It was a nice day to go out and get a whiff of fresh air.
Sure, it was for a little while just to get some groceries, but it brought a smile to Chiro's face. It even allowed him some outside alone time with Sprx, of whom rested his head on Chiro's shoulder. He occasionally looked at Sprx on the way back, including just now. His eyes were closed and Chiro was sure his tail swung back and forth without needing to look. He put his hand up to his face and caressed him with his thumb. Chiro kissed his head which got the pink pilot to chuckle.
He switched between looking at him and in front of him. What he saw in the corner of his eye made him stop and stare. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. Chiro could swear that he felt the color drain from his face. It took him a moment of staring for him to register that what he saw was actually the case. Sprx opened his eyes to look at him then what he was looking at.
Two people Chiro hadn't seen in a long time casually walked through the sidewalk. One had short black hair with brown eyes while the other had long amber and silver-streaked hair with blue eyes. Their age showed, but Chiro could tell who they were. His lips pressed together. He wanted to move, run away as fast as he could before they could spot him, but his body was frozen from the mere sight of them. He wished he was seeing things.
Before he knew it, they were coming his way. When they got close enough, the woman hugged him.
"Oh, Chiro! It's been so long!" She started before she pulled away. "Look at you, you're all grown up now!"
"It's weird knowing our boy's a man now!" He added.
Chiro was starting to feel uncomfortable with how close and touchy they got. His heart pounded and he was ready to sweat. Sprx noticed this and used his tail to push them away. He glared at them both while his hold on Chiro became tighter and firmer.
"Who are you two and why-"
"They're my parents." Chiro flatly answered.
Sprx's eyes widened and looked back and forth between Chiro and his parents.
"I thought ya said they were dead."
"I thought they were."
I wished they were, Chiro thought.
"We apologize for being gone for so long!" His mother said. "Who is your little pet anyways?"
"Pet?!"
"He's not a pet, he's my teammate." He responded. "Sprx, my parents Nao and Lestari. Nao, Lestari, Sprx."
"You don't have to be so formal! What happened to calling us Mom and Dad?" Lestari asked.
Nao patted Chiro's shoulder, causing him to slightly flinch.
"We should catch up! I want to know what you've been doing!"
Chiro nervously chuckled. "Sure, uh, just let me get these back home. I'll, um, catch up with you then."
"Of course! Take your time!" Nao responded.
He forced a smile before he sped off. He took a deep breath. Chiro needed to relax, it was possible he was overreacting. After all, he didn't remember much about them before he was ten, and whatever he did remember might've been exaggerated to make them worse than they really were. They were absent, sure, but both of them had jobs and they couldn't have been around all the time.
Why it took them so long to get back from their supposed business trip, he didn't know and thought it was so they could get away from him, but Chiro was willing to give them another chance. They looked happy to see him again, so it could've been him misconstruing everything in his head from wanting affection and somebody to pay attention to him at the time.
He didn't know, but what he did know was that he felt nervous. He felt overwhelmed with the sudden attention they gave him the moment they came back to his life. Whether it was a good thing or not, he wasn't sure. Maybe he'd know with a little more time with them.
"Yo, Kid," Sprx started.
It snapped Chiro out of his thoughts and he looked at him.
"Ya don't have to be all buddy buddy with them, y'know. If they're awful then it's okay, I get it. They'll get it, too."
"I know," Chiro replied as he slowed down to normal walking speed. "I… just might've construed everything wrong, y'know? Maybe they're not as bad as I remember."
Sprx frowned and sighed. "Doubt it. They don't seem that great to me, but if ya wanna try to be friendly with them, be my guest."
Chiro kissed his forehead. "Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, I'll let you and the others know."
Sprx nodded, but his expression stayed the same.
When they got back to the Super Robot, Sprx grabbed the bag and got down. Chiro bent down and cupped his face. He kissed his forehead then his lips. He removed one hand and caressed his cheek with his thumb.
"I'll be back soon." He gave Sprx an assuring smile.
"Ya better, Kid. If not, I'm gonna hafta be that husband that takes ya away right in front of them!"
Chiro laughed.
"Hey, ya think I'm jokin', but I'll do it!" Sprx continued.
Chiro cleared his throat and kept himself from laughing more. His huge smile remained on his face. He kissed him again.
"Yeah, yeah." Chiro was close to playfully rolling his eyes. "Go ahead and get everything put away."
