At the time I post this it's Taioraweek 2021! The prompt for day 3 was 'Celebration' and after a lot of brainstorming, I came up with this scenario fitting in the 'About universe', hence why I'm posting here.

In the last chapter of 'About all the times he/she kissed me, you have met Yua, Taichi and Sora's oldest daughter. But she's not the only child, there's another daughter (Akiko) and a son (Tatsuki). Or son...
I have planned to write some more Taiora domestic life one-shots and drabbles, and here's the first. It's written from Tatsuki's POV and is set around 19 years after the said last chapter in which Yua is introduced.

I'm also writing for all the other Taioraweek 2021 prompts! I'll eventually post these here on FFN and AO3 as well. But for now, enjoy this one ;)

The reveal

Summary: For the 18th birthday of their third and youngest child Tatsuki, Taichi and Sora have decided to throw a special 'revelation party'.

xxx

With his hands in his pockets he wandered through the streets. He looked up to the clear sky where the sun was high, its beams reaching a place he would never touch, Tatsuki believed. The buildings he walked in between stood tall, compared to the sun reaching a point he could reach, though what would he achieve by reaching that high? Because once up, the only place was going back down again, the only option the speed at which one could descend.

Walking down would slow down the journey back to the bottom, making it more painful to go through. Falling down would be the fastest, easiest and less painful way, but once down, you could never go up again. Falling down meant the end of a sentence, marked by a point or even an exclamation mark, giving of a statement, while walking down would only give him more and more question marks…

Why was he even thinking like this anyway? Tatsuki shook his head, caught by his own deep and dark thoughts. He sighed, then continued his way home, hands still numbed, hidden in the pockets of his hoodie. His eyes carried tears he was unable to cry, feeling no room to do so, because he was a man now and men didn't cry.

Today he had turned 18 and although that was a happy thing, Tatsuki hadn't felt happy at all. Happiness was a thing long gone for him as he was uncomfortable in his own body and uncomfortable with his own depressing thoughts as he had no idea where he belonged or who he was. Or rather what he wanted to be to himself and to the world.

He cursed his school that had never stood up against the bullies that told him to make a choice. He cursed society for always separating men and women. He cursed his two older sisters who were so incredibly gorgeous, he wanted nothing less but to be like them. And he cursed his parents for giving him their damn genes, feeling as if he had inherited all of their bad ones. Unlike his father once was, he wasn't the leader, he had nothing of that fierceness his mother embodied, instead he had inherited the constant doubt of his father, the self-effacing from his mother and the overprotectiveness and self-sacrificing traits from the both of them.

It had scarred him. In multiple ways.

For some reason, he had hoped turning 18 would make him feel less attached to them, happier and wiser, but when the clock had struck twelve at midnight last night and he clinked glasses with the few friends he had, Tatsuki had felt nothing. Exactly nothing. He had laughed it away though, making everyone believe he was ready to follow through with his name by 'achieving brightness', but he knew he never would.

Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, noticing he had arrived at the apartment building where he lived. He looked up to where his floor was, then inhaled deep as he stepped into the building. After all of his thoughts during his walk home, he decided to take the stairs to the 8th floor, bringing him up in the slowest way possible, delaying his arrival home. However, it was a thing inevitable and before he knew it, his feet pointed in the direction of the front door, his eyes falling on the sign with their names.

Taichi & Sora Yagami-Takenouchi
Yua, Akiko & Tatsuki

Wanting to get it over with and skipping the fumbling with his keys in his pocket, he directly reached with his key for the keyhole, turning it and opening the door. Of course he was met with the smell of flowers and food mixed telling him his grandmothers had both been here already. Tatsuki rolled his eyes, but was surprised no one had yet tackled him down at the door.

"Hey, I'm home," he suspiciously said as he closed the door and threw off his shoes. His suspicion only rose more with no one answering him, though he knew there were enough people here looking at the amount of shoes in the rack and listening to the whispering voices coming from the end of the hallway.

