Guess which loser has two thumbs and is back after less than 24 hours? Hahaha it's me. I actually didn't expect to update so quickly and I most certainly didn't expect to gain this many favourites and follows in such a short time, so I just want to thank everybody who's read this so far and I deeply appreciate your response.

To Letty-Chan19: Don't worry, this is NOT any type of nsfw so there are no pairings. I intended to make it PG from the start. Even if I wanted it to be like that, I can't write nsfw for shit. I leave that to the professional bitches over on AO3. Now that stuff is high class.

Anyway, on to the chapter!

Chapter 2

Mibuchi, Hayama, and Nebuya expected several different scenarios on why Seijuro would be late to the gymnasium this supposedly 'normal' Sunday. Not a single one of those scenarios involved Seijuro showing up to the building with a small child in tow, especially not with such a nonchalant expression on his face.

The second awkward silence was broken by Hayama.

"Um, Akashi," he began. "What's with the little kid?"

"You never said you were bringing a kid," said Nebuya. "He looks just like you."

"Like a mini Sei-chan!" Mibuchi gushed. "He really does look exactly like you. Who is he?"

Seijuro sighed. How was he to break the news to them? While he did say he would explain, would his story be believable at all? Even he was still trying to believe it himself. However, he would rather not flounder around for words. Not to mention the fact that if he didn't tell them the truth, he was almost certain that Bokushi would speak up and say something.

"Alright. I'll tell you who he is. It is of utmost importance that you don't tell anyone." Everyone nodded and leaned in closer as if Seijuro was about to reveal the biggest secret in the world.

"Hayama, Nebuya, Mibuchi… do you remember my other self?"

The three tensed at the mention of this since it was only after the Winter Cup that Seijuro revealed to them his …condition.

To put it bluntly, he had some form of Dissociative Identity Disorder. That tyrannical other side to him materialized after he had been pushed over the edge in the third year of Teiko, maybe even before that, due to his less-than-ideal childhood experiences. But now that this other personality had finally disappeared, they had assumed that was that, and nothing more was said about this sensitive topic. Why was he bringing it up now?

"Yes, we do," Mibuchi said hesitantly. "What does he have to do with this exactly?"

"Well," Seijuro gestured to the young boy by his side "Somehow, he turned into a five-year-old."

The three blanked out when he said this, trying to register this groundbreaking news. When it finally sunk into their heads, Nebuya awkwardly coughed.

"Uhm, this is a joke, right?"

"Nebuya, do I look like the type of person to tell a joke?" Seijuro deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at him. "You know humor isn't my strong suit."

"Well, how did this happen?" Nebuya asked. "How did your other personality turn into a kid?"

"Yeah," Hayama chimed in. "Isn't that, like, impossible?"

"Apparently not," Seijuro replied. "He just suddenly appeared out of nowhere in my room, and I know it's him because he knows things only I would know."

They looked down at the child, who was looking back at them with that vacant stare of his.

"Well, if that's the case, then I believe him," Mibuchi said to the others. "Sei-chan isn't the type of person to lie like that."

"Yeah, he must be telling the truth," said Nebuya.

"I think so too," said Hayama.

Hayama bent down to be at eye level with the child before giving one of his usual friendly smiles.

"Hi, little guy!" he said cheerfully. "Do you have a name or something?"

"Bokushi," the boy answered.

"Boku…shi?" Mibuchi said in confusion, looking to Seijuro for an explanation.

"Well," said Seijuro, "Since he's also an Akashi, but addresses himself with the 'boku' pronoun, I thought it was more convenient to call him Bokushi."

"Ahhh, I see. That's clever. As expected of Sei-chan." Mibuchi hummed in thought and then turned to the child. "So… if it's Bokushi, then can I call you Boku-chan?"

Bokushi paused, then looked away. "I don't mind," he said.

Mibuchi laughed and patted his head. "You're so cute."

Seijuro tried to remove the slightly sour look on his face. He thought he was the only one who got the privilege of being called a nickname. He didn't expect Bokushi to be called one.

No, he was definitely not being jealous, definitely not. He just thought it wasn't necessary to give his other self a nickname.

Well technically, the nickname wasn't even Seijuro's to begin with. When he joined Rakuzan, it was Bokushi's personality that took control, and for the past school year, that is who Mibuchi had been calling 'Sei-chan', not him. But he was still slightly irritated for some reason, watching Bokushi getting the same treatment he had.

Maybe he shouldn't have brought him.

"So, now that your other self is a little kid, does that mean you're an older brother?" Hayama asked.

Seijuro blinked. "An older brother?"

"Yeah! Since he's, like, half of you, that makes him your blood relative."

Seijuro looked down into Bokushi's eyes. "Is that what you want to be called? Do you want to be called my younger brother?"

Bokushi tore his eyes away from him in favor of looking at the ground instead. He shifted from one foot to another, making Seijuro puzzled over his strange behavior.