Sprx chuckled before he went inside. Chiro then let go of a breath he held in as he looked at the direction they came from. He walked back to them. He braced himself for the worst. Chiro shouldn't have to, but he wanted to be ready for every possibility when it came to them.
He returned to the spot they walked up to him at. They weren't there anymore. Chiro looked around in hopes that they weren't too far away. The second he laid his eyes on them again, Nao saw him as well. He waved at him and Lestari looked in Chiro's direction. Chiro sighed in relief before he walked over to them. He sat down in the empty third seat. They smiled at him, both looking genuinely happy.
It put his mind at ease; it seemed like he was overthinking the whole thing.
Lestari rested on her palm. "So what have you been doing for all of these years?"
"I don't know if you guys know about the Hyperforce, but I'm basically their leader." Chiro started. "I've been helping to protect the universe since I was thirteen. I've fallen in love, gotten married, and now I'm helping the team raise the kids."
None of it was a lie, but he didn't want to dump the fact that he was with Sprx and therefore the kids were his own as well. It seemed like it would be too much too soon and he wanted to ease them into everything. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to surprise them with that later on.
"That's amazing! Who did you marry?" Nao asked.
Chiro started grinning like an idiot. "Well, two of them are Jinmay and Slingshot. They're both amazing people, I couldn't not marry them. I can't wait for you to meet them!"
"We can't wait to meet them either! I'm so proud of you, Chiro!" Lestari exclaimed. "However…"
Chiro's smile faded. His fight or flight response was ready to kick in. It shouldn't have gotten him on guard like that. It was something he hadn't felt in a long time and he wished it stayed that way.
"Have you done anything else besides that? Any jobs in between, traveling, anything like that?"
He shook his head. "I've been to other worlds, but that's mostly from us trying to protect the universe. I'm pretty happy where I'm at right now."
Lestari's smile slightly faltered and became smaller. He had a feeling that would happen. Nao's expression stayed the same however. He was taking this better than Chiro hoped. He leaned in closer with a raised eyebrow.
"So are all of your teammates monkeys?" Nao asked.
"Aside from Jinmay, yeah. They're all great, they've been there for me when nobody else has. They're more than just my teammates, they're my family."
He smiled. "I'm glad our Chiro has been well taken cared of! I can't wait to meet them!"
The end of Chiro's lip curled slightly up. As much as he wanted to smile, he couldn't. There was one unresolved thing that lingered in his mind. He looked at them in their eyes.
"...Why were you gone for so long? It's been nearly twenty years." He asked.
They looked at each other in concern. It was like they had a silent conversation without him and he didn't know what was going on. Nao nodded before they looked back at Chiro.
"You know that business trip we were on?" Lestari asked. Chiro slowly and hesitantly nodded. "We were on Earth for a couple weeks as planned, but a lot of things happened and we were stuck there and only a few months ago were we able to make our way back here."
He nodded again, though he didn't believe it. There was no way they'd be stuck for that long. While Earth's technology wasn't as good as what they had on Shuggazoom, they still had good enough tech to repair what they were traveling on. Not to mention if anything bad happened there, it wouldn't take nearly two decades for them to come back. As much as he doubt their explanation, Chiro didn't say anything. He wasn't there to see everything that happened and he wanted to be on their good side, so he didn't say anything for now.
Besides, if everything went well, it meant that the kids get to have good grandparents. Chiro didn't get to know his grandparents, they supposedly passed away before he was born. It didn't have to be the same for the kids if it was possible.
A waiter gave them their menus and left. Chiro picked up his and started reading through it. In the middle of it, he heard laughing from across the table. He lowered it to see Lestari and Nao talking and laughing.
"Oh, remember how that woman tripped and everything flew out of her hands?"
"It was terrible, but I admit it was funny."
Chiro cleared his throat. "I'm, uh, still here."
They looked at him. "Ah, our apologies, Chiro!" Lestari responded.
"So how many monkeys are there in your team?" Nao sipped his drink.
"Well, there's five, fifteen if you wanna count the kids." Chiro answered.
Nao nearly spat out his drink and started coughing. Lestari's jaw dropped hearing his reply.
"Ten kids?! How do you take care of so many?!"
"Everyone helps out, myself included." Chiro explained. "If none of us can do it, or there's only one person to take care of them, we have Jinmay and Slingshot to come help out."
"And... They wanted that many kids?" Nao asked.
