Izzy was saying as Tai reached across their table and whacked Davis with his cane over some dumb joke. "Jaci and Kaya managed perfectly well after Tai's accident."

"Aiko did do well in therapy," Joe agreed, sipping at his fruity concoction that would leave him warm but not drunk. "His last session was a few weeks ago, and I can't believe how happy he's been lately."

Davis took another shot and Tai sipped at his drink that would have been easier to serve still in its bottle instead of wasting a glass.

"It's getting late," the second generation leader said with a yawn. "Daimu has another v-pet competition tomorrow afternoon, and I don't want to deal with all those nerds on top of a hangover."

"Yeah," Tai agreed. "Bug's semi-finals match is tomorrow night, so she's going to be up at the crack of dawn, bouncing all over the damn place." The man reached for his cane and readied himself to begin the process of standing when he looked up at the doorway. "Hey, look – it's Matt."

Joe coughed as his drink tried to lodge itself in his nose, Izzy patting his back reassuringly as Tai waved his cane in the air, screaming at the top of his lungs, "Matt! Hey, Matt! Oiii, Yamato!"

The man in the doorway looked more like a stray cat than any friend the Children had once known, shifting nervously from foot to foot and ready to bolt at a moment's notice. His long, rockstar hair had been cut reasonably, almost professionally, and he was dressed in a plain, light blue jumpsuit, name embroidered in white thread. When he reached up to brush away what remained of his bangs, faded scars were present, almost like he'd gotten in a fight with a window pane and lost.

Matt looked rather uncomfortable with Tai screaming across the almost empty bar, and Joe was certain their waitress, usually a sweet young thing, was getting ready to throw them out. But the blonde took a hesitant step forward, and Tai ordered another round for all of them. Izzy reached out, pulling a chair between him and Joe for Matt to sit at while Tai jabbered away, acting as though his friend's sudden appearance was a daily occurrence.

Matt sat between his friends, looking all at once like he would rather be anywhere else than at a tiny little bar with friends he'd cut off years ago and at the same time that he would rather die than leave his seat. And Joe...

Joe fought to keep himself from blushing at every glance. Tried to keep the alcohol from making him reach out and take Matt's injured hand. He was glad that Tai and Davis were taking the conversation, leading it anywhere but where Joe wanted it.

And when that morning ended, after Joe met Hanako and Tsukuyomi, who loved and worried about their father, Joe collapsed in his bed. He wrapped his arms around his pillow and sighed, breathing deep the scent he would never know.

"Matt... I love you..."

Thank you to everyone who read this! I enjoyed writing it, hopefully, as much as you enjoyed reading it~