"Okay," he said. Seijuro was about to turn his attention back to the other three until Bokushi tugged at his hand. "Then… I should call you Seijuro, yes?"

Seijuro didn't even register what he said properly. "I'm sorry?"

"I said… I should call you Seijuro. Since we're brothers…"

That's right. Now that he thought about it, Seijuro realized that he was never addressed by name in his subconscious. They've talked many times in the years that they shared the same mind, but not once had his other self actually called him by his name. He hadn't realized how strange it was until Bokushi addressed him by his first name just now. And by the look on his face, he hadn't adjusted to it either. His cheeks were very faintly red, and he was still averting eye contact.

Seijuro chuckled and shook his head. How cute, he thought.

"I got it!" said Mibuchi. "Boku-chan, why don't you add the honorific with his name too?"

"An honorific?" Bokushi asked.

"Yes, an honorific!" Mibuchi confirmed. "To make it feel like you're really brothers."

"Oh." He thought for a moment. "Then, S-Seijuro-nii?"

He seemed slightly unsure of himself when testing out the unfamiliar honorific. Almost as if he wasn't used to using terms of endearment. Either way, Seijuro didn't mind and was rather pleased with his new name.

"That's fine with me," he said.

"Now that that's been settled," said Nebuya, "Let's play some basketball!"

"Oh! Ei-chan, let's have a one-on-one!"

"You're on!"

While Hayama and Nebuya ran off to retrieve another basketball, Mibuchi picked up the basketball he was using off the floor and was about to join the other two until he turned around.

"Are you coming, Sei-chan?"

"Hmm…" Seijuro's eyes went from Bokushi to Mibuchi and then to Bokushi again. He wasn't sure what to answer until Bokushi answered for him.

"It's fine, I'll just wait," he said. "You can go play."

"Thank you, Bokushi," Seijuro said, appreciating how understanding he was. "You can go wait by the side if you want."

Bokushi silently obeyed and sat himself by the side of the court as Seijuro went to practice with the others.

After Hayama and Nebuya finished their one-on-one while Mibuchi and Seijuro practiced their shooting, it eventually went into a two-vs-two match, with Seijuro and Mibuchi on one team and Hayama and Nebuya on the other.

Bokushi watched as Hayama used his super-fast dribble against Mibuchi and drove past, passing to Nebuya to make a dunk. Since he was still a part of Seijuro in a way, he still had some knowledge that Seijuro had, such as the Uncrowned Kings' skillset. So he wasn't surprised in the least when Seijuro and Mibuchi returned the favor, Seijuro getting past Nebuya's screen and knocking the ball out of Hayama's hand.

However, he knocked the ball out of his hand too forcefully and the ball bounced out of the court, rolling towards Bokushi's feet. Bokushi looked down at the ball before picking it up, standing up as Seijuro came running over.

"Sorry about that," he said, coming to a stop. "May I have the ball?"

As Bokushi transferred the ball from his hands to Seijuro's, Seijuro noticed the way his fingers dragged along the ball for just a second too long as he relinquished it to him.

He smiled.

"Bokushi, did you want to play?"

"…Play?"

He looked over to the other three, who were waving him over.

"Come on over, Bokushi!" Hayama shouted.

"Yeah show us a couple moves," Nebuya said with a grin.

"It can't be fun just sitting by yourself," said Mibuchi. "Come here."

Bokushi looked back up at Seijuro.

"Go on," Seijuro encouraged. "They want you to play."

Bokushi nodded and padded over with the ball, Seijuro following after to join the rest of them on the court again.

...

The little match they had was entertaining enough. Mibuchi decided to be the referee and switch out because he wanted Bokushi to play on Seijuro's team. That, and he was sure that he'd definitely be distracted if he had to play against the team captain and his 'mini-me' in a practice game.

Hayama and Nebuya planned to go easy on the other team because they'd look like real jerks if they tried to steal the ball or dunk on a five-year-old, so when Bokushi approached the two dribbling the ball, they let their guard down.

Unfortunately for them, Bokushi may have been a child, but he did retain his basketball skills from before, so Hayama and Nebuya hadn't realized that their ankles had been broken until they had already hit the floor and Bokushi made a basket. Mibuchi burst out laughing on the spot at their surprised faces while Seijuro let out a small laugh himself, telling his other self that he did a good job.

After twenty minutes or so of playing, they decided to end the game and take a break.

"That was a good game," Seijuro said, walking off the court with Bokushi. The other three were either sitting or standing around the benches.

"At the very least, it was funny," Mibuchi said, glancing pointedly at Hayama and Nebuya and then sipping from his water bottle before they could retort.

Seijuro looked down at Bokushi, who was panting lightly. "Are you doing alright?"

Bokushi nodded. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" said Seijuro. "I'll give you some water. My bottle is just by the bench over there in my bag."