Chiro nodded. "Yeah. They can be a lot at times, but we wouldn't change a thing. They're all great kids! Though if we're gonna have more, we're definitely not gonna do multiple at once again."
He simply laughed while Nao and Lestari stared in shock.
"That's just..."
"Decuplets? Who carried them?!" Lestari questioned.
"Oh, Nova didn't carry and birth them." Chiro replied. "They were genetically created from all the monkeys' DNA. If you wanna meet them, they're in the Super Robot. You can come by anytime."
Lestari smiled. "We'd love to meet the little ones!"
They continued talking and catching up. After eating, they went around Shuggazoom City. There were times that they forgot Chiro was there again, and Chiro heard things he definitely didn't want to hear from his parents, but he put it aside.
They were trying their best... Right?
Chiro smiled looking at the tube.
They only had a few more months left before being born. When it came to them, it felt like it was taking an eternity. He supposed that was the excitement and anticipation in him speaking. Sprx patted his shoulder. He wanted to come and see how Kaminari was coming along as well. He knew how excited Chiro was, but he had to reassure him that they'd come soon enough, that he had to calm down his excitement some.
The little platinum blonde fetus was curled up in a ball. Their arms and legs were pressed against their chest and their tiny, underdeveloped tail was curled inwards. It hid their privates, not even allowing anyone to know if they were gonna be born a boy or a girl. They were tiny, but at the same time they weren't at the size they could be. All Chiro focused on was their little face.
Sprx brushed two of his fingers on Chiro's cheek. Chiro chuckled and grabbed his hand, holding it in his own.
"Ya know, they ain't born yet, but they got your face." Sprx started.
"Maybe, but I bet they have your eyes." Chiro responded.
Sprx moved his hand down. He smiled and buried his face into Chiro's shoulder. His tail crept up to wrap itself around Chiro's arm, however they heard someone behind them clear their throat. Chiro turned around to see Antauri at the doorway. His tail touched the ground as he looked at Chiro.
"There's two people outside." They started. "They claim to be your... parents, and they're waiting for us to allow them in. Do we?"
There was a hint of a sour sound to his voice when he said 'parents', Chiro noticed. He walked out and the door closed behind him. Chiro turned to the screen to see Lestari and Nao at the foot of the robot, just like Antauri said. It had been a couple weeks ever since he told them that they could visit them anytime. They'd hung out a few more times and while they were out of touch on things he liked or what happened on Shuggazoom, they didn't seem to have any ill intentions.
Chiro supposed now they felt like they could come in without it feeling too weird or sudden. He wasn't too sure about disclosing certain things with them yet, but it was simply him not feeling ready yet. He looked back at Antauri, who kept his eyes on him.
"Yeah, let them in. They're telling the truth." Chiro responded.
The Super Robot's foot opened up. From what Chiro could see from the screen, the two were taken aback from the sudden opening. It wasn't like that for long however as they then walk inside. Chiro then faced the tubes as he awaited their arrival. They then came in through two of the tubes, both landing on their asses. Otto ran over to them and helped them up before Chiro could. He greeted them with the biggest smile on his face.
Lestari and Nao got back on their feet. Nao brushed himself off and looked around at everyone in the room while Lestari bowed. Antauri, Sprx, Gibson, and Otto were the only ones in the room at that moment. Chiro didn't remember where Nova was, but he knew that either she had to come there or they had to go to her and the kids.
"Thank you for helping us up." Lestari said.
Otto chuckled. "It's nothin'! I'm Otto!"
Nao took his hand and shook it. "Ah yes, we've heard about you! Chiro didn't mention you guys were cybernetic. Well, most of you anyways."
"I didn't think I had to," Chiro nervously laughed.
"I apologize if we didn't meet your expectations." Antauri remained polite.
"Not at all, Antani!"
"It's Antauri." They corrected.
"Oh, my apologies!" Nao said.
Chiro noticed how Sprx kept quiet. His eyes were glued onto them, leering with a warning attached to them. He held Sprx's hand tighter and rubbed it with his thumb, trying to reassure him that things would be alright and he didn't have to worry.
Gibson walked up to them with his hand out.
"I'm Mr. Hal Gibson, however I prefer that you don't call me Mister or Hal." Gibson introduced himself. "I'm the team's medic and scientist."
"Ah, so you're the one who was able to make the kids a reality!" Lestari responded.
Gibson chuckled with a smug grin. "You could say that. However, everyone had a part in it."
