Chiro simply rested his head on Kaminari's head.
The Sun Riders was on, though he didn't pay that much attention to it this time around. He'd seen every episode about a thousand times already, he could afford to space out some. Sprx sat next to them, leaning his back against Chiro's side. Antauri sat in another chair with a book in hand and some tea next to the seat. He wasn't paying attention to the show whatsoever, his attention was more on the book than anything else.
Everyone else was out with the decuplets. They figured it'd be good to spend some time outside with them. Kaminari was the only one who didn't wanna leave the Super Robot, so Chiro, Sprx, and Antauri stayed behind. Antauri would've stayed behind regardless to take advantage of the peace and quiet that would be given to them. On the other hand, Chiro and Sprx wanted to take it easy so they accompanied Antauri in keeping an eye on Kaminari.
Chiro then felt Kaminari move her head around. He slightly lifted his head and looked at her. She looked at Antauri, then at Chiro and Sprx. After a minute, she moved enough where she could face Chiro and Sprx more easily without hurting her neck.
"Papa Chiro?"
"Yeah, Kami?" Chiro raised an eyebrow.
"How come you're just with Papa Sprx, Papa Slingshot, and Mama Jinmay?" She tilted her head. "Papa Sprx is with everyone else besides Papa Slingshot and Mama Jinmay, but you're not with anyone else like Daddy Antauri."
That alone caused Antauri to choke on his tea and cough. Sprx laughed at Antauri's reaction. Kaminari's simple curiosity turned into confusion.
"Not that funny, Sprx," Chiro deadpanned.
"When have you ever seen Antauri do that?" Sprx responded. "Hardly ever, of course I'm gonna laugh 'bout it!"
He rolled his eyes. "And I thought I was considered the child out of you guys." He cleared his throat and looked at Kaminari. "Well, sweetie, I'm not interested in them like that aside from Sprx, Jinmay, and Slingshot. I used to with Antauri but we're just that now—friends. Even then, I still love and care about them, just in a different way."
"Oh, right! You said something about being with Daddy Antauri a few times." She put her hand up to her mouth. "...Is that why you don't have any kids with him either? Just Papa Sprx?"
Antauri coughed again. They got out of their seat and picked up the tea.
"I believe this is my time to leave. You can continue this conversation, but I'll be in my room."
With that, Antauri phased out of the room. Kaminari's eyebrows drooped while she watched Antauri leave. She looked back at Chiro and Sprx.
"...Did I say something wrong?"
"Nah, not at all, Kiddo." Sprx answered.
"He's still embarrassed about it, that's all, Kami." Chiro added.
"Oh."
It was clear she didn't get why, but she didn't push it. Sprx ruffled her hair.
"Don't worry, it don't mean they don't care 'bout each other anymore. They're still friends." Sprx said.
She grabbed his hand to make him stop ruffling her hair. Needless to say, it didn't work. When she realized her attempts did nothing, she simply focused on Chiro.
"So then how come you're not together anymore?" She asked.
Sprx stopped messing with her hair and rested his head on his hand. "Y'know, Kid, I don't think either of you ever said why you two broke up, just that ya did."
Chiro shrugged. "We just weren't feeling it anymore. We talked about it and decided it wasn't for us anymore. Not sure of what else I could say there."
"So it's just that." Chiro nodded at Sprx's understanding of it. "We weren't too sure if there was more to it or what."
"Nope, just that." He looked at Kaminari. "And it happened before we decided to have any of you, so we didn't consider having any kids together."
She took a moment before she nodded.
"Okay."
Kaminari readjusted herself and faced the screen once again. It seemed like she was satisfied with the answer she was given. Chiro quietly chuckled; he wasn't too sure how else he'd explain it besides that, and not to mention explaining it to his five year old daughter in a way she'd understand.
Though since the subject did get brought up, he softly smiled thinking about the memories he had of their relationship together. He missed those moments, but even if they weren't romantic he still gained new good ones with Antauri.
Even the breakup wasn't a bad thing to think about, it just felt a little awkward at the time.
Chiro took a deep breath.
He had been meaning to have this discussion with Antauri for a while now. For a few weeks, he'd come to realize he didn't feel anything romantic for Antauri anymore. It was like a flame that slowly burned out and he'd only recently realize that the candle completely melted away. Any kisses they shared recently felt empty, like nothing was there, at least not on his end. Whenever he could, he'd try to avoid it so it wouldn't feel forced or obligated.
He still loved him, it just wasn't that kind of love anymore.
Chiro wouldn't doubt if Antauri noticed something was off but didn't know how to bring it up. He certainly didn't, but he figured if he said he wanted to talk about their relationship, it would help move things along rather than stay in this bubble of uncertainty. It was why he stood outside of Antauri's room now, trying to mentally prepare himself for that talk.
He went to knock on the door, but before his knuckles could make contact with the door, he heard Antauri speak.
"Come in."
He lowered his hand. He took another deep breath before he opened the door and walked inside. They simply levitated there in the middle of the room with one eye open. That eye followed Chiro as he walked closer to him. When he got close, Antauri stopped levitating and sat down. He had both eyes on Chiro now.
"Is something on your mind?" Antauri asked.
Chiro scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, there is. It's nothing bad, but..."
He looked him in the eyes.
"...I wanna talk about us."
Antauri looked away. "I see, so it's been on your mind too."
Chiro looked in a different direction. That only confirmed what he thought before, that Antauri noticed and had been thinking about it as well. He rested his face in his hand. He tried to think of how he could word everything. Chiro didn't want to break things off on a bad note from how he worded things, so he wanted to think carefully about it. It might've been the same for Antauri's end, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions with something like this.