Seijuro made his way over and sat down on the bench, reaching into his bag to retrieve his water bottle. Bokushi went over to the bench as well and tried to hoist himself onto it, but it seemed that the bench was a bit too tall for him, and he just looked ridiculous trying practically heave himself onto it one limb at a time.

Seijuro saw him struggling and looked vaguely amused. "Are you having trouble?"

"No, I'm not," said Bokushi, now trying a different approach to getting on the bench by putting his leg onto it first.

Seijuro raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to he—"

"No thank you."

Seijuro expected nothing less. Stubborn as always, he thought.

He put his bag down and slid his hands under Bokushi's arms, lifting him onto his lap. Bokushi was clearly surprised, but if Seijuro had noticed his expression at all, he chose to ignore it, and he handed him a bottle.

"Here," he said. "You're probably thirsty aren't you?"

Bokushi stared at the bottle for some time before he reached out and took it, muttering a quiet 'Thank you' in reply.

While he busied himself with the water bottle, everyone else talked about other things such as what everyone did over the weekend, anything that happened in class, and then just about miscellaneous things, until the point where Seijuro looked down to ask Bokushi why he was being so quiet, only to find out that he had fallen asleep.

"Ah, when did this happen?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked down at Bokushi as well, seeing he had probably been long asleep before they even noticed.

"Aww, he must have been tired after the match," Mibuchi said, taking a moment to just fawn over Bokushi's sleeping form.

Seijuro sighed. "I told him to sleep before we left, but he wouldn't listen." He fussed with the bangs on Bokushi's face and then took the water bottle from him to put back into his bag.

"So, Sei-chan," Mibuchi said. "What are you going to do with him?"

Seijuro fell silent for a moment. "I know once I go back to Tokyo next weekend, he'll live in my house. But I don't know what to do until then. He'll probably just have to stay in my room because I can't risk anyone finding him."

"It'll be pretty hard for him to stay in there all day while you're in class though," said Nebuya. "He'd probably get hungry during that time."

"Hmm. Well, we do have the kitchen on our floor. If I make something and put it in the fridge, then surely no one would have a problem with it and it wouldn't look suspicious."

"Ohhh good idea!" said Hayama. "And it's only for five days, you've got nothing to worry about!"

"I guess you're right. It shouldn't be too much of a problem."

With that, they concluded the practice and decided to head back to the dorms to shower and change. Bokushi still hadn't woken up by the time everyone had risen from the benches, so Seijuro had to carry him as they all walked back.

Once they got into the corridor where all their rooms were located, they had to part ways. They all said their mutual goodbyes, the three Uncrowned Kings saying they'd come to check up on them every once in a while during the week, and then they each went into their separate rooms.

Seijuro quietly shut the door, put his bag down by his desk, and laid Bokushi in the bed. Making sure he was comfortable, he grabbed his towel and a set of clothes and stepped into the bathroom, leaving him to sleep in peace.

…

Thirty minutes later, Bokushi stirred in the bed and opened his eyes slightly. The lights were off and he couldn't see much of anything, so he sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, trying to forcefully make them adjust to the dark.

"Have you woken up?"

Bokushi jolted at the sudden voice and swiveled his head toward the source and found Seijuro looking up from his laptop.

"Sorry, did I startle you?"

"No," said Bokushi. "I'm fine."

"That's fine then. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes."

"Good. I was thinking we could go shopping later on in the afternoon since it can't possibly be hygienic for you to wear the same outfit five days in a row."

Bokushi looked down at the clothes he was wearing. A white collared cotton shirt and some black trousers, his shoes were probably somewhere on the floor. Seijuro was right, he couldn't keep this outfit for five days straight. Besides, nothing good ever came from wearing a white shirt more than twice anyway.

"And another thing…"

Bokushi looked back up at Seijuro.

"I also wanted to go food shopping, so you'll have to tell me what you want so I can buy some ingredients and make it for you tomorrow. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes. That sounds okay." Bokushi finished the end of his sentence with a yawn, and Seijuro suppressed an amused chuckle.

"If you're still tired, you don't have to keep yourself up. It's alright if you sleep."

Bokushi stared. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Seijuro hid his surprise at that question. When Bokushi took control of him, never did he ask anyone for permission, not even Seijuro himself. The only time he did was during the Jabberwock vs Vorpal Swords match when Seijuro requested that Bokushi switch with him. Nevertheless, Seijuro reassured him.

"It's perfectly fine. We can leave when you wake up later."

"Okay."

Bokushi went back under the covers and was grateful to be able to close his eyes again. Watching him finally settle, Seijuro seemed satisfied once more.

"Sleep well," he said.

There was a long pause, and Seijuro assumed that he didn't hear him, so he went back to his online shogi game on his laptop when he heard a quiet reply.

"Thank you."

Seijuro looked back at the bed, where Bokushi had already pulled the covers over his head. He blinked as he processed the phrase of gratitude before exhaling a small breath of air akin to a laugh.

What a strange child he was.

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