"I hope so," Sprx snickered, "'cause where else are they gonna get my good looks?"
He playfully rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Sprx."
Antauri simply stood there as he chuckled. Chiro softly smiled at the sight.
"Do either of you want a snack or drink?" Otto asked.
Nao simply raised his hand with a 'no thank you' while Lestari smiled.
"Just some water, thank you." She requested.
Otto walked out the room. While he left, Nova came in while she stretched. She plopped onto her chair with a relieved sigh. Nova only noticed the guests after a minute. She looked at them before looking at everyone else.
"Who are they?" She asked.
"My parents, Nao and Lestari." Chiro answered.
Nova looked at them again before standing back up. She kept her eyes on them. She held her hand out.
"Name's Nova." She introduced herself. Lestari grabbed her hand and shook it, but Nova pulled her down. "However, please don't refer to me or any of my partners as Chiro's 'pets'. None of us appreciate being lessened like that."
"No-Nova! They didn't mean to call Sprx that, it's okay!" Chiro said.
Nova glared at him. "Maybe, but if they do it again, I'm not gonna hold back."
Sprx simply snickered at that.
"While I didn't like it, it was a simple mistake." Antauri spoke. "Let them be, Nova."
Nova let go of Lestari's hand and sat back down. Sprx jumped off and sat next to Nova. His tail wrapped around hers. Chiro nervously chuckled as he turned his attention back to them.
"I'm sorry about Nova, she's just protective." Chiro explained.
"Oh, it's no problem! I get it," Nao responded.
"So," Lestari looked around again, "where are the little ones?"
"I just finished putting the kids to bed." Nova answered.
"I'm afraid you won't see them until tomorrow." Gibson added.
They looked at the screen that showed outside of the Super Robot before looking at each other. Looks of confusion filled their faces. Nao then looked at Gibson.
"But it's only nine."
"They'd been up for fifteen hours!" Otto made his way through and gave Lestari her cup. "We thought it was best to put them to bed early."
"I see," the woman took her drink and sipped it. "Chiro, why do you insist on helping them with their children? They're not yours, so while I understand wanting to help out, they seem able to do so by themselves."
Chiro frowned and his eyebrows furrowed.
"They're my team and my family, of course I would help out. Besides, they are my kids, and it's been that way since they were born." Chiro responded coldly.
Lestari scoffed. "They're just lab animals. What attachment would you have with them? If you want kids, then get some."
All the monkeys glared at her, even Otto himself. Chiro's lips pressed together.
"Just lab animals? They're alive, they have feelings, and they're our kids." Chiro snapped. "Whether you like it or not, they're mine as well!"
"Why do you keep insisting on such a thing? How would they even be yours if you're merely an uncle at best?"
His hands clenched into balls of fists. "The kids may call me an uncle, but I'm one of their dads! It doesn't matter if they're biologically theirs, I'm technically their dad too because I'm with Sprx!"
Chiro didn't mean to say that last part, but he didn't care at this point. No one was going to tell him that the kids he raised and loved weren't his own like they knew better than him and get away with it. It didn't matter to him that they were his parents.
Lestari physically moved back while her eyes widened and her nose scrunched up and wrinkled. Her free hand quickly covered her mouth. She tightened her grip on the cup. Nao just stood there with wide eyes, his mouth was agape, and his eyebrows were raised, not to mention his eyes were unfocused. It left them both speechless. Everyone went to Chiro's sides, ready to have his back. Sprx wrapped his tail around Chiro's wrist.
Lestari removed her hand from her face, revealing that her upper lip was curled slightly upwards. Her eyebrows then arched.
"Leaving you here was a mistake, you've gone wild!"
"I've gone wild?" Chiro pointed at her. "You abandoned me from the start! You were never here for me when I needed parents!"
He swung his arm to his side.
"The team has taken better care of me than you two ever have! They never tried to control my future or discourage me from things that I wanted to do in life like you do!"
"We only want what's best for you!"
"No you don't!" Chiro nearly yelled. "You want me to be what you want me to be! You want me to be an exact copy of you two! You want me to be what you wanted to be in life! Well, you know what? I'm not taking it! I've been better to my kids than you've ever been with me. None of them have been abandoned because I didn't feel like taking care of kids, no I've been there whenever they needed me!"
She groaned in disgust. "We should've gotten rid of you from the start you ungrateful, horrible brat!"