It was only a short period of silence between them, yet it felt like it was dragged out to an agonizing eternity. Every minute felt like it was dragged out into hours. It wasn't like it would end off on a horrible note, it was unlikely, but simply thinking of the right words to say was what made everything feel just a little more difficult and complicated than it really was.
"I love you, Antauri, I really do, but I'm just..." Chiro started off.
"You're not feeling it anymore." Antauri finished for him.
He nodded. "Yeah. I... didn't know how to say it without it coming off bad."
"I was uncertain as well." They responded. "I don't feel the spark anymore either, but I didn't want it to come out in a way that you think I don't care about you anymore. At first I thought maybe it was me, that maybe I was feeling fatigued... but then I noticed I only felt like that with you, no one else. I've been thinking about how to bring it up and talk about it with you since then."
Chiro looked in his direction, but Antauri still didn't look at him. Their tail lied at their side, not moving in the slightest. Even if he couldn't see his eyes completely, he could tell how nerve-wracking this was for him. Chiro couldn't blame him in the slightest; it took him a bit to even be able to walk up to his door with the intention of breaking up with him in mind.
Of course, now it just left one question.
"...So where do we go from here?" Chiro asked. "It's obvious staying together like this isn't going to work out... So what now?"
Antauri moved his head enough to look at him.
"I believe we're better off as friends, specifically something more of a father-son relationship." He simply chuckled at the question, seeming to light up some. "I didn't think it would need to be asked."
"Well, I do remember a piece of advice about covering every base to make sure we're all good from two certain people I fell for." Chiro smirked.
"Then Sprx and I have taught you well." Antauri smiled at him. "...How do you think we should tell the others? We simply can't expect them to know about this without us saying something."
"I feel like they might already know, since I doubt we've been acting normal. Either way, I think we should just say that we're not dating anymore."
"Casually, huh?" Antauri crossed their arms. "It sounds like a good option, don't make a big deal out of it."
"That's what I'm going for. I mean, it was already nerve-wracking to start this, why make it bigger than it is?" Chiro responded.
Antauri took his hand with his own. "Well, I'm happy for the time we did have as a couple. As embarrassed as I've gotten, it was a good six years of my life. I wouldn't ask for anything else."
"It's a shared sentiment then, because I feel the same."
Chiro kissed his forehead before he pulled him into a hug. Antauri hugged him back.
"I doubt anything would change, but I wish you the best with the others." Chiro said.
Antauri chuckled. "It never hurts to say so. I wish you the same with Sprx, Slingshot, and Jinmay."
They stayed there for a moment hugging. After they broke it off, Chiro left the room. The second he went outside and the door closed behind him, he released a breath he didn't realize he held in. He smiled knowing that some weight had been taken off his shoulders. Chiro knew it was the same for Antauri, he didn't have to stick around to know that.
He started walking to the tubes. He barely just moved out of the way for Otto.
"Sorry, Otto."
"It's fine!" He smiled wide.
It soon faded as he tilted his head. He stopped walking; Otto stared at Chiro's face.
"Did something happen? You seem relieved."
Chiro chuckled. "It's nothing too big."
After a few seconds, his smile came back.
"Okay!"
He continued walking and went to Antauri's room. Chiro kept walking to the tubes. He walked into the orange one and he shot straight up.
They'd be able to rest easy now with that out of the way.
Antauri looked up when he heard the door open.
Chiro came through with some food on a plate. Antauri put the book down as Chiro walked over to him. He handed the plate to them.
"I don't think I saw you get some lunch yet, so I brought you something."
They smiled. "Thank you. I was about to get some myself."
He took the plate from him. Just as he started to eat, he thought about the hour prior. Their smile faded away.
"I apologize about before." Antauri started. "I shouldn't feel as embarrassed as I do whenever our past relationship gets brought up."
"No, it's okay, I get it. I'm sure it's still a little weird thinking you dated someone when they were still a kid." Chiro chuckled.
"...I don't want the kids to ever feel that way." He closed his eyes. "Feel embarrassed or ashamed of any relationships they may get into. I want them to be treated right and that they're not getting hurt, of course, but I might end up... freaking out at first, as Sprx would put it. I don't want them to feel they'd have to hide it from any of us because of that."
Chiro put his hand on their shoulder. "Hey, I'm sure it'll be fine. They have us and each other, if they're nervous then I'm sure they'll come to us first before saying anything about it to you. I know it's not entirely ideal, but it'd be better than them not feeling comfortable at all."
Antauri chuckled. "That's true. You know, I'm quite proud of the man you've become. We all are."
"It helps that I've had you guys raise me and keep me on the right track growing up." He smiled softly.
It was as soft and gentle as when he was a kid. It wasn't that he didn't still had those smiles, but they had more of a mature feel to match his age now. This one felt more like his younger self was shining through, even if it was just something so simple. They couldn't help but smile back at him.
"There's things I wish we could've done better, but I'm glad you feel that way regardless."
"Well hey, you didn't really know how to take care of a kid when I came along, there's bound to be some mistakes here and there. Gotta learn from them to get better, right?" Chiro responded
"I wonder when you've gotten so wise."
"Eh," he moved his hand, "probably a decade ago, maybe earlier. Can't give myself too much credit."
Antauri nearly laughed. Chiro stood up and walked to the door. He looked back.
"I'm gonna go back to Kami and Sprx. Feel free to join us again if you want."
"Give me a bit."
Chiro nodded and left.
Antauri looked down at his food with a smile. Even if he didn't miss too much and appreciated what he had now, he missed how their relationship was in a way. The feeling wasn't there anymore, they were still better off being how they were now, but it made him smile to think about. That was how he should be looking at it.
Nostalgic bliss rather than a past thing they should be embarrassed about.
When he finished eating lunch, Antauri joined the others.