Trudging, Tatsuki made his way to the living area where he was blinded by a mix of flowers, balloons, flags and confetti among other decorations, all painted in either blue, pink or white. He raised his eyebrows at all of it, opening his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder.

"I think they went a little too far with this, but it kinda fits, you know." It was his old man. He turned himself around to look at his father.

"Hi dad."

"Happy birthday Tatsuki!" His dad exclaimed before he pulled him into an embarrassing hug. He tried to get out if his grip, but his father was still strong for a 56 year old man.

"Taichi, leave him alone." Came his mother's voice, his father immediately loosening his embrace so his mother could take over with one of her warm and safe ones. "Happy birthday dear," she sweetly said as Tatsuki hugged her back. Even though he blamed his parents a lot, he loved them even more.

Unlike school and society, they had looked out for him, cared for him, protected him and above all loved him for who he is and wanted to be. Tatsuki was grateful for the home they had provided him to grow up in.

"There's the baby!"

"Baby? Shut up, he isn't a baby anymore! Look at how much he has grown."

And his parents hadn't just provided a home to him, but to his two older sisters as well. Akiko, the younger one of the two, always called him 'the baby' ever since she was a little girl and she had never stopped doing that. It annoyed Tatsuki at times, but he was able to live with it and ignore it. His oldest sister Yua, who was over seven years older, had always been super protective over him and she was like a grandma always telling him how much he had grown, making him roll his eyes in the exact same way his mother would do.

They annoyed him, his older sisters, but just like he loved his parents, he loved Yua and Akiko too. They had stood up for him at school, they had schemed little plans together to get back on those bullies, they did his makeup when he wanted to and made him feel loved and accepted. He remembered how they both had proudly said he was their little sister when someone had called him a girl.

"Congratulations Tatsuki!" The sisters exclaimed in unison and Tatsuki smiled, finally feeling a hint of happiness seeping through his gloomy days.

"Thanks," he said while hugging both of them one by one, simultaneously looking around the room to be reminded of all the blue, pink and whiteness. "Although I'm wondering whether I should be the one congratulating one of you?"

His sisters looked at him questioning. His parents didn't give him any kind of other look, the same confusion in their eyes as he had found in his sisters'.

"I mean, it looks more like a baby shower in here. Are you sure you aren't pregnant, Yua?"

"What?! No!"

"Or maybe you, Akiko?" Tatsuki wondered out loud.

"Eehw! No, sheesh! I don't wanna get fat that young,"

"Hey!" His mother responded to Akiko.

"Young lady, are you calling your mother fat? She carried you and your brother and your sister in there, have some respect." His father chimed in, his mother giving him a supportive pat on the shoulder to make him stop. Tatsuki loved his parents and the way they always had their backs.

"Anyway," his mother said, trying to switch the conversation. "I can see why you think this is a baby shower Tatsuki, and to be honest, in some way it kinda is…"

He gave his mother a confused look. "Kinda is what," Tatsuki said out loud skeptically, rudely interrupting his mother, "the celebration of my birth? The person who was born male 18 years ago, but still has no idea what or who he wants to be? How could you celebrate that?! There's nothing to celebrate!"

The tone in his voice was passionate, changing the mood in the room fast, scaring himself with it as well as scaring all of the others present in the room. Except for his parents. He looked at them and they looked back at him, eyes filled with worry and even understanding, though Tatsuki had no idea how they could possibly understand. How they could possibly still be so patient with him.

The tears that had stung behind his eyes since midnight were now desperate to come out and Tatsuki barely held it any longer. He swallowed hard, hoping no one would notice that he was actually on the verge of tears. That he was at his lowest point, wanting to get to that top of the building only to fall down as hard and fast as possible. And if it wasn't for the firm grasp on his shoulder from his father, he would have stormed of.

"Tatsuki," his father spoke, "when you were little, you always told everyone how you wanted your hair to be as long as your sisters' and your mother and I had always found it the most adorable thing about you. You were so sure about what you wanted, so we never told you no, except for that one time maybe... Now, do you remember that one time you asked me to braid your hair for the theater performance you were playing in?" He waited for his son's response. Tatsuki slowly nodded his head recalling the moment in his thoughts.