"Watch what you say towards Chiro!" Antauri readied their ghost claws. "He's the opposite of what you call him! He's strong, brave, appreciative, and he's kindhearted. I don't know how you're supposed to be his mother when you clearly don't care about him!"
"I'm not as close to Chiro as the rest of the team are, but you're incorrect! Compiling onto what Antauri said, he's helped many people and he most certainly knows how to treat others!"
"I never liked ya from the moment ya called me a pet, but I tried ta be nice to ya because Chiro wanted to give ya another chance! I ain't lettin' ya treat my husband like this!"
"Chiro's a fighter, so if you think he's gonna let you get to him, you're wrong!" Nova's fists collided with one another. "He's like a son to me, more than you ever treated him!"
"Even if you get past him, you'll have to deal with us too!"
Lestari growled. She turned to Nao.
"Help me out here, Nao!"
Right after that, someone came through the tubes. Everyone looked at the tubes to see Jasper rubbing her eyes. They must've been loud, which Chiro mentally scolded himself for. None of the kids were supposed to wake up during any of this.
"Mama, dadth, what'th going on?" She looked up at everyone. "Who are they?"
Nao looked at Lestari then at Jasper. He then grabbed her by the neck and lifted her in the air. He pulled out a knife and held it to her throat. She started crying as she kept her eye on the blade. It made everybody get into a fighting stance except Chiro. The Super Robot itself pulled out weapons and aimed it at the two.
"One wrong move, and I'll hurt the child!" He threatened.
Chiro snarled. It was one thing to threaten him, it was another to threaten the team, but it was something completely different when it came to the kids. The fact that they were willing to stoop this low just for him to do what they wanted made Chiro's blood boil. The Power Primate came forth, lifting him off the ground. His eyes and primate body glowed its green color, shining off the two that stood before him. He leered at them with one thing in mind.
Get them away from one of his children.
It didn't matter how scared they looked, they picked the wrong person to piss off. Jasper stopped crying when she saw the Power Primate.
"Put down my daughter or you'll be sorry, that I can promise you." Chiro said.
Nao did exactly that. He let go of her and she fell to the ground. She ran behind Nova and stayed there, peaking at them. Nova caressed her head. Chiro didn't lighten up on the stare.
"I want you both to leave my home. I never want to see you around my family nor this city ever again. If you ever hurt any of my kids, even the one that's on the way, I'll hunt you down."
"Wha-Whatever you say!" Nao forced out.
"Of course!" Lestari said at the same time as Nao.
"Now go."
Without a second to spare, they ran to the tubes and ran out of the Super Robot. Water spilled onto the floor as the cup rolled. The Power Primate went back in and Chiro was gently put down. He went to Jasper. He picked her up into a hug. She held him tightly.
"I'm so sorry you got involved in this, Jasper. It'll never happen again, I promise."
She cried into his shoulder.
Chiro sat there in his orb chair.
He felt the heat of the hot chocolate brush along his face. He didn't take another sip of it, he didn't look at anything in particular, nothing. All Chiro did was think about the night before and blame himself for what happened. If he didn't give his parents another chance and try to get along with them, everything wouldn't have gotten bad to that point. If he trusted his gut and his memories, Jasper wouldn't have gotten close to getting hurt by them.
Chiro wasn't the best parent, far from it, but he knew that he was better than his own. Despite that, his latest actions didn't display that. His lips pursed together, wondering why he didn't ignore them and pretend they weren't there to begin with.
He felt a hand touch his shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Chiro." He looked at Antauri. "You didn't know that would happen."
"But I knew they weren't great." He looked away. "They never paid attention to me or anything, why did I try with them?"
"Because you felt they were worth a second chance. There's times where second chances should be given, but you won't always know if it's the right thing to do or if it'll work out. You wanted to make peace with them, but in the end it didn't work, and that's okay." Antauri answered.
Chiro looked at him again, this time with wider eyes. "...Really?"
They nodded. "Harm was prevented and you now know for sure you don't want them in your life again. You don't have to be kind to those who harmed you, especially if those people are your biological creators."
Chiro softly smiled. He set down the cup and hugged them.
"Thank you, Antauri, I needed that." He pulled away. "How's Jasper? Is she doing okay?"
"Still a little shaken up, but aside from that she's fine."
He sighed in relief. "Good."
Ever since then, nobody on the team saw Chiro's parents again.