"Your father told you no because you were a boy and boys didn't braid their hair." The features of his mother's face softened as she continued his father's telling, a small chuckle escaping her. "I can still see how you furrowed your brows at him, how you widened your stance and how your face turned into fire because you were so angry someone told you, especially one of us, to be a boy because you were born male. But Tsuki, honey, in our eyes you were never just a boy."

"Back then we felt so stupid for telling you no, simply because we thought we had to conform to the norms of society. But you never would conform, always the one to carry his, or her, or maybe even their own weight."

"You were so young, but as we became your parents, we committed to supporting you no matter what and so that's what we tried to do in the best way possible. It hasn't always been easy, you weren't much of a talker most of the time, but we tried our best to make you feel loved and welcome, despite the choices you'd make."

The pounding of Tatsuki's heart had slowed down into a steady pace as he listened to the calm but steady voices of his parents. He looked at his sisters who were smiling at him with so much compassion that it nearly choked him, nodding their heads to confirm what their parents were trying to tell him.

"And talking about those choices…" his father picked up after where his mother had left. "We all think you can use some encouragement. I believe you already made your decision, but it's time to let everyone know. So, Sora…"

His father turned his head towards his wife, a big grin on his face, with it showing her his affection towards her, but in some way also his love for his children. A warmth filled Tatsuki's chest, already replacing the dark thoughts that had consumed him earlier during the night and day.

"Because you turn 18 today and will move to your own place during college soon, we wanted to not only celebrate you moving into young adulthood, but also your true identity. So..." a pause. Tatsuki looked in his parents' eyes, trying to read them, but all he saw was proudness and joy. "Welcome to your own gender reveal party. We kept it open whether you want the reveal balloons filled with pink, blue or white confetti." His mother winked.

Tatsuki was dumbfounded. His mouth fell open, amazed by all his mother and father had done for him so far. Just like others would think, Tatsuki thought his parents had gone too far with this, but he was also grateful, thinking he was lucky to be born into the most awesome family in the whole wide world.

"Please, say something…?" The awkward question came from his father, but Tatsuki had no answer. The tears that had bothered him that morning, or actually for all those years, finally got room to stream down his face and instead of talking he flew into his mother's warm embrace.

He felt loved by her. By them. All of them, feeling all of their arms combined in a big family group hug. Maybe that was what had scarred him in the end, not the bad things, but their love and protection. They could drive him up the highest tower, making him look down wondering whether he should just fall, but now he knew he could never choose the fastest way down, always choosing the stairs, descending slowly, safely protected by the love of his family. They would make sure he would achieve any kind of brightness in his life.

They. He let that word run through his mind for a brief moment, liking the sound of it. Tatsuki smiled, finally knowing and able to accept that he would not only turn 18 today.

Today he would turn into they.

xxx

Some Taiora children name explanation:

Yua (結愛) means 'tied by love/affection', because Taichi and Sora had always had a super strong connection.

Akiko (秋子) means 'Autumn child'. Personally, I love autumn colors on both Taichi and Sora and I like to believe they had a girl born in autumn. Also a little wink/nod to noctisfishing's 'Colors in Autumn' ;)

Tatsuki (達輝) funnily enough is a gender neutral name! Tatsu means 'achieving' and the kanji I used for ki means 'brightness', so I kind of juggled with those two words in the one-shot above. I'm not entirely sure though whether that ki-kanji really says brightness or even 'ki' at all (I have no idea if the combination of that tatsu-kanji and ki-kanji is a thing, I really did my best to look it up, but it's hard), because Google Translate tells me something different... Also funfact: Sora calls him 'Tsuki' once as a nickname and Tsuki is a girl's name which means moon (written with another kanji of course) and I love the idea of Taichi being the resemblence of a sun while his son/child is like a moon.